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Running head: MIGRANT SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN NEW ZEALAND 1

HRD for Societal Development: A Case Study of Migrant Skills Development in New Zealand

Charlene Mutamba

Tracy Pakornsawat

North Carolina State University

[email protected]

MIGRANT SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN NEW ZEALAND 2

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this case study is to explore the use of HRD in Canterbury Business

Association’s efforts to develop immigrants for local employment opportunities.

Design/ Methodology: A qualitative case study approach.

Findings: Analysis from this case study revealed four themes: (a) mentoring, (b) advocacy and

resources, (c) diversity and culture and (d) women. The use of HRD was focused on

employment and creating enterprises that will allow immigrants to be self-employed. This was

primarily achieved through understanding the Migrant Mentoring Program and the Migrant

Enterprise Development Program.

Research Implications: This case study presents another opportunity to theorize the use of HRD

for Societal Development (SD) and to strengthen and transform traditional HRD theory into

multilevel theory in a wider context (Kim, 2012b). This research expands HRD research to other

populations during a time when employment and migration have become global policy level

issues. It adds to the qualitative literature on aspects of community and SD processes, especially

among immigrant populations.

Practical Implications: HRD practitioners in SD contexts can also gain their experience through

trial and error and not only from formal exposure to the field of HRD because of the varied

nature of issues they encounter. This will also enable them to expand the role of HRD into

advocacy in the public space. This presents an opportunity for HRD professionals to improve

their value proposition within and outside the organization while contributing to greater societal

good (Griffiths & Koukpaki, 2012).

Keywords: HRD for societal development, immigrants, non-governmental organizations

(NGOs)


Human Resource Development (HRD) has been used extensively to address global

concerns such as: environmental threats, crime, social justice, health and safety, poverty and

human rights (Kim, 2012). It is currently used in various contexts of societal development

therefore it is necessary to explore how it is used to bring meaningful and lasting changes for the

public good at multiple levels (Kim, 2012). Societal development is a process of complex

changes in social and societal systems that lead to human development and ultimately benefit

communities, states, nations and global systems. In order to understand societal development,

the definition of human resource development proposed by McLean and McLean (2001) will be

used as

Any process or activity that either initially or over the long term, has the potential to

develop adults’ work based knowledge, expertise, productivity and satisfaction, whether

for personal or group/team gain, or for the benefit of an organization, community, nation

or ultimately, the whole of humanity (p. 322).

The context in which most human resource development interventions take place is very

diverse. It includes environments focusing on health, culture, safety, community, manpower

planning, welfare, poverty, violence, unemployment, women, disabled, entrepreneurship and so

forth.

Problem Statement and Significance

In the 2012 issue of Advances in Developing Human Resources, scholars agreed that

there is a lack of an adequate human resource development framework in societal development

settings. In addition current human resource development theory and practice do not adequately

address the issues and challenges faced in societal development contexts in terms of purpose,

scope, methods or outcomes (Kim, 2012). This study fulfills the need to explore how human


resource development can be used for different societal development contexts and how HRD

scholars and practitioners address the problem of conceptualizing human resource development

in various community settings. In response to Wang’s (2012) recognition that human resource

development can have a benefit beyond organizational and economic contexts this study

therefore intends to highlight the need for human resource development practitioners to

“reposition themselves as change agents, seek external support and form partnerships which will

empower them in their effort to promote social and national progress” (p.306).

Unemployment has a negative effect on the wellbeing, settlement and adjustment process

of immigrants and their families (Pernice, Trlin, Henderson, North & Skinner, 2009).

Unemployment and underemployment were found to be major predictors of depression, low

mental health and poor adjustment among immigrant populations. Aycan and Berry (1996)

report that unemployment leads to psychological problems whereas having work provided an

income and a status and identity which enabled the individual to develop relationships.

