Workforce Connex Forum Kelowna BC Developing an Aboriginal

Workforce Connex Forum Kelowna, BC Developing an Aboriginal Recruitment Strategy Nadine Hoehne, Aboriginal Recruitment Consultant

Outline Ø Ø Ø Why Hire Aboriginal People? Build internal capacity to engage the Aboriginal community. Increase awareness of employment opportunities within the Aboriginal community. Increase the number of Aboriginal people working within the Company Workforce. Evaluate your results/success.

Why Hire Aboriginal People? Ø Ø Ø Demographics – tight BC labor force New market opportunities Diversity/Equity commitments Community Relations Reconciliation – “It’s the right thing to do”

Build Internal Capacity to Engage the Aboriginal Community Ø Ø Ø Allocate Resources to the Strategy Research Aboriginal HR Supply Review Recruitment and Selection processes to identify any barriers to Aboriginal employment. Identify employment, training and career development opportunities for Aboriginal People. Build organizational commitment to developing a workforce representative of Aboriginal people at all levels. Integrate the Aboriginal Recruitment Strategy into the VANOC HR/Workforce planning processes and operations.

Increase awareness of employment opportunities within the Aboriginal community. Ø Develop Aboriginal recruitment materials to support the building of relationships with the aboriginal community, employment centers, education coordinators, etc.

Increase the number of Aboriginal people working within the Company Workforce. Develop strategic linkages with Aboriginal stakeholders. Ø Develop an external communication strategy. Ø Develop and/or support Aboriginal Student Work Experience Programs. Ø Engage and partner with identified talent pools for targeted recruitment of staff. Ø

Aboriginal Supply British Columbia – An Overview: · Aboriginal people account for 4. 4% of BC’s total population, approximately 170, 025 people. · Of the 170, 025 people who identified themselves as Aboriginal in BC, 123, 785 declared as Registered Indians, 44, 265 as Metis, and 805 as Inuit. · It is estimated that up to 70% of the Aboriginal population in BC lives offreserve. · Of the total Aboriginal off-reserve population (123, 645), approximately 36, 855 live in the Greater Vancouver area. BC

Aboriginal Supply Pools Overall Forces Affecting the Aboriginal Population: • Poorer Health • Lower Levels of Education • Lower Income Levels • Higher rates of unemployment • Higher levels of incarceration and suicide Primary Barriers Facing Aboriginal People Entering into the Workforce: • Lack of Skills – related to not finishing high school and not participating in the post-secondary system. This problem is worse on-reserve. • Dependence on government and social programs. In many cases, especially on-reserve, welfare has become a way of life. • Lack of positive role models. • Lack of information about career opportunities.

Aboriginal Labor Supply - Pools Ø People Already Working Ø Post-Secondary Institutes Ø AHRDAs Ø First Nations communities

Aboriginal People Already Working Strengths Ø Already possess many of the qualifications and work experience required to work within a company: -Education, Skills, Abilities, Experience, Job Maintenance Ø Ability to place at all levels within workforce Challenges Ø Have to target individuals – via Networks - and entice them to opportunities. Ø Requires early information about demand planning to identify and earmark positions and target people. Ø Tax-exemption for status employees. Ø Competitive Market

Post-Secondary Students Strengths Ø Possess education and basic skills: -Education, Soft Skills, Moldable to suit specific jobs Challenges Ø May lack work experience. Ø Lack of awareness about opportunities. Ø May be looking for part-time/summer opportunities. Ø Competitive Market

AHRDAs Strengths Ø AHRDA infrastructure (both on and off reserve) to assist in identifying and working with unemployed and underemployed Aboriginal people. Ø Typically fund one-year employment-related programs. Ø Strong connections to Aboriginal talent pool. Challenges Ø Face significant challenges to both skills development and employment. Ø Smaller pool of job ready clients. Ø May require 1 – 3 years for appropriate skills development. Ø Competitive Market

First Nations Communities Strengths Ø Access to Community Education Coordinators who fund members’ post secondary training (2 -4 years). Ø Access to Community Employment and Training Coordinators who fund members’ vocational training (1 -2 years). Challenges Ø On-reserve population generally faces more significant challenges to both skills development and employment. Ø Finding suitable candidates. Ø Competitive Market.

Monitoring & Evaluation Ø Establish a mechanism for monitoring and evaluation of the company’s Aboriginal recruitment activities and successes. -Steering Committee - including reps from the Aboriginal Employment and Training realm to oversee the implementation of the Aboriginal Recruitment Strategy.

Question? Ø How many of you have developed Aboriginal Recruitment Strategies? Ø Can you share your experiences, lessons learned, successes, challenges, etc?