Long version of the title: Government of Nunavut (GN) Human Resources (HR) Inuit Employment Plan (IEP) – Shake My Head (SMH)
Last week in Seeing Future Pasts I talked about what we want to be different 20 years from now. This week I’m going to talk about one wall we haven’t yet climbed.
Last week I mentioned that “I have seen too many times where we have wanted something oh, so badly, and we run straight for it only to smack into the wall. Hard. After a few smacks against the wall, we lose confidence. Now we alternate between stagnant resignation and irrational exuberance.” This week’s example is one example of wanting something so badly that we (Nunavut) ran straight for it. And we’ve smacked into a wall. Hard.
Last week I noted that Inuit employment was envisioned to be 85% in the Government of Nunavut (GN) by 2020. We are stuck at about 50% in the Government of Nunavut and lower in mining and with the federal government.
The week before last I mentioned in the north versus south top ten showdown that the GN was creating a stand-alone human resources department (again) that is supposed to solve our problems.
The ‘new’ human resources (HR) department officially came into being with the start of the government fiscal year on April 1st. That means it is wrapping up it’s third week.
So what problems has it solved so far? None!
Okay, that is asking a bit much. But what problems will it solve? I hope many, but not without re-thinking some of the GN’s long-held practices.
Taking my own advice, what do I want to see looking back in 20 years? I want to see a representative Inuit workforce. I want to see all the benefits that brings to the housing shortage and the resulting overcrowding crisis many in Nunavut live with. I want to see the benefits this will bring by creating a more stable workforce that is comprised of people with personal history and experience with the intricacies of Nunavut so that we can develop and implement effective programs. I want to see our economy keep and circulate more money in the territory.
So now how do we get there? Representative Inuit employment has been a specific goal since Nunavut was created and to have so little statistical progress is disheartening. The silver lining is that the government workforce has grown in that time, so 50% of a bigger pie means more Inuit are employed with the government than before. A dark cloud with a silver lining, though, is still mostly a dark cloud.
The key to solving this problem is to not want to solve it so badly. We need to not run straight at it, because when we do, we slam into the wall.
Clouds, pies and walls: that’s three unrelated metaphors in two paragraphs. It’s time for some real-life details.
The Internship Program
The GN wants more Inuit, especially at the managerial level. So it created the Sivuliqtiksat Internship Program. 16 positions with full salaries that are parachuted in to departments to spend 2-3 years working along side a director or manager or in a specialist position to learn their job and then they are to take over the job. There. More Inuit in management. A straight line to the goal.
Also, the GN’s default for hiring non-Inuit is to hire them on terms, so the positions come open in a couple years and they can try again to hire an Inuk. Clearing the path for the straight line to get to the goal.
Both policies are examples of bad policy that comes from really, really, really wanting to get to the goal and taking the straight line at it. Both policies are unsuccessful and may actually do more harm than good in many cases.
The internship program has a budget of about $2 million for sixteen internship positions. Success should not only be measured by completed internships, but for whatever it’s worth, almost half of them are not completed. Just like those that did not complete it may have learned valuable skills and be successful in their careers, those that did complete it may not be successful afterwards. I don’t know the stats behind the stats, but it is fair to question if that is the best use of $2 million each year.
Apart from being inefficient with money, the program has some very negative results. I have seen Inuit working hard in a department, moving methodically up the corporate ladder, only to see someone with less experience or education or simply unrelated qualifications parachuted in to intern for a position above them. Each day they have to watch this person above them learn the ropes that they already know – and some they haven’t been offered the opportunity to learn. It is demoralizing and doesn’t really work the best people into positions that are the right fit for them. It doesn’t develop a pipeline of talent, just one individual to do one job – sometimes. It does provide the interns with training ($25 000 worth a year), but it doesn’t necessarily provide them with the critical thinking skills and basket of transferrable skills to be successful in other jobs, such as those further up the ladder.
If we are patient and want to get over that wall, we need smart career planning and support for those that show potential (expressed or latent potential – many need a reason to trust and feel connected before committing excessive effort). Time and support. Develop staff in the positions they are in. Get them education for success later on – degrees, diplomas, certificates if possible, but other training in transferrable skills is also part of what is needed. Then move people up.
The GN long ago decided that many positions had artificial education requirements that were keeping capable Inuit out of jobs they could be successful in without the old education requirements. This was the right thing to do, but the GN has forgotten that education is the most powerful way to give people critical thinking, communication, and other transferrable skills that will lead to long-term career success. They need to re-learn the power of education, and provide it to employees that are willing and able to commit the time and energy.