Christchurch, New Zealand: A Background

New Zealand has a population of about 4.4 million. The population in New Zealand is

made up of Europeans (71.2%), Maori (14.1%), Asians (11.3%), Pacific peoples (7.6%), Middle

Eastern, Latin American, African (1.1%), other (1.6%), not stated or unidentified (5.4%) (Central

Intelligence Agency, 2015). The majority (89.8%) of the country’s population speaks English.

Like many countries around the world, New Zealand’s population is increasing, and the large

increase in population in the last decade is mostly from immigration. Most immigrants come

from India, China, United Kingdom, Philippines and Germany (Masgoret, McLeod, Tausi,

Ferguson, Plumridge & Duke, 2012). The term immigrant applies to persons, and family

members, moving to another country or region to better their material or social conditions and


improve the prospect for themselves or their family (International Organization on Migration,

2011).

Christchurch, which is in the Canterbury region, currently has a population of about

375,000 making it the second largest after Auckland and Wellington (Central Intelligence

Agency, 2015). The Quarterly Canterbury Job-matching Report (2014) form the Ministry of

Business Innovation and Employment shows that in the year leading to September 2014,

Canterbury employment rose, unemployment fell, and the number of people outside the labor

force fell. The employment rate was near the all-time high (since the series began in 1986)

recorded in the June 2014 quarter. The unemployment rate has been steadily falling over the

past year. The increase in Canterbury employment since the September 2013 quarter included a

13,800 (38%) rise in the construction industry and a 7,800 (15%) rise in the retail trade, and

accommodation and food services industry group. The total number of actual hours worked in

Canterbury was up 11.1%.

The New Zealand government currently gives preference to immigrants who have

qualifications in fields experiencing skills shortages (Masgoret et al., 2012). Since the

earthquakes that affected the Canterbury region in September 2010 there have been skills

shortages. The region has skills shortages in: construction, engineering, trades (bricklayer,

carpenters, welders, electricians and so forth), and transportation (truck drivers). Local labor

supply is tight and is expected to remain so for the next three years as a large amount of

construction work continues on the rebuild but migrants are the main source of increased labor

supply.


Canterbury Business Association

Canterbury Business Association (CBA) is a registered charitable not-for-profit

organization which supports immigrants and refugees with employment and business services

mostly in the city of Christchurch. The organization exists to empower immigrants and former

refugees into employment and business. They provide mentoring for job seekers; micro-

enterprise and business development. In addition, the organization promotes and advocates for

the wellbeing of ethnic business people, ethnic women, and recent refugees including disabled

refugees. The organization also aims to work with youth and the elderly from immigrant

backgrounds.

Migrant Mentoring Program. The mentoring program is a voluntary job mentoring

and job experience/placement scheme aimed at facilitating immigrant participants’ efforts to

obtain meaningful work with New Zealand organizations. The organization also runs a Migrant

Enterprise Development Program which started in November 2013 consists of short, sharp,

practical courses with a signature six-point business plan which assists the participants to

translate their ideas into a viable business plan. They also learn about marketing and selling their

ideas, and their products. The organization offers mentoring and other support to help them get

from the idea to implementation. The organization also has a Christchurch International Market

whose objectives are to: create jobs, create new business opportunities for newcomers and access

to market for new products as well as provide immigrants a sense of community and wellbeing.

Research Questions

The research question guiding this study is: What is the role of HRD in CBA’s effort of

developing immigrants for employment in Christchurch, New Zealand? Other questions guiding

this study are:


1. What are some of the HRD interventions used by CBA to develop immigrants for

employment?

2. What have been some HRD related challenges for CBA’s Migrant Mentoring programs?

Method

A single case study methodology was used to understand CBAs efforts to assist

immigrants in Christchurch, New Zealand find employment. The decision to use a case study is

based on Yin’s (2009) notion that case study research involves the study of a case within a real

life contemporary context or setting. For this case study, a semi-structured interview was

conducted with the Founder of CBA, Taz Mukorombindo, and the organizations documents were

analyzed. Taz initiated and runs the Migrant Mentoring Program and the Migrant Enterprise

Development Program. The interviews were analyzed using open and a priori coding. The case

study was bounded by time (2007-2014), and place (Christchurch, New Zealand). Utilizing the

case study approach provided an in-depth understanding of the specific issues surrounding the

development of immigrants for employment in Christchurch (Creswell, 2013).

