The Community Corporate was established with the aim of promoting the important role of work as a foundation for the settlement and belonging of newcomers to Australia.
The social enterprise company specializes in refugee recruitment, cultural training, coaching and workforce solutions. It works with refugees, migrants, adult women and young people, all of whom have gaps in their resumes from being new to the country or the workforce, or their previous unavailability due to breaks in being parents
The “employer-led model” works in partnership with businesses to identify workforce needs and customize a pre-employment training course for each corporate partner to give candidates an understanding of industry, business ethos and roles, as well as Work, Health and Safety and practical customer services.
Candidates are matched to the appropriate position, where employers can assess work ability through job tests.
Community Corporate says the model is about giving employers a “safety net” to take potential and attitude and look beyond the pages of a resume where experience or skills may not have the currency.
“Our candidates, especially our refugees, have the best attitude for work, and we have seen this result in higher conversion to continued employment and retention rates of more than 90% in 12 month,” said Community Corporate founder and CEO Carmen Garcia. World View. “Our people want to work and with the right employer commitment to invest in the long game … this is where we see amazing results.”
Employers in the retail industry are a key focus for the company, with Woolworths, IKEA and OTR among its partners in challenging conventional recruitment and unlocking the potential of diverse job seekers such as refugees and migrants . Woolworths has been a partner since 2016 and has taken more than 200 refugees across the country into its brands.
“We have [strong] retail interest among our refugees, because they want the opportunity to find property in their new community,” said Ms Garcia. “They love helping people and see the inherent value of customer service skills for their future in any job or career pathway.
“Interestingly, we’ve seen the most career progression … in retail, with our jobseekers moving into leadership roles or taking their qualifications overseas [which are] not formally recognized in Australia, such as in IT, finance or engineering, and moving into skilled roles over time. Woolworths is a prime example of this through their genuine commitment to opening doors of opportunity for our refugees.
During this year’s Refugee Week (June 19-25), Woolworths launched a new Community Corporate initiative to welcome those refugees with overseas qualifications and experience into its three technological business branches, the department of IT by Woolworths, WooliesX and WiQ. The Refugee Digital and Tech Cadetship Program, according to Community Corporate, has led to Woolworths creating 30 paid 12-week cadets by December 2023. Refugees will complete job readiness and resilience training and continue to Community Corporate training and a cloud computing course on ServiceNow , a platform that delivers digital workflows, before starting paid work trials.
The new program builds on Community Corporate’s award-winning DiversityWorks! entry level programs are said to have shown that refugees share the values and characteristics of most Australians and have a positive attitude towards work, but just need a chance to prove themselves.
According to Community Corporate, many refugees have limited access to networks to help them navigate the Australian workforce upon arrival to apply through online processes and lack local references and work experience. They often have a discount on the initial stage of recruitment. The company added that with English as a second language, many refugees are very nervous in interviews and are often unsuccessful in expressing themselves.
“Some employers still think that hiring a refugee means visa sponsorship, and this is not true,” Ms Garcia said. “Refugees who come through UNHCR processes are all permanent residents. It’s like hiring any other Australian.”
Ms Garcia calls on retailers to consider diversity recruitment.
“My question for the retail industry is: what do you have to lose by starting a conversation about diversity recruitment when there’s a talent shortage?” he says. “The return on investment may surprise you, and we’re here to help do the heavy lifting.”
This article was published in the September issue of World View.