ERGO supports people with handicaps and caring relatives

Actively supporting our employees, creating space for them to combine work and family life and protecting their health make a valuable contribution to ERGO's success - and are an important part of our company's sustainable commitment.

The "inklusion@ergo" network has been in place at ERGO since 2020. It offers a platform for people with disabilities and for people who work or live with sick or impaired people, as well as for carers. The members of the network also provide support in case of uncertainties in the cooperation with affected colleagues. In addition, it is open to all colleagues who want to live and support the topic of inclusion.

ERGO spoke to Sonja Kluth, one of the initiators of the network inklusion@ergo. She is a specialist advisor in the property and casualty sector at the Hamburg regional office. She spends a large part of her working time on the road. In addition to this full-time job, she has been caring for her seriously ill husband for eight years.

Milestones of the network

For Sonja Kluth, there have been three milestones since the network was founded. The first was the Digital Diversity Week 2021, during which the members of the network organised one of the days and some of them spoke about their illness or situation as a family member affected. There was time for intensive discussions, also with non-members - disability was removed from taboos. "In addition, we were able to point out many areas where we as ERGO already have offers of help or great services in our products that help wonderfully in certain situations," Kluth recalls. "I was flabbergasted by how much encouragement and gratitude we received on this day."

The second milestone for them was 3. December 2021, Purple Light Up Day: International Day of People with Disabilities. On that day, ERGO had set the scene for the tower with a "Purple light": a shining sign for equal opportunities.

The third milestone for Kluth was the first network meeting, which took place this year in Präsenz. "It was very appreciative for us that our board member and patron of the inclusion network Ursula Deschka took time for it and was there in person. We collected a lot of great ideas in the workshops," says Kluth.

What is special about the Inclusion Network

"We are a colourful bunch," says Kluth with a smile. "We learn to get rid of prejudices together - for example, that diabetics are always old - because they are usually not. We learn what people with disabilities need and with what often small changes we can help. - For example, presetting a font and size (Arial 12) can help people with vision problems, and low carb food can help diabetics: "It's healthy for everyone else, too," Kluth explains.

Currently, the Inclusion Network is in the process of creating an interactive PDF with all the assistance ERGO offers: "We were amazed at how diverse the assistance is. A lot of support was regulated in the company agreements and you can still find supplements when you browse the web," explains Kluth. The network will now bring everything together for a better overview. In addition, the inclusion network publishes a monthly team blog where members and non-members write about their topics related to inclusion. The first article was about depression.

Wishes for the future

Ms Kluth and the "Inkluencers", as Kluth calls her network colleagues, are working to get even more people to acknowledge their impairment in the future. "We have 200 members and another 200 "unofficials". That has to change," Sonja Kluth hopes.

The goal is to continue to engage in dialogue, to de-taboo the topic of impairments of any kind: "I wish that every employee would just think for a minute about inclusion and colleagues with handicaps or that of their relatives," Kluth formulates. "To deal with people with limitations - it doesn't hurt and it's not contagious either," Kluth says and smiles.

Dear Ms Kluth, all the best to you and all the members of the network inklusion@ergo! Thank you very much for the interview!