Foundation helps companies to do business more inclusively

Employers are not always in a good position in times of strikes, labor conflicts and high inflation, while at the same time sometimes skyrocketing corporate profits. Yet many entrepreneurs try to tackle social problems concretely. The Netherlands Social Entrepreneurship Foundation! is committed to helping employers get started, for example by bringing supply and demand on the labor market closer together. We spoke to Martine Schuijer, director of the foundation, about the challenges and a concrete approach.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

“We were founded as a foundation in 2019 by VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland,” says Schuijer. “These two trade organizations, to which we are very closely affiliated, released a medium-term vision in 2021 that said: entrepreneurs, take a hand to the plow and do good things for society. If you look at this long-term vision, we are in fact the implementing organization for those objectives.”

The foundation sets a number of concrete goals, such as a more inclusive labor market. “For example, we want to create 100,000 jobs for people with disabilities. But the vision also contains more implicit agreements, such as combating internship discrimination or attracting more entrepreneurs to the circular economy.”

“As a foundation, we shape all kinds of social projects from, for and through entrepreneurs,” says Schuijer. “This concerns the labor market domain and everything that happens around it and that entrepreneurs have to deal with on an almost daily basis. Vitality and health are also important topics. Because how do you, as an employer, ensure that your staff reaches the finish line in good health? After all, the retirement age continues to rise.”

Building bridges

“But we also look at issues surrounding sustainability. We combine all these themes in a 'bridging program', in which we ask the central question: it's nice that you as a company or industry have CSR objectives, but how do you make these objectives concrete? What are you actually going to do now? And how do you show your initiatives to the outside world without being accused of 'greenwashing', for example?”

Schuijer also says that collaboration is essential to making a social impact: “Our intentions as a foundation are ambitious, but I must also say that many entrepreneurs are already busy working on these issues in practice. But how do you actually make an impact and difference, especially as a small entrepreneur? Sometimes you have to show that to each other and therefore work together.”

Own organization

In times of a historically tight labor market, Schuijer notes that there are still too many people on the sidelines. To tackle the shortage, it is also extremely important to first look within your own organization: “It starts with retaining your existing staff,” says the director. “You really need to pay more attention to this and more attention is not just offering more money. In these difficult times, salary increases may be a temporary measure to keep people on board, but it is also about attention, autonomy and therefore being a good employer.”

“Furthermore, in times of shortage you have to look at your own vacancies differently. Because if you do not immediately find the person who exactly fits the job description, you can also see whether you can organize the work processes differently. This way you can still hire different types of people. In addition, there are many measures and support instruments available from the government, which ultimately makes the business case for employers sound. Consider, for example, a wage cost subsidy, the social innovation fund or adapting a workplace. On the lobbying side towards politics, the ball is in the hands of VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland to lower the threshold for employers, while on the implementation side we are there to show entrepreneurs the way to solutions.”

Looking at the government, despite the various support programs for employers, Schuijer believes there is still room for improvement: “The government should make the available labor potential more transparent. There are still many people on benefits or non-working people who are on the sidelines, who are unknown to municipal organizations or the UWV. In my opinion, the government should really get involved in this.”

Yet the director of Netherlands Entrepreneurship thinks socially! that employers do not wait, but move in the right direction: “Ultimately, it is about the underlying movement. We want to become more inclusive, greener and healthier together. As an employer, we must show that we are taking concrete steps regarding these major social issues. Because at the end of the day, employers are just people too. I would be very happy if, for example, there is a match between one of your members and a refugee from Ukraine.”