Webinar: Workforce Integration as a Retention Strategy

About AUE and RISE

Amal Unite & Empower (AUE) is a workforce development initiative that connects skilled newcomer talent with Newfoundland and Labrador employers. RISE (Respect, Inclusion, Support, Empowerment) is AUE’s employer-facing workforce integration initiative. We help Newfoundland and Labrador employers build workplaces where newcomer talent can contribute, grow, and stay by strengthening organizational stability, reducing turnover, and supporting long-term business performance.

In this session, participants will look at:

• Why “hiring” and “integrating” are distinct processes and why retention breaks down when employers focus only on the first one
• The business case for integration: turnover costs, time-to-productivity, and team cohesion
• Common gaps in workplace culture that newcomer employees experience (and that HR often can’t see from the inside)
• Practical, low-lift integration touchpoints HR can build into onboarding, mentorship, and policy review
• Short case study/examples from RISE showing what newcomer integration looks like in practice
• Practical tools and takeaways participants can apply directly to their own processes

Speaker info: 

Hayley McLellan (she/her) is the RISE Project Coordinator at AMAL Unite & Empower, where she leads diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives designed to support employers and communities in building more equitable workplaces. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Sociology, bringing a research-informed lens to her practice. Her work sits at the intersection of community development, systems thinking, and applied equity by translating complex frameworks like GBA+ into meaningful, on-the-ground change.

Maryna Ponomarchuk (she/her) is an Industry Engagement Specialist at Amal Unite & Empower, where she works with employers to connect skilled newcomers with meaningful employment opportunities. With a background in recruitment, business development, and settlement services, she brings both professional and lived experience to conversations about hiring, integration, and retention. Her work focuses on strengthening employer partnerships, improving hiring and integration practices, and helping organizations create the conditions newcomer employees need to contribute, grow, and remain.