An interview was conducted in the fall of 2014 using Blackboard Collaborate web

conferencing software. The interview lasted about 2 hours and the interview technique used

afforded the interviewer a chance to probe for clarity and elaboration of questions. Using a

qualitative research design also afforded my participant a chance to influence human resource

development practitioners. In addition to the interview, secondary source analysis was

conducted on CBA documents. Analysis of the case will involve interviews, documents and

reports that are related to CBA’s efforts to assist immigrants in finding employment.

This case study follows Merriam’s (1998) recommendation that case study methodology

be used when the researcher attempts to get an understanding of an issue or a phenomenon from


the perspective of those involved in the situation. The interview in this qualitative case study

was conducted with someone who is implementing human resource development interventions

and this makes their perspective an important one in answering the questions proposed in this

study.

The participant was protected through member checking by allowing them to read the

transcript to ensure their views are accurately represented. The participant was purposively

recruited based on the researcher’s prior knowledge of their migration and societal development

efforts. Triangulation is a technique which refers to the use of multiple forms of data collection

to ensure accuracy of the data (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). This qualitative study will utilize

multiple sources as evidence in this study comes from two sources: semi-structured interviews,

and a review of secondary sources. While, semi-structured interviews will be the primary

method of research, documents on CBA efforts and accomplishments will be used to support and

complement the primary approach. All procedures in this study were approved by the IRB

(Institutional Research Board) at North Carolina State University prior to the commencement of

the study.

Data Analysis

The interview was recorded and transcribed verbatim within a week of conducting the

interview. Data analysis was conducted in different phases. First, upon completion of interview,

it was transcribed and the interview notes were placed into a word document. Next, the

interview transcript was analyzed using open coding. Creswell (2013) defines open coding as,

“coding the data for its major categories of information” and categories are, “units of information

composed of events, happenings and instances” (p.86). The third stage involved a priori codes


derived from the national human resource development and societal development frameworks to

analyze emerging themes.

Participant

Taz Mukorombindo, an immigrant from Zimbabwe founded Canterbury Business

Association in 2007 during his first year as an MBA student. Canterbury Business Association

was created as a not for profit organization which supports immigrants and refugees with

employment and business services. They are involved in supporting ethnic business persons

with information and support towards recovery as a result of the Christchurch earthquakes. He

has also initiated and runs the Migrant Mentoring Program to assist immigrants with job search

and placement. In 2011, the Mentoring Program was selected by the Equal Employment

Opportunities Trust for their Diversity Awards, recognizing organizations that help to promote

harmonious relations and diversity within New Zealand. In addition, the United Nations

Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations recently recommended CBA receive or special

consultative status with the Economic and Social Council.

National Human Resource Development Framework

Swanson and Holton (2009) describe HRD as, “a process of developing and unleashing

expertise for the purpose of improving individual, team, work process, and organizational system

performance (p.4). While Wilson (2012), defines HRD as, “the processes for increasing the

cognitive, affective and behavioral capacities of all people and organizations in a society” (p.9).

These definitions of HRD have been expanded as the field of HRD is explored in different

contexts.

The increasing global environment in which HRD practitioners operate increases the

need for a definition that incorporates an international focus. Peterson (1997) defines


International HRD as “all of the following: unicultural (for example, HRD in Poland),

intercultural (for example, HRD in a multinational firm with offices in the United States, Peru,

and Sweden), and general (for example, HRD in an international joint venture” (p.64). The

expansion of the definition of IHRD is reflected in Wang and McLean (2001) decision to include

government entities and cooperation across national borders. In addition, Metcalfe & Rees

(2005) define International human resource development as,

“a broad term that concerns processes that address the formulation and practice of human

resource development systems, practices and policies at the global, societal and

organizational level. It can concern itself with how governments and international

organizations develop and nurture international managers and how they develop global

human resource development systems, it can incorporate comparative analyses of human

resource development approaches across nations and also how societies develop national

human resource development policies” (p. 455).

