Post-Recruitment
One advantage of hiring migrants and refugees is their typically higher retention rates, compared to non-migrant employees.
It is important that employers develop appropriate post recruitment policies to improve employee skills, while reducing turnover.
In this section
This section provides guidance on how to effectively manage your migrant and refugee workforce once hired, from onboarding to offering suitable training and English language support.
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Language and Communication
Good communication benefits everyone. These actions can help you to improve workplace communication and also help migrant and refugee employees to develop their English language skills:
Key points to remember
Use plain English and avoid unnecessary jargon
Using inclusive language can help migrant employees at the start of a new role. It is important that written information sources, such as policies and email communications with new migrant employees, use English in an accessible way.
Provide visual instructions
Employers could also consider the usefulness of visual instructions, such as video resources. For communicating issues around health and safety, using internationally recognised symbols can also benefit new migrant employees.
Allow time for language development
Allowing time for language development is important for new migrant employees to learn and use ‘workplace English’. Research shows that measures, such as offering employees paid time off to attend ESOL classes, or providing English classes within the workplace, can be beneficial.
MESH can help you find ESOL providers near your business location.
Encourage peer support
Employers could also consider partnering the new migrant employee with a mentor. Other workers who can provide peer support can help new employees quickly understand workplace policies and procedures. This is especially true for bilingual colleagues who speak the same language.
Induction and onboarding
A positive onboarding experience improves employee retention, wellbeing, and productivity.
An induction programme should meet the individual needs of new employees. For new migrant and refugee employees, this could include sharing induction materials in both English and in the new employee’s own language. Make sure that induction materials are sensitive to people’s religious and/or cultural identities.
A typical induction programme should cover:
Workplace Policies
Health and Safety
Organisational Values
Working Hours and Breaks
Payroll and Pensions
Annual Leave
Reporting Absence
Many migrant employees may be adapting to a new country as well as a new job.
Do not take for granted that employees know how things work in the UK. Many countries do not have the same level of employment rights. Make sure new employees take the holidays and breaks they are entitled to, and know about sick pay.
A word on trade unions
New migrant and refugee employees may come from countries where trade union activity is actively discouraged or restricted. Even if new migrant and refugee employees want to join a trade union they may not know which union to join and how to do it.
Trade unions can also provide members with welfare support, training and other support services migrant workers may not be able to access, or your business may not have the resources to provide.
The TUC provides information on how to join a union.
Employees may need additional support understanding:
Workplace terminology
Issuing a glossary of technical terms in advance can be helpful for new employees.
UK Employment Practices
Some migrant and refugee employees may come from countries where things such as asking for help or complaining are frowned upon. Peer support from the start and regular supervision can help to familiarise new employees with different aspects of UK employment culture.
Transport
In addition to providing information about local public transport options, employers could also help arrange shared transport between employees. For example, could other employees share transport with new migrant employees who live in the same area?
Childcare
New migrant and refugee employees may not be aware of government-funded childcare options. However, it is important to note that not all workers will be entitled to this extra help due to No Recourse to Public fund conditions on their permission to stay.
Our recommended partners in the Yorkshire and Humber region can provide ongoing in-work support to help your new employers settle in.
Wellbeing and inclusion
Some migrant employees may have experienced significant life changes before arriving in the UK.
Diverse Teams
An inclusive workplace helps improve staff satisfaction and retention. an environment where everyone feels valued and able to contribute. Be open to different ways of working and communicating and make sure employees’ voices are heard. Be aware of conscious bias and challenge inappropriate language and behaviour.
Staff Networks
Research highlights the importance of staff networks on giving collective voice to potentially marginalised employees. For new migrant and refugee employees, who may have little experience of working in the UK, staff networks can provide a channel to voice concerns and seek support.
Cultural Awareness Activities
These can be particularly useful for increasing respect and understanding among employees. For new migrant and refugee employees, it is an opportunity to share their backgrounds and feel valued by other colleagues.
Celebration of Diversity
This could include, for example, celebrating international holidays. This could be done internally or through external channels, such as social media. Employers could also consider offering flexible holidays that are celebrated in the home countries of migrant and refugee employees.
Inclusive leadership
Inclusive leadership means taking positive steps to include new migrant and refugee employees in meetings and projects, and giving them further opportunities to contribute.
Employers can promote wellbeing by:
- Ensuring that wellbeing conversations are a normal part of supervision: Remember that language barriers may make it difficult for the employee to fully express their feelings during these sessions.
- Supporting work-life balance: Providing more consistent or flexible schedules where possible can help employees to better plan childcare, transport, and family arrangements.
- Recognising and responding to signs of stress: Employers may recognise stress in the form of higher work absences and arriving late for work, and motivational issues. Consider, when seeking to address these issues, how the stress of migrant and refugee employees may relate to their migration journeys, for example if family and support networks are left behind.
- Signposting mental health support: be mindful that non-western cultures may have different views mental health and emotional distress.
Career development, retention and progression
Many migrant employees possess significant skills and overseas qualifications that may initially be underused.
To support their long-term professional development you could support migrant employees:
- To gain UK professional recognition: UK ENIC is the official UK service to recognise international qualifications of migrant employees.
- To develop English language skills where needed: for example, by arranging time off for ESOL classes, or providing access to online English language training.
- To access mentoring: Successful mentoring can contribute to improved staff retention and career progression, with mutual benefits for both employers and migrant employees.
A final word on right to work checks
It is important that employers check that migrant employees continue to have the right to work. For employers who wish to continue employing migrants with time-limited stay in the UK, they must check on or before their permission to stay expires.
Post-recruitment checklist
- New employee has completed induction
- Line manager has held regular check-ins
- Workplace buddy or mentor identified
- Employee understands workplace policies
- Training and development plan agreed
- Wellbeing support discussed
- Career progression opportunities explored
- Feedback collected and acted upon
- Organisation continues to improve inclusive employment practices