Issues and Challenges in the Recruitment and Selection of ...

that considered foreign workers to be just part of the normal recruitment intakeand were therefore not any more focused on retaining them over and above anyother employee.Nonetheless a number of supports were put in place to assist immigrants in theworkforce, for example:• Ace Auto Body operates a buddy system whereby each immigrant recruitis appointed a fellow worker to help with work and non-work issues (forexample, opening bank accounts etc).• Several employers securing the services of English language tutors toprovide classes in the workplace.• Temple Street Children’s Hospital sought the support of the SIPTU tradeunion to help conduct conflict resolution workshops and addressproblems arising in the workforce.• Microsoft provides cultural training workshops for both employees andtheir spouses, the objective of which is to help both workers and familymembers settle in Ireland. They have evaluated the workshops and madechanges based on employee feedback.• Temple Street Children’s Hospital actively supports immigrant employeesto apply for better posts within the hospital thus providing a careerpathway.• Several companies provided induction for all workers without any specificelements for immigrants, while one noted that its overall diversity policieswere very good and therefore no additional measures were required.In relation to advancement, very few of the companies consulted with had specialprogrammes or interventions to facilitate the advancement of immigrants, but allwere of the view that there were no barriers to their advancement and that therewere numerous examples of immigrants having been promoted.3.4 ConclusionIn general, employers consider the recruitment process to be robust, demandingand difficult to get through, and that this is the case for Irish workers andimmigrant workers alike. They also perceive that it is essential that the robustnessof the process is maintained in order to retain the high standard of employee /60Issues and Challenges in the Recruitment and Selection of Immigrant Workers in Ireland