FEATURED ARTICLE 

Steps: Leading the Way to Inclusive Employment in Thailand 

By Tanya Perdikou

“I always thought there were too many barriers to finding work. Training with Steps showed me I can do it,” says Chanon. 

Chanon is one of two million people with disabilities living in Thailand. Less than 2% of these people have access to vocational training and less than 25% are employed. In 2016, inclusion specialist Max Simpson, pastry chef Theeta Hokratikya, and psychologist Yim Mainchainant decided it was time to change all this. 

In a small side street of Ekkamai, Bangkok, they founded Steps—a social enterprise cafe and vocational training centre for neurodiverse young people. The Steps model focuses on individual talent and learning needs. Every trainee has the chance to get work experience in the cafe, helping them to develop transferable skills such as confidence and social skills, and enabling possible future employers to see their capabilities.  

Today, the Steps model has expanded into two vocational training centres, five coffee shops, two zero waste shops, two business service centres, and two franchise coffee shops across Bangkok and Phuket.

But the biggest news is that 100% of Steps’ graduates are now in employment, including some right here in Phuket.  

So, how important is leadership to Steps’ success? As you might expect, it is pretty essential! Here’s a look at how leading through collaboration and innovation is helping Steps achieve its vision of a truly inclusive society for young people with neurodiversity. 

Letting trainees lead by example

It was thanks to Steps graduate, Nakita, and her family that Steps made it to Phuket. They founded Steps with Nakita, which has cafes at Blue Tree and HeadStart International School.  Nakita has Down’s Syndrome and there were limited work opportunities for her on the island, but rather than settle for that, they made opportunities. 

Nakita is the epitome of Steps’ approach to leadership. She pushes for change, leads by example and, now that she’s been given the chance, her talent and capability as an individual shine through. She greets customers with a smile, makes coffee, rings up the bills, and works hard at keeping the coffee shop looking its best. 

Like any skill, leadership is best learned by doing. So we also offer a peer mentoring scheme at Steps, where trainees can support their friends in the kitchen, in the office and running fitness sessions. Pete, 20, describes how mentoring helped him become a better leader:

“I supported my friends in the fitness session with the goals to improve their muscular and cardiovascular endurance, agility, flexibility and balance. I designed the sessions, prepared resources and led the sessions. I learn to be more patient, understanding, to stay active and be a good problem solver. I also learned to improve my communication skills. I really enjoy being a peer mentor. I think it’s the right pathway for me because I am calm and I like to teach others and it makes me happy.”

A positive mission

Aiming high is a crucial element of Steps becoming a leading voice for employment equality in Thailand. Its mission goes beyond offering pathways to training. It’s about creating an equal society which welcomes neurodiverse people into work. This mission includes everybody, both within and outside of the organisation, meaning it’s something we can all buy into. 

It also drives everyone involved with Steps to focus on transformation day in, day out. 

“One coffee shop and training centre was never going to be enough,” says Steps co-founder Max. “We have to shift the perceptions of neurodiverse people across the board and we believe partnerships are the key to doing that.”

Partnerships

“Imagination shared creates collaboration, and collaboration creates community, and community inspires social change,” says American writer Terry Tempest Williams.

This sums up why Steps has never tried to act alone. It partners with scores of businesses from groceries to hotels to logistics companies. Some work with Steps to hire graduates, others outsource data entry to Steps trainees via their business service centre. 

It also partners with organisations which support neurodiverse people and their families, schools, arts organisations, and anyone who shares its values around equality and sustainability. 

“When we’re in conversation with organisations and individuals we admire and respect, it gives us ideas and inspiration for where we’d like to be,” Max says.

Those businesses which have taken on Steps graduates often become advocates for inclusive hiring. The graduates learn a lot, but they also teach a lot, and improve morale in their new workplaces. 

They help employers understand that an inclusive employment environment does not require large, structural changes, just a willingness to understand, accept, and adapt to differences.

Nipaporn Noichan (Nano), a Front Desk Manager at The Rembrandt Hotel, Bangkok, gives a great example of this two-way learning process: “One of Steps graduates has been employed to work at the office. The way he works is unique and sometimes better than us. I have learned how to apply and utilise his unique abilities for our organisation. I have learned how to use different ways to communicate with him such as using a checklist and using clear and concise language. We need to acknowledge our differences and find ways to support him.”

Listening and adapting

Like many organisations, we’ve had to transform quickly during the pandemic. We shifted to online learning very early to protect our trainees. This threw up all kinds of challenges such as accessibility of technological devices and lack of normal social interactions. As always, we place our trainees and families at the centre of any changes we make, asking for feedback, exploring and adjusting until we find whatever works best for all of us. 

Get involved

There is space for every single one of us to be a leader in the mission to create a more inclusive society for neurodiverse people. 

Even simple actions like shopping at our Steps with Nakita Cafe or Zero Waste Shop help to make a change:  you’re supporting inclusive businesses and helping our trainees get work experience. 

If you’re already in the world of work, you could talk to your employer about taking up more inclusive practices, and connect them with Steps. 

There are lots of other ways to get involved with Steps, so please sign up for our newsletter, ‘like’ us on Facebook, and come and say hi to our trainees!

Facebook: @stepsphuket

Website: www.stepswiththeera.com 

Emails: phuket@stepsiwththeera.com and info@stepswiththeera.com 

About the author: 

Tanya Perdikou is a freelance writer. She specializes in telling stories of how the human experience intersects with society, nature, and travel. Among others, her work has been published by the BBC, the Huffington Post, the Guardian, and the Bangkok Post.