The definition of human resource development has also been expanded with the concept

of national human resource development. National human resource development refers to the

development of a national policy to improve the wellbeing of its citizenry and is normally

devised by governmental departments (Kim, 2012). Swanson and Holton (2001) propose that

there is a need for human resource development in developing nations to address the challenges

of developing their human resources as a national asset and source of sustainable development

and competitiveness which calls for a broader definition of national human resource

development. Therefore, the author chooses the definition of HRD that encompasses the different

contexts of human resource development in a global environment as proposed by McLean and

McLean (2001) whereby:


Human resource development is any process or activity that, either initially or over the

long term, has the potential to develop adults’ work-based knowledge, expertise,

productivity and satisfaction, whether for personal or group/team gain, or for the benefit

of an organization, community, nation or, ultimately, the whole of humanity (p.10).

Thereafter, scholars proposed the concept of National Human Resource Development, as

a theory separate from but derived from human resource development. Hence, this concept of

national human resource development has evolved tremendously in the last decade. Cho and

McLean (2004) propose that it is every effort, such as education, training, cultural activities and

institutional improvement at national and societal levels for the purpose of efficient development

and utilization of national human resources. While, Lynham and Cunningham (2004) describe it

as a process or processes of organized capability and competence based learning experiences

undertaken within a specified period of time to bring about individual and organizational growth

and performance improvement. They expand the scope to include national economic, cultural

and social development.

McLean (2004) argued that national human resource development goes beyond

employment and preparation for employment issues to include health, culture, safety,

community, and a host of other considerations that have not typically been perceived as

manpower planning or human capital investment. While Harrison and Kessels (2004) limited it

to the organizational process which comprises the skillful planning and facilitation of a variety of

formal and informal learning and knowledge processes and experiences, primarily but not

exclusively in the workplace, in order that organizational progress and individual potential can

be enhanced through the competence, adaptability, collaboration and knowledge-creating activity

of all who work for the organization.


In the evolution of national human resource development, other scholars focused on the

country level perspective. In Kenya national human resource development is synonymous with

education to eradicate “ignorance, disease, and poverty therefore NHRD initiatives should

address population, human resource planning and development, education, manpower training,

employment and labor market policies, poverty interventions, youth development, health, shelter,

housing and other welfare perspectives (Lutta-Mukhebi, 2004 p. 327). While Scotland (2004)

studied NHRD in St. Lucia and concluded that it is a process whereby the private, public, and

other sectors collectively implement programs directed at the development of workforce skills,

knowledge, and attitudes that are driven by national development goals.

National human resource development can also be described as the development of a

national policy of skills development and is normally devised by governmental administration

departments. These initiatives can be regionally oriented within a nation state or incorporate

partnerships with other governments (Metcalfe & Rees, 2005 p.457). Furthermore, national

human resource development is defined as all the activities and efforts that contribute to the

understanding and development of human expertise, that improve workplace learning and

performance, and that yield individual, organizational, and national benefits, within the context

of overall economic, social, and human development (Cox, Estrada, Lynham, & Motii, 2005,

445).

Later, national human resource development in Brazil was described as a systematic

development of human skills, capabilities and knowledge through multilevel learning processes

directed by an organizational, community and national mission and strategy for the purpose of

performance improvement as evidenced in the wellbeing and growth of individuals and the


organizations, communities and national of which they are an integral part (Hasler, Thompson &

Schuler, 2006 p. 108).

