Leah Grandinetti Partners With Hire Immigrants Ottawa

Leah Grandinetti, Welch’s HR Generalist, has recently taken the initiative to become involved with Hire Immigrants Ottawa (HIO). Leah will be connecting our firm with skilled immigrants – her goal is to help Welch LLP gain a better understanding on what these immigrants can bring to the table, the challenges and barriers they face with respect to Canadian employment, and how we can integrate them into our workforce.

On June 6th, Leah attended a coaching event for the finance sector as an employer in the Finance/ Accounting industry. She was able to gain familiarity with their skills and experience gained out of country, learn about the challenges they are facing in joining the Canadian workforce, and provide them with advice and guidance to better market themselves and get their “foot in the door”.

Leah has also participated in two interactive training seminars with HIO. The first session on cross-cultural interview training explored communication during the interview process between interviewers and interviewees of different cultures, potential misinterpretations, and the ability to recognize misconceptions. The second session on cross-cultural competency building explored the foundation of effective communication between new Canadians and their Canadian employers in the workplace setting. They discussed perception, interpretation, workplace communication, cultural adaption and workplace effectiveness, verbal and non-verbal communication, and problem solving. Both of these sessions provided Leah with tips and strategies to better understand and communicate with candidates of different cultures.

Leah looks forward to continuing her involvement with Hire Immigrants Ottawa with the goal of further diversifying our workforce. She hopes to establish relationships and provide opportunities to the skilled immigrant talent pool which is often overlooked.

From all of us at Welch, great job Leah!