By Karen Zukas

You’re hiring. Of course, you want the best fit possible. So, ideally, as a B.C.-based company, you want candidates with Canadian experience and fluent English. Right?

Maybe not.

Two BC employers have taken a very different approach to finding the “right fit” for their organizations. For both, it’s paid off handsomely in terms of successful talent recruitment and retention.

Help-Wanted: Canadian Experience Not Required
Burnaby-based Metro Testing Laboratories is a 205-employee firm that provides inspection and testing for all phases of construction, as well as in-house supplemental testing. They work with local contractors, engineering and architectural firms and municipal and provincial government agencies. They have the same fundamental needs as any other company of their size and scope, and have chosen to include hiring of skilled foreign workers as one way of meeting their staffing needs.

Metro Testing Laboratories doesn’t make Canadian experience mandatory for new hires. “[We] prefer to train them ourselves into our way of doing things,” says Harry Watson, president, Metro Testing Laboratories. Metro Testing Laboratories also has other techniques for recruiting skilled immigrants.

“In our advertising, we ask to have a second language. This prompts skilled immigrants to apply,” Watson explains. “We put on free training courses for the type of work that we do, and we also send the applicants out to shadow some of our employees. Then we will often offer them a job.”

Watson notes that his approach of actively seeking out skilled immigrants for its workforce is unusual in his field where he says most companies tend to be somewhat “tribal” in whom they hire. At Metro Labs, however, the “tribe” is global. “To date we have brought people from 15 different cultures into the group — no small thing for a small company,” says Watson, who immigrated to Canada in the late 70s, and counts himself among Metro’s global tribe.

The Benefits of a Global Tribe
He admits that it does take some accommodation: “Give the skilled immigrants an opportunity to show they can actually do the work, be patient with them, give them a little bit longer time to adopt the culture,” he suggests. But, he says, the pay-offs are enormous. “Skilled immigrants have definitely contributed to the success of Metro, and they really do feel like a part of the company. I think they feel proud of the company.”

Michelle Rolls, who owns and operates two auto body shops in Northern BC, had a similar experience integrating a skilled immigrant into her work force.  Rolls simply could not get the staff she needed. After advertising as far away as Manitoba, she finally hired Glenford Trowers, who arrived in B.C. straight from Jamaica.

“The first time I met Glenford he came in off a bus. He was overwhelmed. He went from Vancouver, which was nice and sunny to Prince George, which was full of snow. We gave him a toque when he got here so we knew he’d be okay for the first day,” Michelle says with a laugh.

But the adjustments went beyond clothing.

“When (Trowers) first got here, the first month, we had to bring him up to Canadian standards. But really, it was because he called something one thing and we called it something else. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the skill. It just took him a while to learn our method.”

Not only did Trowers have the skills, he also had a level of commitment to his work that quickly made him indispensable.

“His dedication brings everyone else up. I mean, when you get someone who really cares about the company, who cares about all of us, how can you not be a better company for that?”

Top Talent is the Priority
If Watson and Rolls had prioritized Canadian experience, they would have missed out on employees that have proven to be an excellent fit for their companies.

“As BC employers face growing skill shortages, what constitutes the “right fit” is undergoing a transformation,” says Kelly Pollack, executive director, Immigrant Employment Council of British Columbia (IEC-BC). “Employers like Harry and Michelle, who have adjusted their hiring standards and recruitment techniques to include, rather than exclude, skilled immigrants from their talent pool, will have a significant competitive advantage.”

Both were presenters at the recent IEC-BC Employer Summit on integrating immigrant talent into the workforce. Read the Leaders’ Summit Proceedings.

Find out more about how to assess skilled immigrants for the “right fit” using the New Canadian Assessment Resource.

Moreover, BC HRMA is presenting workshops with IEC-BC on “Sourcing and Recruiting Immigrant Talent”, the details of which can be accessed via the BC HRMA events calendar.

Hear more from Michelle and Harry, and about the valuable role of skilled immigrant talent in BC’s labour market in this IEC-BC video.

Karen Zukas is communications manager of the Immigrant Employment Council of BC (www.iec.bc.ca).

(PeopleTalk: Winter 2012)