At least 20 Customer experience employees at Old Mutual on Saturday were awarded certificates after successfully completing sign language skills training they have been undergoing for the past two months.
The aim of the training is to ensure that people with deaf impairments have equal understanding of insurance and banking services like any other individual.
Speaking during the certificates presentation ceremony at Old Mutual’s Head Office in Blantyre, Group’s Customer Experience Head, Linda Poya said the move is to ensure inclusivity at their company.
“We wanted to ensure that all our customers are served equally. We identified the team from Sign Language Inclusivity Development which trained our staff in this”, she said.
According to Poya, Old Mutual is also looking at how it can include perfectly serve people with other disabilities for exceptional customer experience.
The trained personnel are from all of the group’s branches which are Mzuzu, Lilongwe and Blantyre.
Reacting to the development, public relations officer for Malawi Council for the Handicapped (MACOHA), Harriet Kachimanga said their members face numerous challenges whenever they want to access services in mention.
She has since commended Old Mutual for the gesture saying it will help to partially address the challenges.
“As MACOHA, We have been preaching for inclusivity in companies and organizations by ensuring that sign language is incorporated. So, what Old Mutual has done is very commendable”, she said.
The staffs have been trained by Sign Language Inclusivity Development (SLID) whose one of it’s teachers, Joseph Sagawa says the skills are also critical in national development.
