Organising integration effectively in the company!

Starting position/challenge

A range of different measures are needed to respond to the shortage of skilled workers in numerous sectors and to support diverse workforces in companies. Management teams and HR managers in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are therefore addressing personnel concepts such as intercultural opening and diversity management as they often lack experience of employing people with foreign professional qualifications, and in some cases have little experience in general of employees with a migration background. However, due to lack of time, they need easy-to-access, compact information which is firmly focused on practice. Because managers are key stakeholders in the labour market integration of migrants, Network IQ has a range of provision available for SMEs. This has been put together in the form of an “SME toolbox” to meet their requirements.

Implementation of the SME toolbox instrument

The SME toolbox was planned and developed as a joint Network IQ product on the initiative of the IQ Competence Centre for Intercultural Opening and Anti-Discrimination. Key challenges in the implementation were the packaging together of the contents, consulting in a compact manner, and finding the best form of presentation, including clear illustrations, for SMEs. Relevant content was combined with the help of all IQ competence centres, 15 IQ subprojects and 26 IQ authors. The result is a compact set of information and practical examples for companies on 57 cards covering eight topics.

The topics covered by the SME toolbox range from personnel recruitment development through to the commercial benefits of cultural diversity, migration and the labour market, corporate culture and leadership. As part of this, the authors provide highly specific consulting, offer practical solutions, provide compact responses, and supplement all this with contact to IQ consultancy provision and further materials. It is explained, for example, that employees with a fluent command of their native tongue are able to provide the management team with access to new target audiences both in Germany and abroad. This means that diversity provides a competitive advantage for the company. The detailed and modular toolbox is available as an app, online and on the website of the IQ Competence Centre for Intercultural Opening and Anti-Discrimination. It is also available as a high-quality print product and comes in a protective box.

Conclusion

The SME toolbox helps to open doors and provide guidance. This is because the topic of “diversity” presents companies with numerous opportunities for personnel recruitment. So far, a total of 450 boxes have been ordered in print format by companies, chambers, employment agencies, job centres, and municipal and regional authorities. The pages of the online provision have already been accessed more than 3600 times in the first eight months and access via app is currently being launched. Numerous IQ subprojects are reporting that the box is being used successfully in collaboration with SMEs.