Nurturing Immigrant Leaders And Innovators: Why And How

James Barrood,?Innovation+, Tech Council Ventures/JumpStart Angels,?March 1, 2022, Life Science Leader

Many leaders sense that immigrant employees can help their organizations accelerate innovation — and their intuitions align with the evidence. A comprehensive study of one million+ inventors found that immigrants were substantially over-represented and created more valuable inventions than the median inventor, too. But immigrant success doesn’t just happen, and throwing the doors open to a more global workforce doesn’t guarantee it. Like everyone else, emerging immigrant leaders and innovators must be nurtured. Nurturing immigrants can present unique challenges, but it’s an eminently solvable problem.

ONBOARDING

Most organizations now recognize the critical role of onboarding to retention, productivity, and long-term success. Even so, only 12% of employees say their companies do onboarding well. But onboarding immigrants is even more challenging: These new employees may face jarring cultural adjustments both within and outside the organization, possibly along with their families. If assigning a “buddy” to new employees is a good idea for those born here, it’s an even better idea for immigrants.

Onboarding means explicitly communicating corporate culture and “walking the walk” from day one. But it also means modeling openness to the immigrant’s potential contributions to evolving your culture, not just their specialized technical or managerial expertise. As researchers Vandor and Franke suggest, cross-cultural experience helps teams develop diverse cognitive properties ranging from moral judgment to creativity, and it may help them recognize new business opportunities sooner. But that requires both “foreigners” and “natives” to engage in ways that are true to themselves — and this starts with onboarding, which increases their comfort in doing so.

Practical elements of onboarding (“How do I ask a benefits question?”) have an extra layer for immigrants: “Who can help me navigate the bewildering and pandemic-understaffed U.S. visa system? How do I stay within the law here?” Weaving these realities into the immigrant’s onboarding journey requires expertise and forethought. You may need outside consultants or legal resources, but don’t neglect the experiences of previous immigrants within your organization.

ENGAGEMENT

Long after onboarding, companies need to take extra steps to give immigrant employees an equal seat at the table, especially in remote working environments. As you do so, seek opportunities to embrace immigrants into your company and community. With leadership from immigrant employees themselves, look for comfortable and noncontrived ways to celebrate diverse cultures and holidays. Consider giving immigrant employees opportunities to represent you — both within communities and organizations where they’re already comfortable, and in the wider society.

MENTORSHIP

Beyond peer-level “buddies,” mentorship is important to everyone, especially immigrant employees who want to understand what it’ll take to grow in your company and may encounter ambiguous or awkward situations they need help interpreting. Consider providing a “second mentor” from the same region. If no such individual exists within your company, go beyond it to partners or trade associations.

Every employee deserves the best chance to succeed in an environment of welcome and respect. For immigrant employees, this can require even more intentionality and leadership. But the benefits to innovation and performance make this a powerfully compelling investment.