This publication offers advice for employers about how to help newcomers to settle in, and how to retain them, by providing not just a job, but also a 'welcome that works'.
See the booklet as a PDF document [980KB].
Introduction
New skills and ideas are important for any business. Increasingly New Zealand businesses are looking to migrants to help their business flourish. Today 220 million people around the world are working in a different country from where they were born. New Zealand is competing in what has become a global market for the skills our businesses and country needs. So, it’s important that we provide not just a job, but also a welcome that works, to help settle and retain skilled migrants.
Starting Out
The more an employer does to help a newcomer settle and feel welcome, the quicker the newcomer will be able to contribute. While you’re showing your employee the nuts and bolts of starting out in your workplace, as you would any new recruit, it’s important to realise that newcomers are also getting to grips with the nuts and bolts of starting out in a new country.
For new employees from overseas there are many challenges happening beyond the workplace. When people first arrive, finding somewhere suitable to live is a big issue. Helping their partner and children settle is another. Getting to grips with unfamiliar banking, tax, health and education systems can also be demanding.
“Partners and families are especially important and are often the reason migrants don’t stay. Employing anyone is an investment and you want to take care of your investment the best that you can. Employers should give new employees time to settle their families and find a place to live before they get them into the projects they really want them for.” – Cath Randall, Grow Wellington.
“You’ve got to ensure your new migrant can settle not only into the workplace, but also into the new community and develop a friendship base outside work. We do lots of things to integrate people into our organisation. We have a buddy system where we link newcomers with people they are working with.” – Dr. Allen Stanley, AsureQuality.
Build a Sense of Belonging
Newcomers go through a number of phases as they get used to their new surroundings and experience the highs and lows of life in a new country.
Typically, all migrants experience common stages in their settlement process. The initial high of the ‘honeymoon’ period in a new country usually gives way to a low period. The triggers for this shift in mood can vary from the realisation that New Zealand is a long way from their home country to a more complex personal crisis such as a health issue. At this point a migrant often chooses either to leave New Zealand or to stay on and adjust. Employer awareness of this settlement process and a readiness to support newcomers and their family through the low period can make all the difference to retaining their skilled newcomer staff.
How employers can help
Many new recruits from abroad have partners and families and are juggling a new job with a host of other responsibilities in their new community. As an employer, you can:
- set realistic expectations even before you offer the prospective migrant a job
- provide a helpful induction programme into your way of doing things
- provide a buddy or mentor who has been briefed to answer all the little questions about work or New Zealand
- allow newcomers time to organise housing
- assist with utilities and services
- arrange English language support if necessary for the employee or their family
- take an ongoing interest in how they are going
- tell newcomers about Settlement Support New Zealand – phone 0800 SSNZ 4U (0800 7769 48).
“My employers have been very instrumental in helping me settle in both the workplace and personally. We have a lot of social events and it really makes you comfortable. You feel like you’re accepted.” – Zachery Meade, Athfield Architects.
“The main thing is to make sure newcomers have the opportunity to share their culture. We try and support them by putting them into project teams with people who spend time talking to them about how we work in New Zealand.” – Rachel Griffiths, Athfield Architects.
“All in all, the company has been very supportive which has made it a lot easier for me to stay here.” – Gayle Holmes, AsureQuality.
Diversity enhances a workplace
It’s important to celebrate the diversity and difference newcomers bring to your business. That diversity enriches a workplace. It brings fresh perspectives on professional practice and provides a great chance for New Zealanders to connect with other markets and networks.
Embracing diversity means being open to new ways of doing things in your workplace and valuing the insights and experiences that people from other cultures bring. This might mean holding a social event in your workplace in a slightly different way so it provides an opportunity for newcomers from abroad to share their food, music and language.
Maximise potential
With the right support, newcomers in your workplace will ultimately reach their full potential. But it’s important to realise that newcomers have many goals when they come to a new country – it’s not just about their workplace, it’s also about the future of their family.
If you as an employer consider the balance between a newcomer’s life at work and their life beyond work, there’s a much higher chance that you’ll achieve your goals and that newcomer employees will settle well into their new workplace and country.
“Our clients are looking for best practice across the world, not just New Zealand. Bringing in people from overseas where they might have been dealing with bigger projects on a bigger scale than we get in New Zealand, helps us offer a better service to our clients.” – Tony Jemmett, Business Manager, Opus International Consultants Ltd.
“A fundamental part of settlement is the employer employing the whole of the person (not just the 9-5 person), and understanding the needs not only of the individual but also of the wider family. An induction into our communities and workforce is absolutely critical to newcomers settling here, understanding our way of life and then being able to contribute.” – Michael Barnett, Chief Executive, Auckland Chamber of Commerce.
Support available: Settlement Support New Zealand
Settlement Support New Zealand, funded by the Department of Labour, is a referral service to put newcomers in touch with local services and the information they need: