A Harvard Business School study shows that immigrant-founded business can perform better in terms of employment growth over three- and six-year time horizons than native-founded business. The study conducted by William R. Kerr and Sari Pekkala Kerr concluded that immigrant-led company grows at a faster rate and are more likely to survive long term.
While William Kerr is not sure with the reason yet, he said, ‘The very act of someone moving around the world, often leaving family behind, might select those who are very determined or more tolerate of business risk.’ He added, “There are many qualities that make immigrants likely to succeed in building their own businesses.”
See also: Human Resources in Asia Pacific vs. the Rest of the World
If you are still considering whether you should bring in foreign workers on board, here are some reasons why you should consider hiring potential immigrant talents in your company.
People who are willing to uproot in search for better self are those who have a growth mindset. Immigrants, in this case, are people who are not afraid to take a high level of confidence and tolerance of uncertainty. They migrate to new places because of a reason and that reason makes them having those skills. They believe in their ability to figure out things and adapt once they get there.
Unafraid of change and new challenges are important character for long-term business survival. It is important to hire those who are in demand, and immigrants who are veterans of change might be your answer. They will appear to help business remain competitive and thrive.
When you are in a brand new culture, you need to continually learn how to adapt to it. Learning new language, skills, cultures, and how to survive become a continual daily requirement. On the other hand, adapting can be somehow painful and difficult. It forces a reexamination of familiar and requires a person to make changes in how to think and act.
In this case, immigrants might offer a benefit for employers as in today’s recruiting, a skill of adaptation to a new environment is necessary for success. Hiring them might help you build organisation of adaptability. It will also enable your company to be more receptive to, and act upon the continual change required in business today.
Immigrant knows how it feels to be an outsider. They might have the feeling of not included in a team. So, they tend to hear voices that might otherwise go unheard in office. Owing to this reason, they will more likely be in tune with realities of discrimination which make them eager to help prevent their colleagues from experiencing the same.
In that case, immigrants could help improve your company’s ethnic and linguistic diversity. They can also bring unique experiences, backgrounds, and knowledge to the workplace. The earlier research finding shows that firms with more diverse people are healthier in its financial performance. However, bringing in diversity to workplace is half the equation if you do not give fair chance and intrigue them into all aspect of business.
One of most desired benefit of hiring an immigrant is that they have international experience. Most companies are not prepared yet to handle this global business. The process itself is filled with plentiful organisational learning and growing pains. As immigrants can adapt and are able to bring in experiences from different country and culture context, their global readiness might help company to keep growing and expand beyond borders.
Read also: Employers Will Depend On Immigrants to Fill Future Job Openings: 2015-2024 Study Highlights
