Olga Scherbina is the founder and principal of the Diversity CLUES Consulting Inc., a Vancouver-based consulting company providing a wide range of professional services pertaining to multiculturalism, inclusion, and the diversified workforce Olga’s core expertise includes project management and research development. Her favourite quote by Mahatma Ghandi, “Be the change you want to see in the world”, has inspired her approach to the problem solving she has applied with clients including BC HRMA, the City of Coquitlam, the Multicultural Helping House Society, CB Mercer & Associates and a wide range of government-funded project teams.

What are the primary challenges for organizations seeking to better understand and factor diversity into their business success?

I think the structure of our provincial economy poses one of the biggest challenges. Traditionally, most immigrants who come to our province settle in Metro Vancouver where close to 90% of the businesses are small to medium- sized companies. These companies quite often do not have an HR person and/or PD funds to deliver diversity training to their hiring managers. In the whole of Metro Vancouver we might have less than a dozen Diversity Managers.

Another problem has been the fluctuating economy. The feedback I receive from HR professionals I have worked with for the last three to five years is that when companies are downsizing or tightening their belts, they are less likely to implement new recruitment practices and spend money on diversity training.

Having a diversity champion at the executive or at least senior management level makes all the difference in the world. If the CEO supports diversity initiatives through a personal endorsement and allocation of budget to training, this top down approach work miracles. Good examples are BC Hydro, Royal Bank and the big four audit companies each of which have executive champions.

What are the most obvious advantages to developing a workplace that honours diversity?

Academics and experts have been debating for decades whether diversity in the workplace contributes to the bottom line via increased efficiency, competitiveness and influence. Recent studies suggest that diversity positively impacts urban competitiveness. We all know that a culturally-diverse population is one common characteristic for all global cities in the world.

Culturally-diverse workforces improve corporate culture and promote an evolved brand with new employees and clients. Moreover, immigrants bring international experience and speaking more than one language can enhance international business opportunities. Immigrants came to Canada to succeed and are usually very loyal to employers which give them the chance to do so.

A Major Gifts Officer at one of the local institutions raised $4.5 million last year from individual sponsors and foundations. She came from Latin America with more than 10 years of experience in fundraising and international development. For the first year in Canada she was selling cars and doing some other odd jobs. How much money she could have raised during that year? Do the math.

What are the most common challenges for recent immigrants seeking to integrate themselves into the Canadian workforce?

Insufficient English communication skills, foreign credentials recognition, lack of social and professional networks, lack of understanding of North American workplace culture and discrimination are the most cited immigrant employment challenges.

In BC, there is a 10% gap between unemployment rates for immigrants and their Canadian counterparts. While some immigrants manage to land great jobs in the first year of their arrivals, others are still in low-paid jobs after being here for 10 years. A study from UBC showed that if an immigrant changes his name to one that sounds more North American, then he has a much better chance to be called for an interview.

However, hiring managers should learn to make decisions and chose candidates for the right reasons and not fall back on ‘because this guy’s accent drives me crazy’ reasoning. Employers have to start making changes in their recruitment practices as the talent pool is changing dramatically and they need to adjust to that.

From my experience working with immigrants I noticed some commonalities between those who managed to succeed in Canada quicly. They all spoke relatively good English, were confident about themselves and their skills, unafraid of making connections and determined to succeed. These soft skills got them jobs and I think we need more training and educational opportunities for both employers and immigrants to learn about how to work in a cross-cultural environment.

What resources are available for those individuals and organizations seeking further information regarding diversity?

BC HRMA has developed a number of tools available to the HR community on its website. There is the Immigrant Talent Integration (ITI) web portal with many current resources available free of charge for HR and hiring managers. BC HRMA also developed “A Cultural Competency Toolkit” for HR practitioners which is available on the ITI web portal.

For those who wish to enhance their cross-cultural skills, the UBC Centre for Intercultural Communications offers online courses and a certificate. Then there is the Centre for Global Workforce Strategy at SFU specializing in customized high-quality research, assisting companies in the management of global workforces.

Finally, www.hireimmigrants.ca is Ontario-based website which has abundance of great resources and tools for employers which are applicable in BC.