YOUR FOREIGN WORKER FEELS LIKE A TURKEY,

BUT CAN LAY YOUR GOLDEN EGG!

Challenges facing newcomers and their versatility in the workplace

An Immigrant’s Spirit

A turkey with its head cut off.  That is how I felt 20 years ago when I arrived with my wife and baby.  I was eager and determined to succeed.  I was optimistic and enthusiastic, yet unsure and vulnerable.  This was my opportunity, but I felt insecure in the unknown.  I felt invigorated and unique.

Twenty years later and after counseling thousands of newcomers, I realize that I felt no different to any of them.  My spirit was the soul of the immigrant!

America leads the world in business because every American has the immigrant gene.   Some of us have become complacent, but our greater spirit remains daring and delighted to blaze new trails.

The role of the Human Resource Manager

Relocating to the U.S.A. may offer wonderful opportunities for newcomers, but they must first strike roots in this fertile land before they can blossom.

A human resource manager can have a powerful impact on a newcomer’s performance on the job.  The more relaxed and focused newcomers are on the job, the better their work product.

The newcomers’ vision, style and approach to tasks

Many newcomers have worked in far smaller markets than the United States where there are fewer people who can afford products, or where there is a smaller population.  The available resources are often scant compared to what we have in the United States.  The requirements for maintaining good customer relations, both in business-to-business and business-to-consumer, are different because of the business culture and market size.  The culture of the workplace may be socialist, sexist or serene.  Even in places like Great Britain, Australia, and South Africa where one would not expect big differences in business style, there are great differences.

In small markets, workers are often required to fill multiple positions.  They acquire diverse experience.  Workers become versatile.  They know through real, practical experience how different departments in a corporation should co-exist.  They know how to adapt and overcome obstacles. They invent methods, products and systems out of necessity.

This conjunction of upbringing, training, markets, experience, and culture has an impact on the vision, style and approach that a newcomer brings to the job.  Simply stated, newcomers automatically think out of the American box.  This vision brings fresh blood to strategies and challenges.

How do the newcomers feel on the job?

They feel more stressed than their American co-workers.  They are not only dealing with their jobs; they are also adjusting to the challenges of the U.S. business culture, the American lifestyle and the American language.

Understanding the newcomers’ challenges

The business culture, schools, health services, holidays, housing, credit, choice of products and services are only a few areas where newcomers are bewildered.  Then there is Little League, cheerleading and summer camps.  How about the rules of football and the hierarchy of baseball?  And while we are still around the water cooler, how do you explain the sanity of “cutting a check”?

Newcomers are deeply concerned about their finances and their family’s welfare.  They are afraid of falling prey to unscrupulous vendors or making poor decisions.  This stress is real and is carried by them into the workplace.  So, in addition to coping with the normal stresses associated with their jobs, they are constantly dealing with the added stress of acclimating to the U.S.A.

My story

I had been an attorney for ten years in South Africa.  Ten weeks after arriving, I successfully passed the California Bar Exam.  You would think that this immigrant was sophisticated and smart?  No!  Within three days of arriving, I bought a used Ford Pinto station wagon for my wife.  What is more, I paid cash for it!

If only I knew about Consumer Reports, I would have discovered that Ford Pinto’s were inclined to explode when they were rear-ended.  If only I was aware of the Kelly Blue Book, I would have paid less for the floating minefield, assuming that I wanted to risk the lives of my wife and baby.  If only I realized that I could have leveraged my cash payment to buy a certificate of deposit and used that together with the car as security to finance the car.  I then could have started to develop a credit history in my new country.

I discovered the Pinto’s reputation the night after I bought the car.  I visited my cousin to proudly display my first major acquisition in my new country.  My cousin could not contain his laughter although he made every effort to do so.  He was my guiding light in my immigration, but he could not be accountable for my every move, purchase, strategy and decision.

I hated the car.  I was angry with myself and the unscrupulous, used-car salesperson who could do this to an innocent immigrant.  Despite the fact that I rarely changed its oil, my personal revenge for being duped, the Pinto persisted in performing magnificently.  It did not explode, although the veins in my head came close to doing so.

The naked newcomer

Newcomers lose their identity and their network of contacts.  They may have been respected professionals, businesspeople or workers in their home countries.  Upon arrival in the United States, the slate is wiped clean.  They are unknown and alone.

The loss of their advisors exposes them to every scheme and innocent blunder.  The Yellow Pages is a poor pillar of protection and direction, yet it is often the main resource for newcomers.

Which questions to ask

One of the biggest problems in adjusting to life in the United States is knowing which questions to ask.  If we look at the story of my Pinto fiasco, I would have asked whether there was a book that gave approximate prices on used cars.  There was no such book in South Africa.  If I knew that there was a magazine that evaluated the performance and safety of products (Consumer Reports), I would have sought it out.  There was no such book in South Africa.  If I knew that there was a way to leverage my cash into starting a credit history, I would have asked about it.  I automatically assumed that without a credit record, and without a job, I would be unable to finance the car.

The need for help…as old as Thanksgiving itself

A newcomer’s need to know how to live in the United States is as old as our Pilgrims’ arrival in this country.  Our Thanksgiving national tradition continues to celebrate the help received by newcomers from Native Americans.  The Pilgrims would have perished in their new environment if the Indians did not guide them in the ways of this new country.

The challenge of adjusting to the U.S.A. has not changed since the time of the Pilgrims.  Newcomers still need help and whether they are farming corn or developing software programs.

The need for guidance on how to acclimate to the United States is essential to a newcomer’s productivity and success.