Quebec, Canada
French
Quebec, Canada
French

“Immigrant onboarding in non-gateway Quebec small to medium enterprises” project is funded by the Government of Canada's Future Skills Centre

About the researchers
Financed by
Media diffusion partners
houzz
discord
The problem

New employee onboarding and maximizing growth

Industrialized countries depend on immigration to bridge existing labour gaps. Yet, according to the Organization for Economic Development, immigrants and immigrant women in particular face higher unemployment rates than non-immigrants1 . Human Resource Development research shows that workplace onboarding, new employee attraction, hiring and skills development programs, may play a crucial role in this situation as they are credited with improving organizations’ ability to attract and retain new employees2 . Yet, the onboarding of immigrants remains an understudied field3

1. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2020b). Foreign-born employment. https://data.oecd.org/migration/foreign-born-employment.htm
2. van Maanen, J., & Schein, E. H. (1979). Toward a theory of organizational socialization. In B. M. Staw (Ed.), Research in organizational behaviour (pp. 209-264). JAI.
3. Wang, Z. & Jing, X. (2018). Job satisfaction among immigrant workers: A review of determinants. Social Indicators Research,139(1), 381-401. doi:10.1007/s11205-017-1708z

Unveiling knowledge gaps: The majority of studies examine

Newly hired university graduates'
Various industries in a single analysis
Large multinational companies or different-sized companies in a single analysis
Larger cities that are popular immigrant destinations
Onboarding experiences using cross-sectional quantitative methods
About the Research

A Toolkit for Employers

Onboarding Immigrants into the workplace
Onboarding Immigrants into the workplace
(Coming Soon) An onboarding model for SMEs
(Coming Soon) An onboarding model for SMEs
(Coming Soon) Four case studies and publications
(Coming Soon) Four case studies and publications

Why this research is different

Onboarding is treated as a 2 way process
The results of this study suggest that effective onboarding of new workers should be a two-way process in the sense both new and existing workers require preparation and training.
Focus on learning and optimizing learning
Workplace onboarding involves learning that takes place within organizations that each have a unique history, goals and character. For these reasons, two theories frame the present study: situated learning theory and systems theory.
Incorporates perspective of multiple stakeholders
The perspectives of workers from across ranks were taken into consideration. These included company executives, Human Resource personnel, supervisors, immigrant workers and non-immigrant workers.
Small to medium enterprises (SMEs)
Small to medium enterprises here are defined as companies with fewer than 500 employees* and were selected because they have different Human Resources and financial means than their larger multinational counterparts(ISED Canada, 2022).
Manufacturers
Manufacturers are the companies credited with driving innovation as well as the advancement of technologies and processes for the production of their goods which in turn, attract foreign investment (Industry Canada, 2020).

What Our Participants had to say

The entire company was involved during the first couple of weeks. I had a meeting with the manager, the person responsible for sales, the boss of my boss, marketing, production, the head of the warehouse… They have such a well-defined structure for new workers that are arriving.

Sergio
Immigrant employee

It came, slowly but surely, it was with the other members of the team, I was paired with someone and he explained everything. They did a great job of welcoming me, honestly, it was great!

Thomas
Immigrant employee

I didn’t find anything difficult whenever I had questions I would go see my team leader.

Miguel
Immigrant employee

Do you need to go to the grocery store? We can help with that! When my wife and kids arrived, they helped find the school, so it was a good experience.

Carl
Immigrant worker

“For immigrants, integration means to work, to have a job. It’s for the responsibilities… a type of motivation to be able to say look I’m working, I’m starting to integrate. ”

Alessandro
Immigrant employee

We talk all the time about accompanying the person [immigrant] but there is no one to accompany the company through the process. We need more initiatives like this study!

Aurelia
HR

He says he doesn’t speak well in French but he does and he’s so nice! He’s competent, he brings with him his knowledge to our team, it’s amazing!

Élodie
HR

If you want to learn a second language or develop professionally, they pay for your classes and free up your schedule. Show an interest, they will train you and it’s an advantage for the company at the end of the day.

Olivia
Supervisor

I get up in the morning and I know I’m going to work but I don’t feel like I’m dragging myself to work. Our bosses manage a great deal of stress, but they don’t put that stress on us. So, it’s really easy to go to work.

Jade
Local employee

We all want to bring our company to the next level and to do that, it’s not by imposing things so management really takes into consideration the ideas of the people on the factory floor to improve the conditions and the performance of the factory.

Olivia
Supervisor
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