HR is having the wrong conversation about immigration. While compliance and policy are important conversations to have, we should also be talking about the often-overlooked employee experience.
We live in a politicized climate with lots of changes to the US immigration policies over the past two years. While it makes perfect sense to focus on laws and regulations, HR leaders should also be obsessed with how talented workers feel about your organization.
What’s the vibe when a new hire moves to America and joins your company? Do you communicate about important topics such as compensation and immigration status? How easy is it for your foreign nationals to ask questions and get timely answers?
If your HR team hasn’t thought about the employee experience for foreign nationals, now is the time.
A Good Onboarding Process Leads to a Positive Employee Experience
It’s essential to think about the employee experience if you want to attract and keep top talent. For companies that hire and sponsor foreign talent, the employee experience matters more than ever. Why go through all the effort to hire a global worker only to lose someone because you didn’t think through all the elements of their onboarding?
Talent acquisition teams should build an employee experience that keeps foreign nationals excited and engaged throughout the entire H-1B visa sponsorship process and beyond.
It starts with onboarding. There’s bound to be confusion and turmoil when an employee moves to a new country. The best HR departments invest in tools and platforms that enable clear and consistent communication, and they work hard to reduce friction and miscommunication before the first day on the job.
A global workforce planning platform is helpful to ensure the conversation around the sponsorship and relocation process is documented, accessible and transparent.
A Positive Employee Experience Aids Retention of Foreign Nationals
How do you keep someone excited about their brand new job once they’ve started? What if those employees moved to America and have family members who are thousands of miles away?
Consider long-term sponsorship for your foreign nationals and their families. Green cards are a powerful tool for employee retention. Many workers have big dreams for their careers that involve moving to the United States and contributing to our economy. Having a clear path to citizenship can give companies a competitive advantage when recruiting from the global talent pool.
Envoy provides a platform where HR professionals and foreign nationals have access to their attorneys, which gives them peace of mind during the immigration process and allows them to focus on being productive and engaged members of your team.
Whatever immigration platform you choose, you’ll want to ensure that the provider has a history of working with customers to speed up the immigration process.
Stay Active in the Global Talent Pool
Tom Friedman once wrote that the world is hot, flat and crowded. Chances are if you hire one foreign national, you’ll hire more. It’s time to think about the employee experience for foreign nationals who may join your organization down the road.
Envoy’s global workforce planning platform has forecasting tools and services for companies to benchmark their green card policies and procedures. There are additional features to show how a company’s approach to immigration and visas can provide a competitive advantage in the talent market.
Make 2019 Your Best Year Yet
HR and talent acquisition leaders should relish in the opportunity to hire foreign workers. It’s fun to communicate key elements of an employer brand to candidates who are excited about your company. And there’s no greater joy than to offer an opportunity for someone to come to our country and experience the American dream.
Instead, far too many teams are caught up in compliance and legal nightmares.
Want to improve your productivity and enhance your immigration and recruiting practices in 2019? Check out Envoy’s resources for talent acquisition teams and HR professionals who hire foreign nationals and make 2019 your best year yet.
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is sponsored by Envoy. Formerly known as VISANOW, Envoy was founded in Chicago in 1998 to help people navigate the stressful, confusing and incredibly inefficient immigration and visa application process.
You must be logged in to post a comment.