Small businesses thinking outside old employment boundaries

At Promation Engineering Ltd. in Oakville, Ont., there is one document you won't often find in the profile of a small business. It's a list of the countries of origin, languages spoken and international degrees of employees at the facility.

A native of Poland himself, company president Mark Zimny is a strong believer that new Canadians have a lot to offer a business of his size (70 employees). "Around 40 per cent of employees at Promation are immigrants," he says with pride.

Zimny goes out of his way to work with local organizations like Peel Catholic Board of Education, Dixie-Bloor Centre and organizations such as the Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) to tap into talent pools other businesses might typically overlook. He also offers mentoring programs to help new employees get up to speed on the Canadian workplace.

"Immigrants are very effective employees because they want to prove themselves and learn," he explains. "If you can harness the kind of energy they have, you can become a high-performing and flexible company. Taking their enthusiasm and absorbing it goes a mile."

As a manufacturing and prototyping organization, Zimny says ingenuity and extra effort are critical to his business success. But you have to have patience regarding "the missing parts" of what's required for the job, which may include communication skills and workplace policies and process.

For small businesses and large alike, supporting immigrant workers is not about altruism. It's a strategic need given the demographic changes we will be facing, says Lynn M. Merrithew, corporate relations liaison at the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS).

"Right now for example, nearly 24,000 new Canadians from 120 countries arrive in Alberta each year. It's obvious that we have to depend on immigration to sustain our corporate growth here."

She notes that while larger companies are doing a respectable job with their recruitment and training policies, small businesses have a long way to go. "Larger organizations are very well trained in HR and know how to accommodate these individuals. Many small companies look at their cost of hiring because you do have to spend more time to qualify them for positions. They see a different name on a resum, and it's easily overlooked."

Many of the smaller businesses CCIS contacts are simply not interested when they call, Merrithew says. "We just don't get past the 'not interested' point. Perhaps they don't have the HR training background, are just starting their business, or they don't know how to connect with that labour pool."

Valerie Pruegger, research social planner for Community and Neighbourhood Services in Calgary, agrees that the organization has its work cut out for it in terms of persuading businesses that immigrants are a valuable talent resource.

Business owners also need to understand hiring newcomers does not require as big an adjustment as they might think, she adds. "They seem to think that these people need a whole lot of support. But in reality, it's no more than a young person entering an organization and learning the rules."

Whatever the reservations, Merrithew advises small businesses to get over them soon. "From 2011 going forward the majority of new hires will be from this talent pool; and by 2031, the major growth in population will come from this group. A lot more education has to happen with small- to medium-sized organizations today in terms of how to deal with this talent pool. Cultural differences can help their markets because they are changing."

CCIS is one of many non-profit services that work at building bridges between business and immigrant workers. Depending on the organization, it can take on the form of training, information sessions, job fairs, meet-and-greet events, online support, mentorships, workshops and networking. Some employment programs are also subsidized by various levels of government, including reimbursements for training costs.

For the past decade Steve Hilditch of Hilditch Architect in Toronto has worked with JVS Toronto, a provider of employment-related support services, as part of a program to help immigrants transition to working in a Canadian office. Hilditch first came across the program when JVS called and asked if he could speak to groups of immigrant professionals. Since then he has continued to do his own part, taking on two to three professionals at a time. In some cases, candidates have ended up staying full time.

"The biggest hurdle for professionals from abroad is getting that first office position," Hilditch says. "The JVS program tries to get offices open to the idea to take someone on for one or two months to give them something on their resums."

Given that architecture is an international discipline, he says working with immigrants is a wonderful way to generate new perspectives. "Bringing people from other cultures provides stimulation because they see things afresh."

Joanna Samuels, team lead, employer service, JVS Toronto-North Office, believes that small businesses in the Greater Toronto Area are getting on board more than in previous years. "I find, depending on the sector, they do value the transferable skills that they bring and their education in general," she says. "They're definitely more educated about what's out there and recognizing the talent of skilled immigrants."

That's important in the face of changing demographics, say Pruegger, "After all, [immigrants are] the labour pool of the future."