First 90 days are critical to establishing an inclusive workplace
Question: How can organizations make it easier for immigrant workers? We have a few workers new to Canada and our management team is struggling with how best to integrate them. They’re not communicating with colleagues as much as other workers and we’d like to see them more involved.
Answer: Successful integration is a two-way street. Recruiting a diverse workforce that includes skilled immigrant talent means you’ve opened your business up to a world of opportunity. In order to leverage that talent and continue to build a dynamic team, steps need to be taken by all employees, whether senior leaders or individual contributors, to ensure successful integration.
Ultimately, laying the foundation for successful integration of skilled immigrants starts with the organization. The first 90 days are critical and establishing an inclusive workplace involves all staff. Here’s a few ideas to get you started:
Provide a thorough onboarding process: Offer specific information and training that address cross-cultural differences in business norms. For instance, forms of address, meeting norms, adherence to punctuality and expectations of a manager. Provide examples of situations to ensure you and the new immigrant employee understand the organization’s culture and expectations among staff. Remember that norms of communication and behaviour can vary even among Canadian-born employees.
Set clear expectations: Use a mix of styles and methods to communicate with employees. Describe the organization’s vision for success and strategic direction and explain to the skilled immigrant employee how she fits into that picture. Also, inform her of the behaviours and attitudes the organization values and the types of soft and hard skills needed to advance within the organization.
Keep in mind that, while soft skills are highly valued in Canada, other counties place much more importance on hard (technical) skills. Inform the immigrant employees of the importance of soft skills and practical steps they can take to continually upgrade their soft skills, such as leadership and business communication classes. Be clear about individual and team performance expectations. Coach them to grow in their new position to reach their short- and long-term goals.
Understand and meet religious accommodation needs: Accommodating religious needs is not only a legal requirement for business, it’s also a good HR practice that can enhance employee satisfaction, success on the job and, ultimately, long-term success for an organization. While many larger organizations have formal accommodation policies, smaller organizations can adopt a few straightforward practices to create a more inclusive environment. For example, consider a floating accommodation day to cover religious holidays that are not built into traditional calendars based on Christian holidays.
Match the new hire with a peer mentor: Internal mentoring or coaching can accelerate the new hire’s adaptation by explaining some of the unwritten workplace norms. Mentoring is also a good way for existing staff to gain cross-cultural competencies. Ideally, mentors should be employed in a comparable position to the newly hired skilled immigrant.
Explain industry and organizational lingo: Increasing skilled immigrants’ proficiency with company-specific jargon can make a world of difference as they ramp up in their new role — it can be a confidence booster. Being informed will encourage new immigrant hires to speak up in meetings and engage in small talk with colleagues.
Building strong teams: Getting to know colleagues and understanding different work styles is essential to team-building. Some skilled immigrants may come from cultures where there is a more rigid hierarchy with regards to internal communications. As a result, they may not relate to employees at more senior levels as easily as they do with their peers and need some additional guidance as to what is considered appropriate at your workplace.
Cross-cultural training: Cross-cultural training for all employees would be highly beneficial as it creates a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the different values and beliefs of different cultures represented at the organization, and how these differences can be leveraged at the workplace. The focus should not be to group people into categories of behaviours attributed to that culture, but to understand the reasoning behind certain types of behaviours. Tools and resources can also be shared with staff, such as communication style assessments and tips for communicating inclusively (for example, avoiding the use of idioms).
Successful inclusion and integration is an ongoing process. Building the essential framework takes time but is worth the payoff for a more engaged and productive workforce that can work together effectively.
The above answer was supplied by the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council. For more information, visit www.triec.ca. Onboarding templates, tools and resources can be found online at www.hireimmigrants.ca/roadmap in the onboarding module.
