Engaging Newcomer Talent in the Workplace

CSU Is Your Readiness Partner

Helping employers build the knowledge and practices needed to welcome, support, and retain newcomer employees

• Northeast Ohio employers are increasingly looking to refugees, immigrants, and other newcomer populations as an important source of talent.
• Successful engagement, however, requires more than recruitment.
• Employers also need to understand how workplace expectations, communication practices, supervision, organizational culture, and team dynamics may affect the experience and success of newcomer employees.
• Through CSU Pro, Cleveland State University helps employers build that understanding and strengthen the workplace practices that support successful employment and retention. 

Areas of Focus

Employer education and support can address areas such as:

• Welcoming and Onboarding
  Understanding how to introduce workplace expectations, organizational culture, and workplace norms in ways that support newly arrived employees.
• Supervisor and Manager Readiness
  Helping supervisors and managers lead effectively across cultural, linguistic, and experiential differences.
• Cross-Cultural Workplace Communication
  Strengthening communication, feedback, trust, and day-to-day interactions across diverse teams.
• Team and Workplace Readiness
  Preparing existing employees to work effectively with colleagues from different cultural and national backgrounds.
• Retention and Advancement
  Understanding the workplace conditions that support persistence, development, and career mobility for newcomer employees.
• Organizational Assessment and Customized Support
  Identifying workplace practices that may create barriers and developing approaches responsive to the needs of the employer. 

CSU's Role

Cleveland State University's role is focused on the employer side of workforce integration.

Community organizations throughout Northeast Ohio already provide essential services that help refugees and other newcomers prepare for employment and connect with job opportunities.

CSU complements that work by helping employers strengthen the management practices, communication, and workplace culture that support successful employment and retention. 

Build Your Newcomer Workforce Strategy on Evidence: CSU can help employers understand the experiences, needs, and opportunities within their organization before determining the right approach to onboarding, training, and employee support.

Our team can use professionally facilitated focus groups, workforce surveys, and validated measurement tools to gather meaningful feedback from employees, supervisors, and organizational leaders. Advanced analysis, including predictive statistical methods when appropriate, can help identify patterns related to onboarding, engagement, retention, workplace readiness, and other workforce outcomes.

These insights can help employers move beyond assumptions and make informed decisions about where training, workplace practices, or additional support may have the greatest impact.

This data-informed approach can be used to:

• Identify barriers experienced by newcomer employees during onboarding and integration
• Understand the perspectives of employees, supervisors, and organizational leaders
• Assess organizational readiness to support immigrant and refugee workers
• Identify factors associated with employee engagement, retention, and advancement
• Establish benchmarks and measure change over time
• Inform the design of training and workforce strategies tailored to the organization

Customized for Your Workplace

Every organization is different.

CSU can work with employers to understand their workforce needs and develop education and support that reflects their organizational environment, supervisors, employees, and goals.

Engagements may focus on a specific workplace challenge or address broader organizational readiness for engaging newcomer talent.

University Expertise

This work brings together expertise in workforce development, adult and professional education, human resources, organizational culture and change, and refugee workforce integration.

Your partners at CSU

• Vickie Coleman Gallagher, Ph.D.
  Professor of Management; Co-Director
  Center for Refugee and Immigrant Success
• Nancy M. Pratt, Ph.D.
  Executive Director
  Division of Lifelong Learning and Workforce Development Workforce development