Integrating Internationally Trained Individuals without Reinventing the Wheel

Due to the retirement of the Baby Boom generation and decrease in birth rates, labor markets in many Western countries are currently facing an impending knowledge and skill shortage as the lack of available domestic talent rapidly shrinks. One of the obvious sources for skilled workers to fill that gap has been through immigration policy and the recruitment of Internationally Trained Individuals (ITIs).

The hiring of Internationally Trained Individuals (ITIs) has not been as simple as many employers have expected. Many cite barriers to hiring these newcomers such as the inability to assess international training and education credentials, language proficiency and the ability for the individual to integrate into the culture of the company and the country.

As such governments and organizations have invested significant funds in the past decade resulting in millions of dollars being spent on thousands of projects to aid in the recruitment of ITIs. Many of these projects have sought to create new and innovative means of assessment and integration and many have been faced with an elimination of their funding due to the inability to produce results.

Filling the Gap without Starting from Scratch:

Especially during these difficult financial times and just as much so as we emerge from fiscal restraint, perspectives shift from looking for new and innovative solutions, to what we can do using what we have today. One such approach that has been used by organizations for decades in the recruitment and integration of its new employees is Competency-based Management or CBM.

Many organizations throughout the world have effectively built their human resource functions around CBM in order to operate more efficiently and productively. CBM is not only an effective method to organize talent but it is also associated with a critical collection of tools that can be used in bridging the skills gap for ITIs; an approach which may cost little or nothing for some organizations and is effective for all current and potential employees.

This post is based on content from 'Integrating Internationally Trained Individuals without Reinventing the Wheel' by Shaun Vollick.