National human resource development is the national effort to maximize social efficiency

for and publicize human resources. These goals can be achieved by enhancing social capital,

such as morality and character, and developing core competencies required for a knowledge-

based economy, leading to individual growth, efficient utilization of management systems and,

ultimately, competency of the whole nation (Ahn & McLean, 2006 p.263). NHRD can also be

viewed as encompassing education and training issues, which include: basic education, industrial

training, productivity and equity in labor forces and workplaces, creation of comparable labor

market data, lifelong learning and management development (Ardichvili, Zavyalova and Minina,

2012). Finally, a broader definition of NHRD is championed by McLean (2006) as,

An undertaking at the top level of government and throughout the country’s society that

coordinates all activities related to human development (HD) to create greater efficiency,

effectiveness, competitiveness, satisfaction, productivity, knowledge, spirituality and

well-being of its residents. It includes education, health, safety, training, economic

development, culture, science and technology and factors influencing HD (p.3).

This study can be analyzed through the context of HRD for societal development, a

concept which stems from national human resource development.

HRD for Societal Development

Human resource development for societal development is a construct separate from but

embedded in HRD and NHRD (Pakornsawat, 2014). While, there is no formal definition, the key

components in societal development include: a process of complex changes in social and societal

systems, transformation of deeply rooted cultural traditions, social life, customs and institutions


and it has the purpose of leading human development and the creation of an inclusive identity

and shared sense of belonging.

Human resource development practitioners in not for profit organizations are utilizing

organizational development, training and development and career development methods to

address societal issues whose goal is to promote the public good. Issues addressed in societal

development are often similar to those of national human resource development such as: health,

education, poverty, human rights, social justice and equity. Societal development interventions

can be at the individual, group, organizational or policy level, or somewhere in between, which

is why societal development is a construct separate from, but embedded in HRD and NHRD

(Pakornsawat, 2014).

Human resource development for societal development highlights not only the traditional

HRD interventions but also includes community development, international development,

poverty alleviation, agricultural improvements, consulting, prevention of socially undesirable

activities, educational improvement, entrepreneurship and so forth, all designed to improve

society. The context of human resource development interventions include environments

focusing on: health, culture, safety, community, manpower planning, welfare, poverty, violence,

unemployment, women, disabled, employment creation and so forth (Pakornsawat, 2014).

Societal development efforts are often targeted towards disadvantaged, underrepresented or

vulnerable populations (Budhwani & McLean, 2012) and take place outside organizational or

workplace settings (Kim, 2012a; McLean et al., 2012).

Case Study Research Findings

The thematic analysis of the interview data yielded four themes which will be discussed

in this paper: mentoring, advocacy, diversity and culture and women.


Theme 1: Mentoring

Rosinksi (2003) proposes that mentors give advice and expert recommendations and talk

about their own experiences as they relate to the mentee. Mentoring is often associated with long

term development and may be an offline and often voluntary relationship. Interviews revealed

that the primary method of developing immigrants for employment used by CBA has been the

Migrant Mentoring Program. The use of mentoring to develop the vulnerable population of

immigrants in Christchurch is in line with Budhwani and McLean (2012) description of societal

development. Immigrants from Greece, Indonesia, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Zimbabwe

and Eastern Europe are often marginalized in the labor market.

As the participant notes, “Unemployment is one of the challenges and adapting to the

culture is also a big aspect of settling into a place.” Therefore, through this program high skilled

immigrants are mentored by volunteers from organizations in Christchurch. A high skilled

immigrant is a person who possesses a combination of education (usually at the tertiary level or

beyond) and an occupation that has high added value in a high productivity sector which is

essential to the country’s development (International Organization on Migration, 2011). CBA

partners with individuals in leadership, management, or business owners. They match the

immigrant’s aspirations to the mentor’s ability. In order to achieve success the organization

keeps a database of businesses who have signed up.

The participant says,

It’s been our experience that a lot of people are just not aware of where to go, where to

start, who to go to and so the mentoring program is a good way to help someone from

overseas get knowledge about the industry.


The goal of this program is to expose the mentee to information about the New Zealand

labor market including but not limited to industry information and any regulatory bodies that

they must be aware of. The idea is to match an immigrant with a background in accounting with

a New Zealander who is an accountant and is successful in that area for example. The standard

mentorship lasts at least 90 days or more and they encourage a meeting at least once a month or

more and a follow up every two weeks thereafter.

