Immigrant Success Awards
FSA Toronto submission, March, 2006
"Communities need both magnets and glue," writes Harvard Business Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter in her book, World Class. The "magnet" effect attracts and makes use of external resources—such as investment in the best and brightest citizens—who renew and expand our collective assets and brighten our prospects for the future. The "glue" effect gathers people together based on their existing assets to define the common good and identify strategies that benefit the community.
Family Service Association of Toronto (FSA Toronto) not only works to build stronger communities, we are a community ourselves—seeking out and attracting the best and brightest to help us achieve our mission and serving as a hub for diverse ideas toward a common good. FSA Toronto has responded to the changing needs of individuals, families and communities in our city for over 90 years. We are dedicated to providing service to those who are most marginalized or vulnerable and our programs and services reflect the diversity of Toronto. Likewise, our staff reflects this diversity, enabling us to exemplify the equity we seek to see across the city.
Awareness and Leadership
A single underlying principle guides Family Service Association of Toronto's work and our hiring practices: Our agency is dedicated to a policy of anti-oppression. Our recognition of foreign credentials, refusal to weigh the skills and talent of an applicant solely on their Canadian experience, and our excitement about the multicultural nature of our city attract foreign-trained professionals to our agency and have been key to our ongoing success. Our anti-oppression framework is part of why FSA Toronto will continue to be a recognized leader in equal opportunity employment.
The "Service" in Family Service Association of Toronto is singular. We are in service to the city's populace—a population that the United Nations has ranked as the most multicultural in the world. To be truly effective—truly "of service" to this city—we must reflect its multiculturalism. FSA provides services in nearly 20 different languages. Our counsellors and staff can offer assistance in French, Spanish, Farsi, Somali, Tamil, and myriad other languages that reflect the rich diversity of Toronto.
The benefits of a multicultural workforce are not only felt by our agency in terms of our ability to address emerging needs, but also by our clients. FSA clients often come to us at their most vulnerable, when they are experiencing extremely difficult transitions in their lives. Eliminating the barriers of language, culture and experience as we provide support is invaluable for setting clients at ease and getting to the root of complex issues.
Within the community services sector, FSA has become a recognized leader in providing services to ethno-racial communities. As such, we are the go-to agency for developing partnerships with smaller or emerging ethno-cultural groups to deliver services to newcomer communities. These partnerships further enhance our own experience and expertise while building capacity in the partner organizations and newcomer communities.
Public awareness of FSA Toronto as an organization where foreign-trained professionals are welcomed and encouraged to excel in their field is a compelling and encouraging indication that our leadership is recognized throughout the city. Pushpa Kanagaratnam held a PhD in psychology, but "found the Canadian employment system very frustrating. Finding a job relevant to my training was beyond difficult…I had no opportunities, I was thinking of going home (to Norway)." It was a mention of Family Service Association of Toronto by an acquaintance that opened the door to success and career satisfaction for Pushpa. Working in our Family Violence Centre as a program counsellor, Pushpa finds FSA to be "very welcoming to people with different credentials and backgrounds," and, on a more personal note, "there is such a supportive and pleasing atmosphere…(FSA) is the best job for me."
Our commitment to reflecting the diversity of the city extends beyond our workforce to our volunteer engagement. Family Service Association of Toronto regularly invites broad participating in expanding the ranks of volunteers who are involved in our governance. We recognize that FSA Toronto greatly benefits from varied perspectives so our approach is to ‘cast a wide net' to build a large list of people from many diverse communities and with a range of skills, experience and interests who might be willing to be involved in our work. Interested volunteers must share our strong commitment to anti-oppression and to working together to create the kind of city that fully includes people of different abilities, ethno-cultural groups and incomes.
Our Iranian Community Advisory Council—which is populated through the ‘cast a wide net' process—is a primary example of FSA Toronto's recognized leadership and proven success in promoting the abilities and employment of newcomers. The council, which advises on our agency's community work with the Iranian community, identified the need to improve opportunities for Iranian professionals and help them obtain suitable employment or entrepreneurial support here in Toronto. The Iranian-Canadian Network was initiated by the council and is now a volunteer-run group that offers mentoring programs for newcomer Iranian professionals to give them access to the experience and knowledge of other Iranians already in the Canadian workforce.
