Nineteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

Brazil has been receiving refugees lately from various countries, mainly Venezuela, Syria, and Haiti. According to the United Nation Refugee Agency (UNHCR, 2019), 33,866 people have applied for recognition of the refugee status in Brazil in 2017. Venezuelans account for more than half with 17,865 requests. The K is a French Company in 72 countries worldwide, with more than 460 thousand employees.The Brazilian unit has 40,000 workers and leads diversity issues with a program that fosters to the inclusion of refugees since 2015, with strong efforts under new leadership in the last 16 months. In order to understand how this innovative diversity management has treated with challenges, this preliminary work interviewed the coordinator of this program, four Venezuelan refugees, and two managers of these workers. Using coding qualitative approach, some outcomes have emerged on this current stage. For management, it is evident that engagement and organizational commitment are the main features that impact the psychological climate of the team. From the refugees perspective, this job is a new start to put their lives in a better way comparing in their countries and it is a bridge to bring their relatives (children, wife and so on) to join them in Brazil. Furthermore, it is important to note that there are challenges for the development of this program on basis of knowledge management due different cultural backgrounds regarding the human interaction in the workplace and the macro level of the human side of the organization.