Nancy Steele

­­­­By Karolina Weglarz

Imagine immigrating to a foreign country. You’re unfamiliar with the culture and language, but somehow you manage to land a job within a well-known company. You feel as though you fit in with everyone and do your job as well as everyone else. So, it’s a shock when one morning you are informed that you are being let go by the company.

Many immigrants find themselves in similar situations; overlooked for positions in a company because hiring managers feel they are under-qualified for the job or won’t be a good fit because of language and cultural barriers.

Nancy Steele, Director at Amex Technologies, American Express Canada, noticed this gap within her company and realized the company’s policy of hiring skilled immigrants was failing. Three years ago, she spearheaded an initiative that would pilot skilled immigrant recruitment and retention strategies within her organization.

By carefully pre-screening candidates and evaluating their educational criteria from their homeland, Steele, though not an immigrant herself, learned how to draw the right talent to her department.

With much hard work and dedication, her efforts have paid off as she is being considered nationally and internationally as the first person to start a project of this calibre. She is also currently working closely with companies in the United States and Japan to broaden the initiative.

Her skills and successes were recognized on Wednesday March 9, 2011, when she was recognized with the Canadian HR Reporter Individual Achievement Award during the fifth annual Immigrant Success Awards, which recognize exemplary practice in integrating skilled immigrants in the Toronto Region.

Q: Where did you get the inspiration to begin this initiative?

A: The inspiration came around focusing on doing something more innovative than anything that had ever been done before. I saw immigrants underestimated and misunderstood working in the call centre – even though they had the same skills as the rest of the technology team. This was my first “A-ha!” moment.

Q: Did you run into any obstacles while spearheading this initiative?

A: Persuading people to believe in what I was doing was difficult at first. The senior leaders all had to be aligned with our goals. We did get sponsorship, which helped out a lot, as well as flexible work schedules, which helped with balancing the training programs. This is not part of my actual job, so much of it was done during my lunch breaks or weekends, and if I wasn’t working on this, I was doing my regular job. It was a lot of work, but the end result is worth it.

Q: What has been your greatest accomplishment with this project so far?

A: The greatest accomplishment is the number of hires we’ve brought on board. With the help of TRIEC’s BUILD IT program, as well as hiring events which connect recruiters with candidates, the program has brought 11 hires on board. Another accomplishment is getting the internal managers on board with the idea of what is being done. Cultural changes have become evident in the workplace now and managers are talking about it and wanting to implement it within their own companies.

Q: Why is immigrant integration so important for Canadian companies?

A: It’s great for businesses because diverse populations in Canada are constantly growing. There needs to be a blend in the workforce to challenge the dynamics of the Canadian market, as well as for companies to have a better drive towards making a better company. Managers need to understand why they think the way they do about hiring immigrants and realize that core skills are transferable, no matter who you are.

Q: What plans do you have for the future?

A: For myself, I want to continue spearheading this initiative from a Canadian perspective. I want this to become the norm among companies. I want it to blend into regular work dynamics. For the organization, it’s already starting to move into the United States, so I want it to become more widely implemented around the world. It’s going to take time, but it’ll be worth it.