OTTAWA – As skilled trades employers seek new sources of talent, indigenous youth with an interest in trades careers are a good potential match. Employers looking for strategies for hiring and retaining Aboriginal tradespeople will benefit from a new resource recently published by the
Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF-FCA).
Hiring and Retaining Aboriginal Apprentices: An Action Plan for Employers draws ideas from skilled trades employers that value the contribution aboriginal apprentices make to their workforce, with positive results for both the company and aboriginal community. Best practices address cultural and business realities, with tips about communication, education and how to develop a local talent pool. Tips and strategies in the action plan are designed to be adapted and customized for any workplace.
The action plan is available for download at
www.CAF-FCA.org. It was developed, in part, with funding assistance from the government of Canada's Workplace Opportunities: Removing Barriers to Equity program.
Comments
Shirley Honyust
One recommendation to employers is to hire more Indigenous employees than is required to fulfil the project, with the far-sighted objective of maintaining the maximum number of them, as some may be lost due to other opportunities arising closer to home.
Another recommendation to employers is to shorten the number of hours in the work week, thereby creating the need for a higher number of Indigenous workers to be employed.
(These two recommendations may be seen as being interrelated, as they are, and either way, each will complement the outcome of the other.