The ability of an organization to hire the “right” person for a job opening is a critical asset. And there are an infinite number of variables involved in assessing potential candidates. Do they have the necessary qualifications? Do they have any other skills that could be of use to the organization? Do they fit into the organizational culture? Let’s ponder that last question for a moment…What is the culture of your organization? Have you inadvertently reinforced biases in your hiring practices? Are you limiting your organization by not encouraging diversity? Do you have the “right” employees?

If you don’t like the answers you’re getting, then opening your organization up to a more unique workforce could be just the solution. To find out how to do that, I spoke with Elizabeth McIsaac, executive director, and Kevin McLellan, program manager of employer initiatives at the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC).

The importance of organizational diversity

Before an organization begins to hire for diversify, it is important to define what that means from the organization’s perspective. Broadly speaking, diversity might include race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. However, your organization may see it from a number of standpoints based on what is unique to your community.

Understanding what diversity means to your organization is key, but once you do that, the next question is why? Is there any reason to do so? Both McIsaac and McLellan think so, but they have different takes on the subject. McIsaac recognizes diversity as an opportunity to broaden the workplace. She believes that “a diverse workplace is one that will ultimately be a more inclusive place. It will be one that is more innovative and more able to address the complexities of a diverse city… By having a diverse team, you will be more effective at delivering to that market, community or whatever you are doing as a business.”

McLellan adds that this is not a social responsibility issue but a business imperative. “It’s a bottom-line issue. The business case is incredibly strong. There has been a lot of research done on this issue that demonstrates that the bottom line can be positively impacted by creating a diverse workforce. Strictly from the demographic perspective, if you look at what’s happening with the workforce population you’ll see that if you’re not planning for a diverse workforce you will have serious challenges.” He goes on to say that, “The demographics are such that the baby boomers are retiring and our birthrate is not replacing our numbers. Our workforce is only going to grow through immigration and new ways to involve everyone, from the disabled to Aboriginal communities, etc.” He feels that all of these diverse communities have to be included in human resources planning in order to meet the demands of a growing workforce.

Your “to do” list

There are many cases to make about the significance of creating a diverse workforce, but an organization has to be prepared before it can implement change. According to McLellan, the most imperative objective for an organization is to ensure that they are ready. “It’s not something you can walk into and expect your organization to just pick up. You have to be ready for a diverse workforce. You have to have policies, practices and procedures in place.” This means securing commitment from the top down and ensuring that managers understand the challenges and are properly trained to deal with them.

Therefore, before starting any type of hiring process, preparations must be in place. And a big part of that is the job description. McIsaac thinks that, in terms of immigrants, “it’s important to let them know that work experience outside of Canada will be acknowledged.” Often, job descriptions specifically state that applicants need to have Canadian work experience. If an employer is serious about recruiting newly arrived immigrants, then accepting experience from other countries is imperative. If an organization is trying to figure out where to begin, McLellan points to the “roadmap” section of www.hireimmigrants.ca, an online tool that offers step-by-step guidelines on all stages of the recruiting, hiring, and evaluation process; the whole life cycle of human resources.

Searching for recruits

When all the planning and preparation is complete, the next step is to focus on finding diverse candidates. In smaller communities, finding a diverse workforce might, on the surface, appear to be very difficult. However, McLellan has a differing opinion. He feels that smaller communities have an advantage. “They are more cohesive and are not as geographically widespread. They have the opportunity to come together and organize around each other. They also have the ability to create a very attractive community that is exciting for people to come to. Once they’ve done that, they have to go out and let the world know that their communities are good places to live and work.”

But if a community is not ready for a diverse workforce, it now becomes the organization’s responsibility to prepare it. “Business has to be the leader on this,” states McLellan. “Business leaders have to take the initiative with the municipal authorities and organizations such as churches and community service organizations to ensure that the community is ready.”

In terms of larger cities, these things are also important, but there may be other avenues to start your employee search. One way is by working with different community service agencies. “Immigrant populations that are coming to Canada go to the community service agencies because that is where they can get help to prepare resumes and pickup job interview skills,” McLellan explains. “They can also learn about workplace culture and can get help with language training.”

Tips for the interview and orientation process

Regardless of where your talent search begins, following diversity hiring procedures will help you be successful. This includes an interview process tailored to the uniqueness of the candidate. As McIsaac sees it, “A very common challenge is some of the cultural assumptions that are with us when we interview somebody. Often, when you meet someone in the interviewing process you’re looking for certain cues or characteristics that make sense in terms of your own experience. If somebody’s coming from a different culture there may be different cues for them that may have nothing to do with their actual skills for the job, and everything to do with how they interact at a social level.” One solution she suggests is to bring together two or three people, of different cultural perspectives, in the interviewing committee. “This may diminish a person’s biases of what the potential employee is trying to articulate.”

Once an employee selection has been made, it is important to realize that training and orientation are still necessary in order to link the new hire into the culture of the organization. McIsaac’s answer to this is to use mentoring. She believes that “mentoring is a great method to include people. It gives the new employee the ability to ask questions that [they] were afraid to ask the employer…tacit aspects of the organization’s culture sometimes can be decoded by a mentor.” She also suggests a cross-cultural mentoring method. “The learning goes in both directions, which in turn enriches an organization because it allows some of the people that have been around longer in a leadership position to develop a better appreciation for cross-cultural competence.”

Karl Noseworthy is a freelance writer from Newfoundland who currently resides in Kitchener, Ontario. He can be reached at karlnoseworthy@hotmail.com.