The adventure continues for Élan

23.10.2009

Encouraging the integration of disabled people through day-release training with the financial support of the Safran Foundation: such is the objective of the Élan program. The first phase has been completed, with very positive results, and the second phase is already underway.

"It’s possible!" With these words, Christian Mari, treasurer of the Safran Foundation and Chief Operating Officer of Messier-Bugatti (Safran Group), sums up the Group’s expectations when it was decided, in 2005, to launch the Élan program. "The Foundation was already financing association projects for helping people with disabilities, but I figured that with the backing of a group such as Safran we could try to set up inhouse an educational project aimed at disabled young people," Christian Mari explains.
It was this initial idea that gave rise to the Élan program, the first phase of which has just terminated after three years of operation. The results, moreover, are encouraging: of the 35 students taken on by the Group, thanks to the mobilization of the human resources teams of the Group and its constituent companies, 25 have passed their exam and obtained a diploma, ranging from CAP (professional aptitude certificate) to Masters degree, through professional Baccalauréat and BTS higher education diploma.

From apprentice to employee

"Our objective is now to help all the young people from Élan 1 to find a job," declares Christian Mari. "The Foundation, via the financing of coaching sessions, will help these young people to prepare their résumés and obtain a first interview. For us, Élan 1 will be over when this objective has been achieved, and not before." This is well on track, since a third of the project’s graduates have found employment, with half of them being taken on by Safran. A further 21% of the graduates have decided to continue with their studies.
"With Élan 2, that kicks off this year and which will run until 2010, we are hoping to go still further, by expanding the range of qualifications, integrating different types of disability and even attracting engineers," Christian Mari explains. "For me, the challenge implicit in the slogan: ’It’s possible!’ has been emphatically met by Safran and its employees, who have played an important role, especially the tutors who have benefited from training financed by the Foundation. They have been able to create interactions between the team members and each young person. _ Wherever apprehension may exist, you need to dare to overcome it, and I admire the energy that all these young people have put into asserting themselves and earning respect."

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