june 2009 issue
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PD Spotlight
The Tools of Cultural Adjustment
BY NANCY TOTH, MA CHRP Manager, Professional Development & Manager, Human Resources |
Dr. Lionel Laroche, P.Eng., offers programs from various points of view to help smoothen the integration of new arrivals
BY Nancy Toth, MA CHRP
Manager, Professional Development & Human Resources
As usual, there is a lot of action going on within APEGGA’s Mentoring Program. We’ll start off with Dr. Lionel Laroche, P. Eng., who presented to both protégé and mentor coaching sessions in Edmonton and Calgary in May.
Dr. Laroche is an Ontario-licensed engineer who also has a PhD in chemical engineering and is the author of two books on cultural differences in the workplace.
An international speaker on the subject of cultural diversity in the workplace, Dr. Laroche has created very practical tools based on his research.
He sensitizes managers of foreign-trained professionals and mentors to specific differences related to workplace activities. Emphasis is given to differences in providing feedback, giving
direction, approaches to problem-solving and non-verbal communication, among several other topics.
Our protégés have told us of the difficulty they have in speaking to co-workers and in fitting in, which are critical to maintaining good working relationships and to developing the potential for promotion. For this reason, we asked Dr. Laroche to prepare a flipside seminar, called Succeeding as an Internationally Educated Graduate in Alberta.
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CULTURALLY CHARTED |
The same tools used to inform mentors are used to assist foreign-trained protégés — who make up the majority of our current protégés — to succeed in the workplace. Protégés are pleased to learn some unwritten rules of the Canadian workplace, the differences between hierarchy here and elsewhere, the degree of direction and modes of feedback we usually provide, and the value of soft skills.
The coaching evenings for new mentors and protégés began with information about APEGGA’s mentoring program from Arlene Lack, our mentoring coordinator. This detail along with Dr. Laroche’s very practical cultural sensitivity training led many participants to communicate their appreciation to both presenters that evening and by e-mail. The support sessions, generally provided in the spring and fall, help matched pairs succeed and continue on together.
Dr. Laroche presented a more developed seminar on these topics as part of our June PD seminars for professionals, and was well-received. In addition, he presented in-house training to APEGGA staff. He will be presenting at APEGGA’s fourth annual National Mentoring Conference as well.
Gifted Architect
To Speak in Calgary
Speaking of our upcoming mentoring conference, you might want to set aside Sept. 24 and 25. The conference, in Calgary this year, boasts Douglas Cardinal, OC, as the featured speaker. We are proud that he’ll be at the conference, both to champion the cause of mentoring and to inspire our Aboriginal student protégés.
An Albertan of Aboriginal origin, Mr. Cardinal focused his gifts on Alberta and Western Canada for the first 20 years of his career. The rounded edges and organic forms seen in St. Mary’s Church in Red Deer, St. Albert Place and Grande Prairie Regional College are among his unforgettable, original designs.
Historians of architecture credit Mr. Cardinal’s mentors as the giants Frank Lloyd Wright, Antonio Gaudi and others. Mr. Cardinal, however, states that his more powerful guides are elders such as the late Chief Robert Smallboy of the Ermineskin Cree Band and William Commanda, 92, known as the “grandfather of the Algonquin.”
In 1983 he was selected to design the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Mr. Cardinal won the 1991 international competition to design the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2001 and has been honoured by the United Nations.
The Society of American Registered Architects made him an honorary member. His design for the First Nations University of Canada gained him the title of professor/academician from the International Academy of Architecture. In 2006 the academy gave him the title of world master of contemporary architecture. His many awards and honours also include 11 doctorates and a gold medal in architecture from the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada.
The 2009 mentoring conference will include afternoon workshops hosted by our members and members of other professions, and hopefully another high-profile Canadian mentor. Local presenters will also take part.
MENTORING CONFERENCE INFO
Visit www.apegga.org in July
Contact Arlene Lack
Mentoring Coordinator
alack@apegga.org
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