Metinvest launches a video course on interaction with demobilized employees

The company creates an inclusive integration ecosystem to support veterans in civilian life

Metinvest Group has launched a video course on interacting with war veterans who have returned to civilian life from the front and are undergoing adaptation at the company’s enterprises. Metinvest.Media reports.

The project was created in cooperation with a military psychologist and crisis interventionist Olena Nikolska.

After demobilization from the Ukrainian Defense Forces, more than 500 Metinvest employees have returned to work at the company, and their number will grow over time.

The company is creating an inclusive integration ecosystem to support war veterans in civilian life. In addition to taking care of their physical health and comfortable working conditions, it also includes support for the psycho-emotional state of demobilized veterans.

Integration into civilian life is largely facilitated by the work teams in which veterans work. To ensure more effective communication, Metinvest launched a special video course with Elena Nikolskaya.

In a series of videos, the military psychologist explains the myths and anxieties associated with veterans’ return to the workforce, gives practical advice to employees and managers on how to prepare for inclusivity and respond to a veteran’s disability, and what to avoid when communicating with a person with combat experience.

According to Olena Nikolska, the task of adapting war veterans to civilian life is not theirs.

«They have already completed their task. Therefore, they should not return to enterprises or to their families and think about how to fit their “puzzles” into the “picture” of society. It is our job to learn how to properly communicate with defenders, to prepare appropriate working conditions and a specific workplace in accordance with the veteran’s needs, to talk with the team and work through certain anxieties and fears,» she said.

Tetyana Petruk, director of sustainable development and interaction with personnel of the Metinvest group, notes that the preparation of teams for the return of veterans is an important part of the company’s work, which treats each defender with respect. And the basis of a comfortable adaptation of demobilized employees is the ability to communicate with them, to find the right words to understand how else you can help.

«I hope that thanks to the new video course, our colleagues and other conscientious Ukrainians will be able to find answers to the most pressing questions regarding interaction with veterans and, accordingly, become a reliable support for them,» – emphasized Tetyana Petruk.

In addition, within the framework of the inclusive ecosystem of integration of veterans, Metinvest has developed and implemented a unique training course for «Heroes by your side» employees. Currently, 1,200 managers of the company’s enterprises in the regions of presence are taking it.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Metinvest implements US experience from work with veterans. Recently, the managers of all production assets and the management company of the holding took part in a study tour to the United States to study the world’s leading practices in this matter.