Like elsewhere in New Zealand, Taranaki businesses are keen to utilise international talent to fill skill shortages. Our team has worked with employers for the past 7 years settling migrants taking up roles and building new lives in New Plymouth and throughout the region.
Here’s what we’ve discovered about how successful local employers attract and retain skilled international workers.
#1 - Promise must equal reality. It may be easy to sell the lifestyle benefits of the regions to offshore hires, as they won't have first-hand knowledge. But be honest and talk through the pros and cons so their expectations are realistic. Then make sure they have support to achieve lifestyle goals. Little gestures count - if the dream is to hit the waves, gift a surf school voucher as an arrival present.
#2 - Address 'fear of the unknown'. Personal factors are often crucial to candidate decisions on roles which involve an international move - research shows that family adjustment, spouse/partner resistance to moving and children's education stood out as the biggest worries. It pays to ensure that candidates are as well briefed on life outside the office as they are on the role and their potential employer.
#3 - Understand the unique employee experience. Successful relocation is not just about changing jobs for offshore hires. These people are uprooting their lives and families as well. Everything is different. Newcomers distracted by stress about finding houses, or settling kids into school, are not going to be focussed on work.
#4 - Onboard outside the office too. Just like an employee is inducted into a new organisation, give your offshore hires a programme of orientation, logistical set-up and mentoring to get them functioning in their new city and set up as quickly as possible. And don't forget the spouse who lacks the instant network of work. How can you help them connect with the local community and/or find employment?
#5 -Prepare the team. Norms can be well established in close-knit communities - it's easy for newcomers to stick out. Provide colleagues with cultural agility training, encouraging the viewpoint that curiosity is the best attitude to have towards a newcomer. This builds productive and collaborative teams in which foreign talent thrives and contributes.
Taranaki has so much to offer new Kiwis, and, with the right support, the vast majority of newcomers thrive in their friendly and beautiful new home.
If you are a recruiter or HR Professional bringing international talent to NZ Mobile Relocation has a range of settlement support services to suit your candidates and your business - from baseline support to meet Immigration New Zealand’s AEWV Accreditation requirements through to personalised programmes to support your most valued international employees.
To book a demo of our AEWV Resettlement Portal, or to better understand how Mobile can help you to ensure you are offering the right resettlement services for your candidates and your business, contact our Principal Bridget Romanes.
Bridget is a New Zealander who has lived and worked as a diplomat in Singapore and India. After experiencing all facets of the relocation experience, she founded Mobile to work with private individuals moving to NZ and leading local and international businesses bringing in offshore talent.