As Director of American Express Technologies (AET), Nancy Steele’s plate is already full – but it’s what she’s achieved in her spare time that is earning attention throughout the company.
Although American Express Canada (AMEX) has long had a diverse workplace, three years ago Steele realized the company should be taking fuller advantage of Toronto’s international talent pool. The AET team wanted to formalize a recruitment strategy for skilled immigrants, while helping them excel in their new positions and maximize their skills. Further, managers sometimes struggled to understand other cultures and help staff succeed. AMEX encourages employees to take on extra projects, so Steele jumped in with both feet.

“TRIEC’s BUILD IT program is a big part of our strategy, starting with cross-cultural and leadership training for our managers,” notes Steele. “We also hold hiring events that connect our recruiters with pre-screened candidates, and in less than two years, we’ve hired 11 skilled immigrants through the program – fully 10 per cent of hires in the AET division. And our success is demonstrated in our improved retention rates.”

The hiring events are held in partnership with eight agencies through the CASIP network. Additional sourcing strategies include partnerships with universities and colleges, and Career Bridge, an internship program offered by Career Edge Organization. English language training enhances integration and promotion.

To be proactive, managers in AET and other departments are taking cross-cultural competency and leadership training to mitigate any potential challenges around cultural differences.

“In the last two years so much has changed at American Express Canada,” says Steele. “What makes me most proud is the feedback I get directly from our new skilled immigrant hires. They thank me for the opportunity to work here and grow their career with the company.”
Steele’s results have caught the attention of senior executives and other departments are asking about TRIEC and learning from AET.

“Nancy has spearheaded our skilled immigrant strategy in AET Canada and entrenched it as a core value of the American Express Technologies department,” says Theresa Hughes, Vice President, American Express Canada.

Steele isn’t done yet – now, she’s pushing the bar even higher as she works to build on integration strategies and take immigrant employment programs global.

Nancy Steele, director, American Express Canada: 2010 winner, Canadian HR Reporter Individual Achievement Award from TRIEC’s Immigrant Success (IS) Awards.

This story can be also found in TRIEC’s Immigrant Success (IS) winner page.

When a culture of inclusion is embedded in an organization, building links between employees and skilled immigrants can bring benefits for all involved. Working with TRIEC, Scotiabank, an active partner in both The Mentoring Partnership and the Professional Immigrant Networks initiative (PINs), has definitely seen this first hand.

“Working with TRIEC has been transforming,” says Deanna Matzanke, Director – Diversity & Inclusion at Scotiabank. “We’re a global company and cross-cultural intelligence is really important so a program like The Mentoring Partnership, which gives Scotiabankers the opportunity to develop their competencies in this area while giving back to this community, is gold.”

Scotiabank has made over 300 mentoring matches in just over 3 years but that is only one of the ways the bank is engaging with skilled immigrants and TRIEC. Through its Global Employment Strategies department in collaboration with the Multicultural Banking division, the bank is also sponsoring PINs.

“We want to be both an employer of choice and a bank of choice,” says Deanna. “Through PINs we have a focal point through which we can reach out to diverse communities and our employees can get involved with and support skilled immigrants.”

In 2011, Latin American internal employee resource groups from Scotiabank, IBM and CIBC, held a joint networking event with three Latin American professional immigrant networks. The event gave employees and skilled immigrants a chance to connect with each other in a new way. Like mentoring, PINs is building positive connections between Scotiabank and immigrant communities. Now the bank is expanding on the success of these initiatives nationally.

“We are getting requests for similar programs all over the country,” says Deanna. “Through ALLIES, a national project that supports local immigrant employment councils, we’re now exploring how we can implement these programs in other regions.”

This story can also be found in TRIEC’s 2011-2012 Annual report.

“I first connected with TRIEC when I was a mentor at KPMG through The Mentoring Partnership,” says Nestor Perez, a leader of the Association of Filipino Canadian Accountants (AFCA). “We quickly realized that there may be a lot of benefit to TRIEC and AFCA working together.”

