{"id":1783268,"date":"2025-12-02T14:09:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T22:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecloroxcompany.com\/?p=1783268"},"modified":"2025-12-02T14:09:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T22:09:14","slug":"how-our-costa-rica-plant-is-embracing-inclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecloroxcompany.com\/blog\/how-our-costa-rica-plant-is-embracing-inclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"How our Costa Rica plant is embracing inclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In our manufacturing plant in San Jos\u00e9, Costa Rica, a quiet shift in best practices is taking place \u2014 one that speaks to the power of inclusion in the workplace. At the center of this transformation are Jorge Hern\u00e3ndez, a packaging plant auxiliary with a hearing disability, and his coworkers and management team committed to ensuring his full participation.

For Jorge, navigating the fast-paced environment of the manufacturing floor presented unique challenges. Despite 12 years of skilled experience working at Clorox, the communication barrier occasionally left him feeling isolated.

Recognizing the need for change, members of the plant\u2019s management team saw an opportunity to bring more inclusive practices to their everyday operations. They understood that true success lies not only in the products they manufacture but in the strength of their workforce. And so, they made the decision to invest in ways that would make their people feel more empowered.

The first step was clear: provide sign language training for Jorge\u2019s coworkers. What started four years ago as brief, informal training for teammates on Costa Rican Sign Language has evolved into a more formal training program with Ense\u00f1as Costa Rica, an organization that specializes in corporate education for communicating with the deaf community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Inspired by Clorox\u2019s renewed commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity and allyship, or IDEA, this initiative had a powerful impact throughout the plant.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Teammates embraced the opportunity to learn sign language, not just as a means of communication but as a tool for fostering understanding and connection with each other. The plant also enlisted the services of a sign language interpreter for large team meetings, on-the-job training sessions, performance evaluations and company social activities.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe saw IDEA as a call to action to embrace the unique perspectives and needs of all our teammates, regardless of disability, gender, or age. Making sign language more accessible to our workforce is one way we\u2019re fostering an environment where all voices are heard, and everyone can thrive.\u201d<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Mauricio Guerrero Canet, Plant Manager<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>

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For Jorge, the transformation was profound. Communication barriers that once seemed insurmountable were replaced by a sense of belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI feel very proud to work for Clorox. My teammates\u2019 willingness to learn sign language has made me feel supported, accepted and better able to do my job.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Jorge Hern\u00e3ndez, Packaging Plant Auxiliary<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The journey of our San Jos\u00e9 plant toward greater day-to-day inclusion reflects the impact that empathy can have in our workplaces and communities. By championing the unique abilities of every individual, we not only enrich the lives of those around us but pave the way for a brighter future for all.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In our manufacturing plant in San Jos\u00e9, Costa Rica, a quiet shift in best practices is taking place \u2014 one that speaks to the power of inclusion in the workplace. At the center of this transformation are Jorge Hern\u00e3ndez, a packaging plant auxiliary with a hearing disability, and his coworkers and management team committed to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":1783270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[748],"tags":[1141,957,969],"class_list":["post-1783268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people-and-culture","tag-idea","tag-inclusion-diversity","tag-social-impact"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecloroxcompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1783268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecloroxcompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecloroxcompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecloroxcompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecloroxcompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1783268"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecloroxcompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1783268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1783303,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecloroxcompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1783268\/revisions\/1783303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecloroxcompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1783270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecloroxcompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1783268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecloroxcompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1783268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecloroxcompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1783268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}