Success in the migrant mentoring program is measured through placement. In the past

seven years, more than 100 immigrants completed the mentoring program successfully and were

placed in jobs that match their education and skills. In 2014, 30 people had signed up for the

program and some were already successfully employed. Currently, the mentoring program works

with high skilled immigrants who generally possess at least a bachelor’s degree. Most of these

immigrants do not require additional skills training such as doctors, lawyers, teachers who just

want their credentials to be recognized. Additionally, some possess qualifications in clerical,

administrative, accounting or technology fields. Most of the high skilled immigrants who

successfully completed the program came from India, Kenya, Mexico and other part of South

America.

CBA has offered training based on the needs of immigrants particularly in developing

businesses. Some of their training includes: Accident compensation insurance training for new

businesses, food license training, health and safety training for restaurant industry, and some

courses from the Revenue department on tax management for small businesses.

However, it is their goal to expand the mentoring program to assist those seeking new

skills and trying to develop work experience. In addition, they would like to expand on work for

helping immigrants receive recognition for their previously held qualifications. They are working


continuously to recruit more mentors and recognizable sponsors of the program. When they

previously received sponsorship from the local Polytechnic Institute and some mentors from

organizations like IBM, it helped to raise awareness.

Theme 2: Advocacy and Resources

Analysis of the interview and organization documents revealed that part of work CBA

does in preparing immigrants in Christchurch involves advocacy. They work collaboratively with

other organizations and government entities such as the Ministry of Social Development. They

also work with the Human Rights Commission and Equal Employment Opportunities Trust to

support fairness in employment practices. Advocacy is related to Kim’s (2012) notion that

nongovernmental agencies work as change agents in developing and leading change.

In CBAs work they have found that most immigrants seeking mentorship already possess

the necessary skills required for the job. In trying to get resources for the immigrants, the

participant notes that, “…there is a misallocation of resources in terms of support because

government is not the best because they lack an understanding of how to help people.” He

believes this is because most immigrants are painted with a broad brush and employers are not as

willing to give anyone a chance.

Interview analysis showed that the government currently provides support for immigrants

but it is mostly welfare related. However, because CBA is more focused on employment,

business and entrepreneurship, they would like to see support from the government align with

those goals. He points out that, “There is some competition with existing charities who are

working with immigrants but whose outcomes are debatable, however we are now able to also

consult with government to try and get them to think of different approaches.”


Despite the achievements of CBA in advocating for immigrants in Christchurch, they

would like the government to sign the bill on the rights of migrant workers because current

employment laws have loopholes. Taz notes that there have been issues of underpayment and

mistreatment of immigrant workers; however, there are never any prosecutions because the law

is not stringent enough. He advocates for New Zealand to adopt international standards for

dealing with immigrants.

Theme 3: Diversity and Culture

The interview revealed that there was a need to promote diversity in the local job market

but which would only be achieved through training employers as well. Their work includes

affiliation with the Human Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Commissions Trust.

In addition, they conduct workshops on diversity management. This was their way of

championing diversity and its economic advantages to the employers. Currently they are

focusing on fairness in employment practices during the rebuilding effort in Christchurch since

the earthquake. Taz now sits on the board of an organization called Multicultural New Zealand

as an advocate for immigrant issues.

The participant believes that while language and culture are part of the mentorship

process they should be still employed. He points out that, “there may be cultural issues but a lot

of people who may have accents are still competent individuals.” When an immigrant lacks

English language proficiency, volunteer opportunities, which boosts their confidence when

looking for a job, also helps them get a reference for paid employment opportunities.

Theme 4: Women

Wang (2012) proposes that HRD practitioners reposition themselves as change agents,

seek external support, and form partnerships which will empower them in their effort to promote


social and national progress. In this study, CBA hopes that women acquire relevant skills that

they may develop into a micro enterprise. In addition, those who are already equipped with

certain skills, especially pertaining to the arts, crafts and cooking, will have an outlet through

which they may learn basic marketing and business techniques that will help them transform

their skills and talents into micro businesses, which in turn, over time, may be transformed into

macro enterprises.