With Nestor serving on the advisory council for TRIEC’s Professional Immigrant Networks initiative (PINs), AFCA was one of the founding members of this network of networks. Through this project they have been able to make many connections that allow them to better support their members, Filipino accountants who have immigrated to Canada.

“Working with TRIEC and PINs has helped us to look beyond just the Filipino community, learn from other groups and make new connections that help us better serve our members,” says Nestor.

One of those connections is with Robert Half Finance and Accounting, a staffing firm that specializes in the placement of accountants. Through this partnership, AFCA members receive complimentary resume building skills and job preparation advice from Robert Half’s recruitment professionals. Meanwhile, Robert Half gains access to a large network of skilled professionals whom they can match with their clients. Similarly, AFCA also has a partnership with both CGA Ontario and CMA Ontario who provide information and resources to AFCA members on these professional designations.

In 2011, AFCA had the opportunity to join forces with several other professional immigrant networks, supported by TRIEC and JVS Toronto, to launch a joint group mentoring pilot program for their members – once again showing the power of connections.

“We wanted to start a mentoring program of our own, but there was real value in taking part in this joint program because it gave us more resources to support our members,” says Nestor. “It’s been very positive for the mentees; those that participated in the first round have all since found employment.”

This story can also be found in TRIEC’s 2011-2012 Annual report.

“When we first engaged with TRIEC in 2009, the community of Vaughan was changing dramatically,” says Mara Furlan, Manager of Learning and Development at the City of Vaughan. “We needed to make some changes to ensure that the City reflected the community it serves.”

Working with TRIEC helped the City establish a plan to do just that. They started by joining The Mentoring Partnership, through which staff mentored skilled immigrants and improved their cross-cultural communications. Yet, the City wanted to do more.

The City jumped at the opportunity to be a pilot site for TRIEC’s new workshops. TRIEC presented workshops to the City’s HR team and hiring managers on Recruitment and Selection, Cross-Cultural Connections, Inclusive Orientation and Onboarding and Managing Performance. And the City has already seen an impact.

“The training has been incredibly eye-opening for me and our staff,” says Mara. “It gave us practical tips, like changing some of our recruitment practices, and also gave us the confidence to start conversations with our community members on how we can continue to improve.”

Now an active partner in the TRIEC Campus, the City of Vaughan is supporting the project’s pilot phase and the development of an organizational checklist for immigrant integration. It is all part of their ongoing path to transformation.

“I’ve seen where we were and where we are today, and it really is a new beginning, a new dawn for the City of Vaughan,” says Mara. “A lot of things are changing positively, and our work with TRIEC around immigrant inclusion has been one of the most positive.”

This story can also be found in TRIEC’s 2011-2012 Annual report.

Aditi Swaminathan is not your typical mentor. Four years ago she was a mentee striving to find meaningful work.

A human resources professional with an MBA, Aditi Swaminathan’s decade of experience spanned India, Indonesia and the United States. Aditi had a baby soon after arriving here, so it was a year before she began seriously looking for a job and employers were not responsive.

Aditi applied to The Mentoring Partnership and was paired with Angela Agostino, Director of Human Resources at Pitney Bowes. Angela helped Aditi position her experience and encouraged her to be patient. Aditi went on to find suitable employment with a multinational transportation organization and now works with Deloitte.

Aditi always knew she wanted to share her road to success once she was established. With three years of Canadian experience under her belt, Aditi applied to become a mentor. “I knew The Mentoring Partnership would introduce me to a motivated newcomer who might also need support,” says Aditi.

Aditi now mentors Shilpa Arya, an immigrant from India whose experience and education mirrors hers. While Shilpa has been proactive in her quest to establish herself, Aditi is there as a sounding board and provides guidance along the way.

“Acting as a mentor means I have come full circle. After realizing my dream in Canada I’m happy to pay it forward,” says Aditi. When asked, Aditi is quick to confirm that she will mentor again.

This story can also be found in TRIEC’s 2010-2011 Annual report.

