2010 ALLIES Learning Exchange: Kelly McGahey - Employer Engagement

ALLIES 2010: From the Frontlines of Employer Engagement May 7, 2010 Kelly McGahey kmcgahey@hireimmigrantsottawa.ca 1

Introduction 2 – Overview of Hire Immigrants Ottawa – The Business Case and Demographics – Engaging Employers • Challenges and Success • Tools and Resources • Promising Practices

Hire Immigrants Ottawa 3 Hire Immigrants Ottawa is a local initiative that brings together employers, immigrant agencies and stakeholders to develop solutions to systemic barriers around the recruitment and retention of skilled immigrants into the Ottawa labour force using a three-pronged approach: – An Employer Council of Champions – The creation of four sector specific Working Groups in the health care, information technology, finance and public sectors that aim to address systemic barriers. – A local awareness campaign to promote greater understanding of the social and economic value that immigrants bring to Ottawa.

Engaging Employers 4 – Make the case – Convene the right stakeholders at the right times – not too little, not too much – and only when necessary – Facilitate, don’t dictate! – Support them with tools and resources that they request – and use their expertise in the development or sharing process – Repeat!

Business Case 5 As the economic situation evolves, it is important that employers prepare themselves for the inevitable talent crunch – To avoid succession and staffing crises, Canada's employers, now more than ever, have to tap into groups traditionally under- represented in the workplace. – Immigrants, more than native-born Canadians, have credentials and new perspectives that can help overcome the lag of innovation recently noted by the Conference Board of Canada.

Demographics 6 Immigration to Ottawa is increasing; immigrants are working age Over the next 10 years, Ottawa can anticipate receiving between 6,000 and 8,000 immigrants per year By 2014, labour demand is predicted to outstrip labour supply* By 2017, population will be 27% immigrants Recent immigrants are most likely to be between the ages of 25 and 44** *Conference Board of Canada, 2007 **CLBC, Tapping the Potential, a statistical profile of Ottawa’s immigrant workforce, p. 4

Demographics Ottawa’s shrinking labour 7 force Ottawa's Population Pyramid – Last of the baby-boom Male 80 to 84 Female generation are now age 43 70 to 74 Age Range (years) 60 to 64 – More than 10,000 Ottawa 50 to 54 workers could be retiring 40 to 44 annually (extrapolation of 30 to 34 known retirement rates) 20 to 24 10 to 14 – By the peak of the wave in 0 to 4 2013, 5,600 federal public 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 service employees will Population (000s) S o urc e : Derived fro m data by Statistics Canada: Ottawa, Ontario . Co mmunity P ro files. 2006 Census. Catalo gueno .92-591-XWE. retire annually – Baby-boom ‘echo’ already in labour force – Each generation smaller than the previous – includes immigrants and their children

Education 8 Ottawa receives a disproportionately high number of very educated immigrants. Highest share of immigrants with university degrees in Canada 82% of those aged 25-44 (arrived 1996 – 2001) had a post-secondary diploma or degree, compared to 69% of Canadian-born** Each year more immigrants with PhDs immigrate to Ottawa than are graduated by both major universities combined* They tend to be educated and experienced in the science and technology fields*** *CLBC, Tapping the Potential, a statistical profile of Ottawa’s immigrant workforce, p. 7 ** Faces of Ottawa, p. 18 ***Recent Immigrants in Metropolitan Areas: Comparative Profiles based on the 2001 Census

Employer Barriers 9 Employers encounter barriers that prevent successful recruitment and hiring of skilled immigrants. – Workplace Readiness – Cultural Issues – Language – Qualifications and Work Experience – Credential Recognition/Licensing – Security Clearance

Employers in Action 10 – Networking – Recruiting – Coaching – Internship Programs – Bridging Programs – Mentoring – Tracking – Review Policies, Practices and/or Processes – Educating / Informing – Utilize Tools and Resources

Action Plan Template 11 Objective: To Increase Organizational Capacity to Hire and Retain Skilled Immigrants at Skills Appropriate Levels Action Item Activities Outcomes Resources Responsible Target Timeline Performance Needed Measurement

Employer’s Guide 12 Provides information about and insight into the most common challenges faced by employers when recruiting and integrating immigrants into the Workplace Offers practical tips and suggestions to address these challenges Points employers to local resources

Cross Cultural Competency Training Workshops for Employers 13 – Introduction to Cultural Competency-Building – Intercultural Problem-Solving Strategies and Understanding Verbal and Non-Verbal Messages – Effective Cultural Adaptation Strategies – Cultural Inclusiveness Practices – Creating the Workplace that Accommodates Effectively – Teaching and Learning with Immigrant Staff

The Ottawa Job Match Network 14 The Ottawa Job Match Network (OJMN) is a partnership of immigrant serving agencies and programs that provides one-stop-shopping for employers The members of the network cooperate to provide employers with candidates who best match their requirements They also identify clients to participate in events that link employers with immigrants such as networking or coaching events HIO creates linkages between employers and the OJMN

Promising Practices 15 Federal Government – HRSDC and CIC – Innovative internship pilot to provide mid-level federal government career experience to skilled immigrants launched in late summer 2008, and YNIP program at CIC for refugee graduates of Cnd universities – They used local agencies (the OJMN and SITO) to source qualified candidates (WUSC for YNIP) – Recruited senior departmental champions – Matched incumbents with mentors – Provided cultural competency training to both managers and incumbents – Repeating the pilot in 2009/2010, working to expand the pilot across both departments and regions (has been publicly announced and highlighted by officials and Ministers Kenney and Finlay) – Committed to sharing their learnings with other employers

Promising Practices 16 Bank of America – – Co-chair of the Finance Sector Working Group – Host coaching events – HR department has made diversity a top priority – Participate in Cultural competency training – Use the OJMN to source candidates – Created affinity groups for employees from different backgrounds to network and share experiences and plan events – Have formed an in-house diversity panel – Have shared their experiences and learning with other employers and stakeholders as presenters and/or panelists

Next Steps 17 We encourage employers to: – Utilize the Action Plan template (available in the Employers in Action document) and the HIO Employers Guide www.hireimmigrantsottawa.ca – Work with managers to make action plans operational in their own departments/units and measure results – Make use of the excellent tools and resources available – hireimmigrants.ca Roadmap and videos, TalentNet game, TASC Roadmap – Develop strategies for, and participate in, large coordinated initiatives such as mentorship and internship programs – Participate in one-off coaching, networking or cross-cultural training events – Make use of local immigrant-serving agencies and programs Contact Hire Immigrants Ottawa for more information: Kelly McGahey 613-228-2502, kmcgahey@hireimmigrantsottawa.ca

Thank you www.hireimmigrantsottawa.ca 18

2010 ALLIES Learning Exchange: Kelly McGahey - Employer Engagement

by Maytree on Jun 11, 2010

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2010 ALLIES Learning Exchange: Kelly McGahey - Employer Engagement — Presentation Transcript