FSA is also a much lauded social work training facility in Toronto that provides on-the-job learning opportunities for approximately 30 post-secondary students. Our leadership in the area of anti-oppression attracts many students to the organization and we are able to educate them and lead by example in this arena.
Planning and Sourcing
The FSA Toronto brand has not been crafted through slick advertising, rather it has been earned and established through nearly a century of service to our ever-changing, diverse Toronto communities.
FSA Toronto's commitment to anti-oppression is integral to our recruitment practices. Positions are posted on our website, which is seen by more than 4,500 visitors monthly. Alliances with numerous community groups and organizations allow FSA Toronto to extend our recruitment reach beyond those of our website and traditional publications. These agencies and groups post FSA Toronto literature and employment opportunities, all of which state that "FSA Toronto welcomes diversity and is committed to a policy of anti-oppression."
Our hiring practices are also grounded in the principle of respect. While some organizations have focused on streamlining and cost-effectiveness as the paramount factor in recruitment, FSA retains a focus on quality human interaction and seeing beyond the resume. FSA has made the conscious decision to avoid the de-moralizing phrase, "only those applicants selected will be contacted". Open communication is maintained with our candidates, who are personally informed of their status and are shown gratitude for applying. Applicants—both those who have been hired and those who have not—have expressed their appreciation for FSA's humanity and compassion and the time taken by someone in the organization to communicate with them.
Madhu Bhardwaj, a counsellor in FSA Toronto's Violence Against Women unit, came to Canada with a resume outlining an extensive academic and employment background that should have been celebrated by any social service employer. Born, educated and trained in India, Madhu obtained her Master's in Psychology, a Doctorate in clinical psychology and had spent 18 years practising psychology in a hospital. Employers and hospitals here in Canada were amazed and delighted by her wealth of knowledge and experience, yet no room was found to employ such a seasoned professional.
Financial need forced Madhu into a low-paying, unskilled position, causing worries to mount and making the possibility of returning to India more real by the day. A brief phone call to a job-hotline introduced Madhu to FSA Toronto, opening the door for her to return to her chosen profession and develop her expertise here. Madhu was hired as a program counsellor at our Scarborough office and has used her skills to work with families in crisis and children who have witnessed abuse. Helping children was Madhu's preferred line of work in India and FSA has allowed her to perform work befitting her skills and interests.
FSA is proud to provide our staff the ideal balance of workplace comfort and challenge. FSA's employees and volunteers are stimulated by their work, encouraged to perform to their fullest potential and given reign to be creative in their endeavours. Information Systems Manager Kolade Oluwole finds "FSA to be an organization that believes in the experience and skill-set of a person, and regardless of your history (of employment outside Canada) they're ready to give you the benefit and allow you to prove yourself on the job."
When Kolade first arrived in Canada from Africa four years ago, he faced the three barriers many newcomers find: he was unable to utilize his foreign accreditation, unable to obtain housing for lack of a credit history, and unable to find employment befitting his expertise. It was the willingness and respect that FSA Toronto demonstrates to immigrants that elevated Kolade's opinion of the nation he is now proud to call home.
Not only was this the sole organization that put bearing on his skills and experience, but FSA Toronto allowed Kolade to excel in a managerial position. This is not an uncommon tale for many staff at FSA, who have been given license to practise their professions and develop their own Canadian experience at our agency, when other employers only offered closed doors and voicemails.
Selecting :
In the early 1990s, our agency recognized the value of acknowledging foreign credentials and the quality that lay hidden in equivalencies and knowledge obtained abroad. It was at this time that FSA reformatted the language of its job postings, allowing for a wider bridge to welcome the vastly different newcomers to Toronto. An employee's skill-set can be acquired through a variety of experiences, be they academic, volunteer, work, life or other intangibles that create a talented candidate. Rather than a "micro" approach in our postings, offering a detailed list of the skills, personality and training required by the role, FSA opted to take the open road to our future employees. By listing only the minimal necessary requirements of the job and leaving many variables open for consideration, a wider variety of skilled applicants are presented. The interview stage allows candidates to demonstrate their knowledge and ability to serve our clients.
FSA Toronto has found success hiring foreign-trained professionals through our cyclical panel approach to interviewing. All interviews are conducted by panels of two or three staff. When a position opens, the manager of that department selects a panel of people he or she feels represent a range of backgrounds and perspectives. The panel itself is diverse, varying in age, race, culture, staff position, etc. This team develops the nature and structure of the interview based on the position.