Interview analysis showed that women are more likely to seek self-employment because

of the barriers to employment even when they are skilled individuals. Therefore, CBA spent the

last two years developing the concept of an international market for food, arts and crafts. It began

with a market of 15-20 people who open their stalls over the weekend. This is in line with their

goal of becoming an incubator for micro-enterprise and as a strategy for creating a way to full

employment for those immigrants who cannot successfully integrate into the New Zealand labor

market.

To facilitate the continued development of micro-enterprises, CBA has commissioned

research with the help of the University of Canterbury to look for a viable covered market space.

He adds that, “I am excited because I think it will create opportunities and a lot of women could

benefit from this in order to support themselves possibly.”

Recommendations for Practice

Based on the study findings, the following recommendations are made. First, it is

recommended that many practitioners in societal development contexts also gain their experience

through trial and error and not only from formal exposure to the field of human resource

development because of the varied nature of issues have they faced. Secondly, diversity efforts

should incorporate all sectors of society so that all stakeholders buy into the initiatives. As a


result diversity should be designed and implemented by incorporating cultural, lingual, ethnical,

and religious diversity as recommended by Budhwani and McLean (2012). Efforts should also be

made to understand how gender-related issues influence, and in turn are influenced by, various

aspects of societal development. Finally, there are many opportunities such as these for human

resource development professionals to improve their value proposition within and outside the

organization while contributing to greater societal good (Griffiths & Koukpaki, 2012). This can

be accomplished through the work of human resource development practitioners in becoming

advocates for societal issues. One of the issues of greatest concern to the general public and

policymakers is the economic adaptation of immigrants (Potocky-Tripodi, 2004). Therefore, this

is an opportunity for human resource development practitioners to help address a societal issue.

Recommendations for Future Research

Several recommendations for future research are suggested. First, more scholarly efforts

to theorize the use of human resource development for societal development should be explored

to strengthen and transform traditional human resource development theory into multilevel

theory in a wider context (Kim, 2012b). More diverse sources of data are necessary to better

understanding this concept, therefore more empirical studies are required. Secondly, more

research in immigrant populations is needed in human resource development as migration and

employment becomes a more prominent global policy level issue. Third, it is recommended that

human resource development scholars conduct qualitative, quantitative and mixed method

studies to understand various aspects of community and societal development processes,

especially among immigrant populations. Human resource development in nonprofit, non-

governmental organizations (NGOs) whose mission is oriented for the public good is becoming


increasingly important, therefore there is need for more research that affirms the use of human

resource development practices.

Conclusion

Although the themes of this case study research may not be applicable to other

communities, they offer a different perspective on the use of human resource development in

societal development. For, even when immigrants possess high levels of education and work

experience, migrant workers sometimes find themselves with worse employment conditions in

the new country than their country of origin (Matto, Neagu & Ozden, 2008). Therefore, this case

study was an attempt to understand how human resource development interventions are currently

used to assist immigrants. This case study utilized the experience of one organization in assisting

migrants for employment for greater societal good.

In conclusion, the primary human resource development interventions used by CBA are

mentorship and training. These human resource development interventions are mostly through

their Migrant Mentoring Program and the Migrant Enterprise Development Program. In working

with high skilled immigrants, they found that most already possessed by the education and

credentials required for employment but perhaps needed assistance in understanding the

language and culture. A New Zealand mentor already working and successful in their field of

expertise was the right mentor for most of those seeking employment. In addition, immigrants

needed some information on the industry labor market regulations as well as regulatory bodies so

they could find suitable employment.

As a result, CBA has assisted more than 100 high skilled immigrants in obtaining suitable

employment in Christchurch and may others especially women in setting up micro-enterprises.

However, they still face challenges in securing funding for program continuity, in advocating for


the government to use non-welfare forms of assistance to immigrants who want to be employed

as well as discrimination in labor market.


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