Hiring and Retaining Asian/Pacific Americans

Michael Soon Lee, MBA

Copyright © 2007 by EthnoConnect – All Rights Reserved

Stereotyping vs. Tendencies

Stereotyping

Assuming everyone is the same

Tendencies Similar behavior based on commonality

APA’s The Workplace

2008 American Labor Force

71% Whites

13% Hispanics

11% Blacks

5% Asians and others

APA’s In The Workplace

Asians are expected to join the labor force at

a faster rate than any other racial group

Major reason for the increase - immigration

APA’s In The Workplace

47% In Management/Professional/Related Jobs Financial managers, engineers, teachers, nurses

23% work in sales and office occupations

15% work in service occupations

11% work in production and transportation (Source: 2005 American Community Survey)

APA’s In The Workplace

Not All Asians Are Alike Japanese = upper management

Asian Indians = computer science/engineering

Chinese = legal & financial services

Filipino = medical & healthcare

Filipino = sales (http://www.asian-nation.org/employment.shtml)

APA’s In The Workplace

Overrepresented In Federal Jobs

7.3% of professionals

3.2% administration

3.7% technical

APA’s In The Workplace

Generational Differences

1st - Tend to be entrepreneurial

2nd- Gravitate towards more traditional jobs

3rd - Are more non-traditional

Sales, journalism, art

APA Education Levels

86% of Asians 25+ have at least HS diploma

49% of Asians 25+ have a bachelor’s degree

25% of whites have a bachelor’s degree

20% of Asians 25+ have a graduate degree

Higher than any other group

Benefits Of Hiring APA’s

• Hard work (Confucian philosophy)

• Language skills

• Negotiation skills

• Team players

• Respect authority

• Global perspective

Challenges In Hiring APA’s

Stereotyping• Technical• Strong in math• Not good verbal communicators• Not interested in sales

Challenges In Hiring APA’s

Stereotyping• Global perspective

Even APA’s who’ve never been outside US• Perpetual foreigners or outsiders• Assumptions that all Asians are alike

Challenges In Hiring APA’s

Unfriendly Hiring Practices

Communication styles can vary

- Visual/verbal: reading

- Visual/nonverbal: charts/graphs

- Auditory: talking

- Kinesthetic: showing

Challenges In Hiring APA’s

1st Generation Asians Tend To Be Visual/Nonverbal

American hiring is based on auditory

Don’t always express ourselves well verbally

Challenges In Hiring APA’s

Internal Challenge

Cultural bias towards modesty holds them back

May understate resume’

Keep boss updated on what they’re doing

Challenges In Hiring APA’s

Must Get Involved With The Community • Ads are relatively ineffective• Long term commitment• Ask for referrals from current employees

What incentives?

Retaining APA’s

Challenges & Strategies For Recruiting APA’s

• Feel isolated

Networks can be very helpful

• Must get involved with the community

• Long term commitment

• Ask for referrals from current employees

What incentives?

Retaining APA’s

APA’s Tend To Be Tolerant And Patient

Need to be proactive in airing grievances• Shouldn’t wait to be recognized

• Should ask for more responsibility

Retaining APA’s

May believe mistakes are shameful

Suggests failure

May be tempted to defend or deny The American workplace is tolerant of mistakes

Retaining APA’s

Don’t Like Competitiveness Of Some Companies Provide integration training when they first join See contradictions between home & company culture Workshops or classes that deal with cultural integration and “constructive competition”

Retaining APA’s

APAs Need To Learn To Communicate Effectively - Toastmasters - They must learn to network Formally and informally

- They must learn to challenge supervisors in a comfortable way Ask for clarification

Retaining APA’s

• Foster professional development

• Provide opportunities for networking/mentoring

• Not connected to traditional networks

Retaining APA’s

• Lack of mentoring/coaching

• Need to learn the power dynamics How things really get done

Michael Soon Lee, MBA

michael@EthnoConnect.com

Copyright © 2007 by EthnoConnect – All Rights Reserved