A recent immigrant, Abhijit Medhi was mentored by a City of Toronto employee and was determined to help others in the same field to build connections and land a job. As a result, he created the professional group of immigrant social workers “I Can Sow.”

Abhijit Medhi, his wife and son arrived in Toronto in October 2012. Both social workers from India, Medhi and his wife saw a great opportunity to start a new life and get global experience in Canada. “We came for better career opportunities and a better lifestyle,” explains Medhi.

While in India going through the immigration process, Medhi participated in the Canadian Immigrant Integration Program (CIIP) through which he developed an action plan to tackle his job search in Canada.

Aware that it might take some time and effort to find a job in their professional field of social work, Medhi and his wife came up with a plan. Medhi would focus on his job search as a social worker, and his wife would try to land any job to sustain their family. Medhi’s wife managed to land a full-time position within 20 days of their new life in Toronto, and now works as a legal assistant for a law firm Leo J. Dillon Professional Corporation.

Once in Toronto and doing his job search, he came across the YMCA where he heard about the mentoring program. He decided to give it a try and registered as a mentee with an immigrant-serving agency COSTI.

“I was very lucky. From day one my mentor and I built a good relationship. He gave me exposure to the hidden job market and connected me to his team and supervisors,” shares Medhi. “He introduced me to the social assistance system in the City of Toronto and helped to organize a job shadowing at one of the local shelters: Seaton House.”

Medhi’s mentor Dan Anstett, a veteran of social work with the City of Toronto, was impressed by his mentee’s determination, qualifications and experience.

“He came with all the tools and education and quite a bit of experience. He set up a group on LinkedIn which was pretty impressive. He took courses at George Brown related to the integration of foreign trained social workers. Abhijit was resourceful, hard-working, determined and systematic in his approach to learn about Canadian social work,” recalls Anstett.

It is not easy for a person from India to adjust to Toronto and its social system.

Medhi admits that in Canada he encountered more monitoring and documenting processes in social work. He also saw that front-line services are given more importance. However, being an immigrant professional can add an edge to a resume of a social worker like Medhi because in Toronto shelters you are dealing with extremely diverse clients. In some situations your cultural background and knowledge of another language can come in handy. Overall, Medhi believes that it isn’t that difficult to adjust to a new reality, especially, if you are passionate about your job and have over 10 years of experience that you can build on.

Mentor Anstett sympathies with Medhi and the other professional immigrants he has met over the years.

“There are many cultural adjustments you have to go through such as learning the terminology and jargon we use in social work in the Canadian context as well as the vocabulary used by clients here. The language a homeless person uses in Canada is different from India.”

The purpose of the mentoring program is to help skilled immigrants get local insights and access to professional networks that only a one-to-one professional connection with a mentor can offer.

With the help of his mentor, Medhi toured local shelters where he had a chance to learn about shelter programs, talk to front-line workers and attend some recreational events for shelter clients.

Anstett, for his part, sees mentoring as a team activity. He stresses the importance of a “team approach” and getting others on his team involved.

“It’s important to develop as many contacts as possible. I introduced Abhijit to my team and supervisors as I know that there are some questions that my colleagues can answer more fully than me and can give their perspective on,” says Anstett.

Mentee Medhi recalls some useful tips and advice he had received from his mentor that helped him to narrow his job search, focus on a specific area and rewrite his resume to target those jobs.

“My mentor stressed some things for me: narrow down your job search, take some workshops in homelessness and connect to professionals in this field. Narrowing down my job search helped a lot to get my first break through rather than being too broad. I got an opportunity in the area that I was targeting: homelessness and addiction. I’m very happy that I got an entry into my sector,” shares Medhi.

In June 2013, Medhi landed a job at Salvation Army where he works as a front-service specialist providing support to homeless.

The advice that Medhi has for all the mentees out there is about building the relationship with your mentor and fostering confidence. “If your mentor is confident in you, they can do miracles for you. It’s about building up a long-term relationship,” concludes Medhi.

From the mentor’s point, Anstett suggest mentees try not to get frustrated as they will eventually get a job. “It’s the matter of time. You have to spend as much time as you can to develop connections. Those connections will pay off.”

