I read with interest the article “Retention management key in talent-short market” (Human Resources, issue 75). I am very concerned about a key finding of the study: one of the most effective means of improving morale in order to retain staff was “hiring high quality, like minded people that existing colleagues enjoy working with”
I read with interest the article “Retention management key in talent-short market”(Human Resources, issue 75). I am very concerned about a key finding of the study: one of the most effective means of improving morale in order to retain staff was “hiring high quality, like minded people that existing colleagues enjoy working with”.
I have no doubt there is a lot of truth in the above statement and undoubtedly, many organisations put a great emphasis on hiring individuals who would easily and quickly fit into the organisation from a cultural and social point of view.
The problem is that Australia has been a predominantly Anglo-Saxon country with an Anglo-Saxon culture. Today, Australia’s population comes from virtually every corner of the world with wide-ranging cultures, and first generation immigrants, in particular, do not necessarily fit easily into the Anglo-Saxon culture. Are the talents of these people ignored for not fitting into the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ culture?
Certainly a practice of hiring because the applicant would fit into Anglo-Saxon culture runs the risk of breaching equal opportunity and anti-discrimination legislation.
But even more importantly, organisations today have to deal with people of non Anglo-Saxon background, both within and outside Australia.
Often a person who speaks the same language and knows the culture will achieve far better results than the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ individual. I do not imply anything derogatory against Anglo-Saxons but it is a fact of life.
As president of the Australian Doctors Trained Overseas Association, I see regularly decisions about hiring being made on how well they would fit into the social culture of the organisation and not upon medical competence.
I would also state quite categorically that Anglo-Saxon doctors, knowing English only and with very poor experience in dealing with first generation migrants with limited English and very different cultures, are very inefficient at dealing with a significant part of the population.
Large numbers of mistakes (adverse outcomes) are made by the doctors because of communication problems.
It is just as important, if not more, to ensure that employees have the language and cultural skills to service the needs of clients rather than fitting in with the internal culture of the organisation.
–Andrew Schwartz, president, Australian Doctors Trained Overseas Association
