Companies with a welcoming culture are seen as attractive employers, strengthen their employer brand and attract international talent. A positive and appreciative working environment promotes integration and helps international employees to develop a sense of belonging more quickly and feel comfortable in the workplace.

The integration of international employees begins even before their first day at work. An open welcoming culture in the company is the basis for successful and long-term loyalty to the company.
Show cosmopolitanism
Long before you hire a new employee, you can show your openness to international talent as part of your public relations work:
- Make your homepage multilingual.
- Have flyers and advertising material produced in several languages.
- Make jobs visible worldwide in portals that international talent can access. Formulate them in English or the national language and take country-specific differences into account.
- Publish your company mission statement on the homepage or social media.
- Take part in integration fairs and job fairs with international participants (e.g. at universities).
- Get involved in associations, clubs or networks that stand for openness to the world, e.g. the Diversity Charter or the NETZWERK Unternehmen integrieren Flüchtlinge. There you can exchange ideas with other companies and obtain important information.
Involve the team
If you have found a new employee from outside Germany, acceptance within the team is essential for the success of their long-term integration into the company. The following steps can help to ensure that the team feels included and welcomes the new colleague and helps them to settle in:
- Establish an open-minded mission statement within the team.
- Carry out team training, e.g. for intercultural skills or simple language.
- Encourage your employees to become active as mentors.
- Find a mentor for professional guidance.
- Provide the team with information about the new colleague and involve them at an early stage when they are getting to know each other.
- Plan events to get to know them after their arrival.