Medhi didn’t stop at finding a job – he wanted to do more. He initiated a group for internationally trained social workers “I Can Sow.”

“Immigrant social workers have been struggling to enter the sector. They lack Canadian experience which is this phantom to me and others, but it exists. Sometimes, there is a gap in education. Some jobs require a Bachelor’s degree, but you hold Master’s. Or the opposite, you need Master’s but you only have Bachelor’s,” explains Medhi.

Often having to accept the reality of not being able to find a job in their field of social assistance, many immigrant professional have to take on survival jobs which leads to a new obstacle.

“Most of us need immediate money to sustain ourselves and our families. If someone gets a survival job, they don’t have time to do a proper job search. They are stuck in survival jobs,” continues Medhi.

He asked himself the question “Why don’t we start something to help each other overcome these problems?” instead of waiting for help to come from somewhere else.

“We started a group. I met with TRIEC Professional Immigrant Networks (PINs) team, and from there we started a LinkedIn group and a Facebook group and had several meetings,” recalls Medhi.

Currently, the group has between 50-100 members from various cultures and different backgrounds, and Medhi and his wife are working on recruiting more members. They volunteer for the group on the weekends and week nights and are currently developing a constitution of their professional association.

“There are lots of workshops about job search,” says Medhi. “We’re building relationships. We are looking for connections with employers in this specific field to whom we can offer our immense resources.”

Six years ago, Sischa Maharaj was already an established advocate for helping new immigrants integrate in Canada. In 2007, she won a TRIEC Immigrant Success (IS) Award, the Canadian HR Reporter Individual Achievement Award, for her work on a variety of initiatives to support the hiring of skilled immigrants at CIBC.

That recognition came at a time of transition for her. Having worked as CIBC’s senior manager of intake programs, she was moving to a new role as assistant director at Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

In many ways, the timing of the award was fortuitous.

“It meant a lot because it raised the profile of the work within CIBC. I hoped it meant that the work to remove barriers for new immigrants within CIBC would continue even though I was leaving, and they’ve continued to do great work,” says Sischa.

“At the same time, it signaled to my new community that this was an area I was passionate about and had strength in and it built my reputation in this area.”

At Rotman, Sischa was responsible for the banking stream. She counseled students looking to work in the banking industry, including many immigrant and international students, and managed relationships with banks seeking to hire top talent. “It gave me a broader platform to reach more people,” says Sischa.

And reach them she did. Throughout her time at Rotman, Sischa was an active mentor to new immigrants, both professionally and personally, through The Mentoring Partnership. Her new role also expanded her reach with employers.

“I was able to continue to advocate for immigrant integration, not just with CIBC but with all of the banks that were my clients,” says Sischa. “We talked openly about the challenges for new immigrants and how to solve them. For example, we talked about interview practices and making sure there is a bias-free interview process and experience.”

After five years at Rotman, Sischa took up a new challenge as manager of the International Student Centre at the University of Toronto Scarborough for a year. In this role, she supported 1600 international students and focused on how to support immigrant youth. One of her goals was building cultural competence on campus and expanding support for refugee and immigrant youth.

“I worked with the Director of Student Life at UTSC and a talented PhD student who is specializing in cross cultural psychology to research and develop an intercultural competency framework. This outlines a long term plan to build and enhance intercultural awareness and education on our campus. Including, activities, cultural dialogues and educational workshops with clear learning outcomes linked to inter cultural development.” says Sischa. “I invited TRIEC to conduct an intercultural communications workshop for our work study students and volunteers because we are a very diverse campus.”

Over the six years since winning the Immigrant Success Award, Sischa has continued to champion immigrant integration into the Toronto Region. While her focus has expanded to international students and newcomer youth, her commitment remains the same.

“I think there has been great progress over the years because of work that TRIEC has been doing and other initiatives,” says Sischa. “But I talk to newcomers on a regular basis and it’s still hard. There is a continued need to invest in programs to help newcomers not just to enter but to advance within their organizations.”