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Immigrant Talent Integration
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Sourcing Immigrant Talent
Culturally Competent Recruitment
Cross-Cultural Communication Competency
Immigrants at Work: Myths and Facts
Sourcing Immigrant Talent
Newcomers to BC are ready and willing to work, but are local employers ready to hire them? Some employers have practices in place that may exclude many qualified immigrants. This happens because some hiring managers use the same practices for developing job descriptions and advertising job openings as they’ve used for the last 20 years.
Ensure your website and job ads communicate the cultural-competence of your workplace through the inclusion of relevant language (i.e. equal opportunity employer), images of a diverse workforce and resources. For a good example, see Safeway’s diversity webpage. Diversify your applicant pool by advertising in ethnic media or partnering with local immigrant-serving agencies.
Below is a list of online resources to broaden your company’s applicant sourcing strategy:
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Culturally Competent Recruitment
If you are born in a country and native to a culture, you should have a pretty good idea of formal and informal rules, including the ins and outs in the job search process. It can be a different story for an immigrant. Immigrants want to make a good impression during interviews and, naturally, they use techniques they learned in their home countries which might not work in the Canadian workplace context. Additionally, studies suggest that Canadian employers have difficulty assessing immigrant foreign qualifications and have biased attitudes towards immigrants’ strong accents and ability to fit into the Canadian workforce culture.
The following are resources to help HR and hiring managers develop more culturally competent recruitment techniques:
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Cross-Cultural Communication Competency
Think about how things are done in your organization. We become so accustomed to the way we do things that we consider our way to be the norm. For example, how do you judge someone who arrives twenty minutes early for a meeting? Who should contribute ideas in a meeting? How do you demonstrate to your boss that you would like to be promoted? How do you make your subordinates comfortable enough to give you feedback on your ideas?
When someone comes along who carries different rules for working together, they may be judged as lacking in some way. How will you know if the employee’s behaviour is an outcome of their cultural background? One approach is to increase your understanding of the ways in which cultures can be different and imagine how those differences will impact communication between HR, hiring managers, and skilled immigrants.
The following are resources to help HR and hiring managers develop effective cross-cultural communications:
- Learn about Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions to better understand the differences between cultures
- Reference country cultural information such as communication styles, hierarchy and decision making processes
Source: Centre for Intercultural Learning, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
- Refer to cultural profiles for an overview of life and customs of several countries
Source: Cultural Profiles Project, Citizenship and Immigration Canada
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Immigrants at Work: Myths and Facts
What is fact and what is myth about immigrants and immigrant economic challenges.
Myth: Immigrants are not successful in holding executive and management positions.
Fact: Many immigrants became successful entrepreneurs, company executives and important political figures in Canada. Wajid Khan, a Pakistani immigrant, was the president and CEO of Dufferin Mazda, the largest automobile showroom in Canada, and the current member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Mississauga—Streetsville as a conservative Member of Parliament. Gurbax Singh Malhi was educated at Punjab University and upon his arrival in 1975 was employed as a factory worker. He is currently a member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Bramalea—Gore—Malton for the Liberal Party. Finally, there is Moyez Gulamhussein Vassanji who was born in Kenya and raised in Tanzania. Several years after his arrival in Canada, he co-founded the Toronto South Asian Review (TSAR) which later spawned the publishing company TSAR Publications.
Adopted from Successful, Famous Immigrants.
Myth: Immigrants have heavy accents which interfere with their ability to perform.
Fact: “It is true that some immigrants have heavy accents. However, one’s accent is not necessarily a reflection on how well one speaks English. For example, Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, has a strong accent, and is one of the most respected leaders in the world. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a heavy Austrian accent and he was recently elected the Governor of California. Both Annan and Schwarzenegger have strong accents, but use correct grammar and have excellent vocabularies. It is easy to hear accents and make assumptions about someone’s abilities. However, it is important to remember that extremely intelligent, skilled people have strong accents and speak English quite well.”
Source: Upwardly Global Toolkit
Myth: Immigrants are not computer literate and are not familiar with modern technology.
Fact: “There are over 40 versions of Microsoft Office made for different regions and languages.” Training in technology is a priority for both developed and developing countries and “some countries, such as India, have even developed their economies around the technology”. It is imperative to “recognize which skills can be learned versus which ones are requirements upon entry”. Source: Upwardly Global Toolkit
Myth: Immigrants are not well-educated or their credentials are inferior to Canadian credentials.
Fact: It might be challenging to evaluate credentials from schools and universities that are not familiar to Canadian hiring managers. However, it is unfair to assume that education or experience from another country is not applicable to the Canadian context. For example, according to the Top 500 Universities in the World ranking*, Seoul National University (Korea), National Taiwan University (Taiwan), University Sao Pablo (Brazil) and University of Montreal in Canada are all ranked within 100-151 best universities in the world. Similarly, in The Times Higher Education Supplement Top 200 (2007), University of Hong Kong and McGill University were named in the top 20 universities worldwide.
Source: www.timeshighereducation.co.uk
*Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranking
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