The members of the panel are very often the same international candidates who once sat before a selection panel for their own interview. The selection panel is thus often comprised of people who have a personal understanding of a candidate's background and the challenges of job searching in a new country. They are well equipped to offer a valuable perspective on the candidate's potential.
Kolade was one such applicant, and as a manager, now has experience in interviewing and bringing new members on board. Database Administrator Syed Jafri, who has lived in Canada for one-and-a-half years, was hired by Kolade and is "very encouraged that Kolade, who was in my position not long ago, can hold a managerial position. FSA shows that they intend their employees to succeed and progress in their positions…that is very motivating."
The selection panel will also often test the applicant and have them discuss scenarios regarding their line of work. This allows them to demonstrate their ability and skill, which is far more relevant than a comparison of diplomas. FSA Toronto's hiring policies put the focus in the right place: the ability of the applicant.
Developing:
In one of FSA Toronto's four strategic directions, we have publicly committed to fostering learning and innovation within our agency. We invest in our people and their continuous learning, allotting $300 annually toward professional development, a significant investment within the not-for-profit sector. Additional funds are also reserved each year for staff training provided by the agency.
We support initiatives by our foreign-trained staff to further their education and professional opportunities here in Canada. In addition to her career with FSA and her volunteer efforts within the Indian-Canadian community, Mahdu studied to become a licensed psychologist so that she might practise psychology in Canada. FSA Toronto provided her with a supervisor to guide her in her studies, allowed her flexibility in her position to take the exams and encouraged her to seek further accreditation. Although she now has a Canadian license to practise psychology, she has happily remained with FSA Toronto, preferring the environment, challenge and career fulfilment she is afforded here everyday.
FSA Toronto's Learning and Innovation Fund is a recently-launched initiative intended to foster risk-taking in our work and encourage a constant exchange of ideas among staff. FSA has a history of being at the forefront of addressing emerging needs. Harnessing breakthrough thinking among our staff will continue that history and support our strategic direction. The Learning and Innovation Fund provides seed money and support for groundbreaking ideas—from training to new projects—that have the potential to improve FSA services.
We believe that unyielding commitment to learning is a necessary component to any successful organization. FSA Toronto is dedicated to providing all employees with up-to-date training. In-house training sessions in such areas as computer programs, motivational and communication skills, organization and time management, leadership and new counselling techniques are also made available to staff.
Creating an Inclusive Climate :
Inclusion and support are the legs upon which FSA Toronto stands. Our agency strives to build a more inclusive city and, as such, our programming and volunteer and staff recruitment are renowned for their inclusiveness. Syed was immediately impressed by the inclusive climate at FSA when he joined. "Everybody was so obliging and friendly. With so much diversity already in the building, they (staff members) knew exactly how to make somebody feel welcome." Syed knew as early as the interview stage that FSA Toronto would be a place of acceptance and inclusion when "They asked my thoughts about racism and what my thoughts were about their anti-oppression policies. That said (to me) that FSA is genuinely concerned about helping all people."
Exploring a candidate's thoughts about FSA Toronto's practices and values is integral to the interview process. It immediately establishes for the candidate the value we place on these beliefs and gets them thinking about how our policies and practices align with their own expectations. These discussions also help the panel recognize if the candidate will be a strong fit within our agency.
Once hired by FSA Toronto, all staff partake in in-house anti-oppression and anti-racism training. The all-day training programs challenge attendees' perceptions of prejudice and racism and their assumptions about the abilities of people with disabilities or other groups that are marginalized in our society. "Eye opening" and "profoundly thought-provoking" are some terms used by staff to describe the training, which strives to drive home the agency's foundation in equality and encourage all staff to share in these values.
At FSA Toronto, we do not consider our success hiring foreign-trained professionals to be the result of "going out of our way" to bring immigrants into the organization. We simply welcome the most talented, expertly trained individuals we can find based on the merits they demonstrate through our recruitment process. We then strive to nurture all of our staff to build a strong and productive workforce.
Toronto is renowned for its welcome of people from around the globe, yet for many newcomers, that welcome is much less warm than the city's reputation suggests. At Family Service Association of Toronto, we believe communities benefit when everyone is allowed to participate to the fullest of their abilities. I nclusion is a hallmark of a civil society. Our hiring practices, ongoing support of our staff and leadership as a progressive employer are simply demonstrations of these values.
