By Gobinder Gill

Businesses understand that retaining valuable employees is vital to the success of their company, especially when make-up of the Canadian workforce is becoming increasingly multicultural.

According to an independent report conducted by Grant Thornton LLP, a leading Canadian accounting and business advisory firm, in the next ten years skilled immigrants will be required to fill one-third of the new jobs in B.C. It is estimated that more than one million positions will need to be filled: 676,000 postings will become vacant through retirement and another 450,000 new jobs will be created.

The benefits of retaining a multicultural staff are endless. Companies that achieve a higher retention rate require fewer resources to hire and train new employees. According to the Conference Board of Canada, depending on the position, cost-per-hire ranges between $3,300 and $43,000.

In addition, employee morale remains higher because retention strategies typically embrace tools such as mentoring, recognition and creating a supportive and welcoming workplace. Furthermore, employees are more productive and   responsive.

The employees with self-esteem who feel accepted and appreciated will actually go out of their way to accommodate management. However, once they have been disillusioned, they will never forget their experiences and will eventually move on.

Here are several ways to retain a multicultural staff.

• Treat all employees equally with respect;
• Build a working environment that is conducive to development, communication and growth; and
• Establish a secure and friendly environment; no staff member should feel bias against them.

In addition, there are two types of mentoring programs: formal and informal. Formal mentoring includes assigning a peer-mentor to new employees. The peer’s responsibility is to help explain the job and company’s philosophies.  Informal mentoring is typically facilitated by forming groups instead of one-to-one basis.

Also very important is training and education on a regular basis for the entire staff. This could range from understating the changing markets at home or abroad to staying current with the latest technology. The other type of training is cultural awareness training where understanding and embracing the differences and similarities to bring about greater harmony and productivity in the workplace

In some cases management should accommodate special occasions. For example, many staff members in the ethnic communities have obligations to extended family members that are not norm in the western world: birthdays, funerals, weddings, hospital visits and daily prayers.

Furthermore the labour atmosphere has to be friendly – have a business culture where the employees can be “complete” and be who they are. This means accommodating their religion, their dress, or simply packing ethnic food for lunch. In addition, management must be totally aware of the skills and talents of their diverse workforce because often they go unrecognized and underutilized.

As the competition heats up for valuable staff members, the businesses that will survive and thrive in today’s changing times will be the ones that adapt to the needs of their diverse multicultural staff.  A company that does not becomes a revolving door.

Gobinder Gill is presenting Recruitment & Attraction for the North at the 7^th Annual Northern Symposium held October 3 – 4 in Prince George. For more information on this and other professional development opportunities, please refer to BC HRMA’s online calendar.

Gobinder Gill is a speaker and an author of “Achieving Prosperity through Diversity”. He provides diversity training. He can be reached at info@workforcetranscreations.com  or www.workforcetranscreations.com