Les accompagnants à l’insertion professionnelle en milieu ordinaire pour les personnes en situation de handicap psychique au sein des ESAT de transition Messidor Supervisors and Employment Counselors in Messidor Transitional Social Firms Supporting People with Psychiatric Disability to Gain Competitive Employment

Résumé

Les dispositifs d’aide à la réinsertion professionnelle des personnes souffrant de troubles psychiques sont peu étudiés en France bien que la littérature spécialisée souligne que ces dispositifs sont clés pour favoriser l’insertion en milieu ordinaire. Les objectifs de cette recherche étaient de décrire les rôles, tâches et compétences des conseillers d’insertion et des responsables d’unité de production qui accompagnent ce public vers le milieu ordinaire au sein des ESAT de transition Messidor. Une méthodologie qualitative a été retenue : 24 entretiens individuels et 7 groupes de discussion ont été menés auprès des deux types de professionnels de ces structures. Les résultats ont permis de définir la fonction de chaque accompagnant et une liste de 110 compétences pour les conseillers d’insertion et de 155 compétences pour les responsables de production. Ce binôme d’accompagnants complémentaires apporte un soutien à l’insertion en favorisant un changement de regard sur soi. Le conseiller d’insertion accompagne chaque travailleur à construire et réaliser un projet d’insertion, tout en assurant la liaison entre différents partenaires externes de la collectivité (ex. employeurs, équipe soignante). En parallèle, au quotidien, le responsable de production assure une formation dans un métier, propose des défis à relever, ce qui contribue à restaurer l’estime de soi professionnelle des personnes, facteur clé pour l’insertion en milieu ordinaire. Les implications cliniques de cette recherche concernent le recrutement, la formation et la supervision des personnels accompagnant vers l’emploi.

Mots-clés :

• insertion professionnelle,
• compétences,
• conseiller en emploi,
• superviseur,
• programme de soutien à l’emploi,
• entreprise à économie sociale

Abstract

Objectives Some programs have been developed in France for helping people with a psychiatric disability to get competitive employment, especially prevocational programs such as transitional social firms. However, these programs have not been studied until now. Studies on supported employment programs (evidence-based practices) conducted in other countries demonstrated that variation of work outcomes is due, among other factors, to employment specialists’ competencies. These results highlight the need for describing more specifically the work of the two professionals, employment counselors and supervisors, working in transitional social firms in order to better understand their role, tasks and competencies. Therefore, the objective of this study aims at describing the roles, tasks and competencies of these two professionals working in transitional social firms, to better understand how they support people with psychiatric disability for eventually obtaining competitive employment.

Methods A qualitative method was used to describe roles, tasks and competencies of employment counselors and supervisors working in the transitional social firms of the Messidor’s association (7 regions). In sum, 24 individual interviews with employment counselors and supervisors of these social firms as well as 7 focus groups with the two types of professionals, were conducted.

Results This study allowed to define the work of the two professionals (role and tasks) and a list of 110 competencies for employment counselors as well as 155 competencies for supervisors working in these transitional social firms, emerged from qualitative analyses. This “double support” has been defined as a complementary approach helping workers to change their own perceptions, becoming more confident in their work abilities, and thus helping them to gain competitive employment. On the one hand, the employment counselor supports each worker in developing strategies and actions to reach competitive employment, and put in place “job development skills” to coordinate his role with key stakeholders (e.g. psychiatrist, employers) involved in the work integration of people with severe mental disorders. On the other hand, the supervisor is following each worker all day long, training and helping them to overcome potential difficulties regarding the work to do, and building confidence and self-esteem in the workers under their supervision, which are all key elements to gain competitive employment.

Conclusion Clinical implications are suggested regarding the recruitment of professionals working in transitional social firms, and thus improving work outcomes for people with a severe mental illness.

Keywords:

• competitive employment,
• job acquisition,
• competencies,
• employment specialists,
• supervisors,
• social firms