This sets them up for success and opens their entry level positions for new entrants to the workforce. If we are going to increase Inuit employment, it is by hiring more entry level employees, because Inuit with qualifications to get higher level employment are usually as employed as they want to be already.
Moving large numbers of Inuit up is the only way to increase Inuit employment long-term, and the only way to do that is through education and training and through supports such as well-designed mentorships. We need a large and organized staff career development program that can support much greater numbers of employees and it needs to be more natural and organic by supporting career paths, not one-shot, one-job, one-person internships. The GN has a Career Broadening Program, allowing Inuit to move around, try different jobs and learn new skills from them. That is part of the solution. Combine education and training with career broadening and also with mentoring and HR supports to help staff develop a career plan and have a pathway to get there.
Think of the education, training and direct supports that $2 million (or more) could buy. With time, think of the number of staff that could be moved up in an organic and sustainable way that sets staff up for success and doesn’t poison the water for other Inuit staff.
Terms for Non-Inuit
As for hiring non-Inuit on terms, the long-term effect of this is that we encourage transiency in non-Inuit staff, and may discourage quality candidates and potential long-term employees from working for the GN. Obviously this is a negative for non-Inuit who could be an asset to Nunavut, but that is a minor matter. Much more of a concern is that this instability undermines the ability of the GN to be an enticing workplace. It makes it harder on all employees to be successful in their jobs when a significant percentage of the jobs are either vacant or filled with inexperienced staff. This work environment doesn’t help retain and develop any staff at all, including the Inuit half of the GN workforce.
If and when the labour market tightens up in certain fields in certain communities, the GN can set up employment contracts for non-Inuit to allow the employer to move them to other positions including to lower level positions (they could protect their salary level for certain period of time and allow them to have their old job back if it becomes vacant again). If things get to the point where we really need to hire non-Inuit on terms to allow Inuit access to their positions, then great, let’s do that when it is needed. For example when a community teacher education program is running and we want to make sure they have jobs in their community when they graduate. Right now, in most cases, this policy is not necessary and is doing more harm than good.
About Time for Part Time
There is a third way to get more Inuit into the ranks of government. Part-time employment.
As mentioned above, if you can move people up, you can move people into entry level positions, which is the level where we have an available labour market. Above that level, people are employed as they want to be – except that they only have the choice of fully employed or not employed as a general rule.
There are people that have developed skills already and might be interested in working for government, but don’t want full-time. Perhaps they want 75%. Or 50%. Or whatever. These people could be assets to the GN. I see the future of work involving more part-time work, and the GN could very well be a leader in this regard. In our context, with people dealing with trauma, with people dealing with over-crowding, with people dealing with family and friends dealing with these things – things that have wakes that wash over others – there are many people who struggle with full-time employment and end up out of the workforce, and those that know they can’t take on full-time employment.
There are issues to work out. Right now the biggest negative to part-time employment (after the fact that it is usually not an option), is the lack of benefits and housing. Can there be pro-rated benefits packages, or leaner benefits packages, or packages that involve partial fees to the staff that need it? Could part-time workers qualify for staff housing under certain conditions? Not everyone needs benefits and housing – I am a big fan of 1 1/2 income families – so options are key to part-time employment.
I know what the GN HR folks are saying – this would be a massive headache for the GN. It will be hugely complicated and too many employees will want to be less than full time. Well, develop a robust policy, train senior managers, and if ‘too many people want it’ is a problem, then we need more problems.
Good Luck, New Department of HR
Get rid of the internship program as it is now. Use the money and the resources running it to create a program that supports progression. Get a little more nuanced with non-Inuit hiring, for the betterment of Inuit employees. Figure out part-time employment.
To say we should be hiring non-Inuit indeterminately and get rid of the internship program has bad optics, obviously. I hope no one sells out the future of the Inuit workforce for a temporary boost in approval ratings, but I won’t hold my breath.
So let’s be patient. We need to work hard and making targeted, smart and necessary change, but be patient about the results that we are currently staring at – IEP numbers. We can get over this wall. We just need to be calm and be smart.
I hope the shiny new HR department makes progress on Inuit employment. I hope they believe we can do better. I hope they do better. I hope they ask themselves if the current policies and programs – if 16 intern positions and a transient workforce – will get us over the wall to the place we want to look back on with satisfaction in another 20 years.
Resources:
GN Training page, including the Sivuliqtiksat internship program
