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Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates
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Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Aug 05, 2018

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Page 1: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Industry Engagement Strategy

A Meaningful Approach to Consultation

Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Page 2: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

i3

Integrity

Innovation

Intelligence

Page 3: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Working definitions

Integrity: “Soundness & Wholeness”

Page 4: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Working definitions

Intelligence

“Ability to deal with new or trying situations”

“Ability to apply knowledge to influence one‟s environment”

Innovation

“The successful implementation of creative ideas”

Page 5: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Working definitions

Consultation

Origin of the word lies in „calling together‟

“A meeting for deliberation, discussion, or decision”

Page 6: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Meaningful consultation

Underlying purpose

What do partners really want?

How can they go about getting that?

In simplest, most honest form:

“Who gets what in exchange for what?”

Page 7: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

What do they want?

Industry Access to resources

Value to the community that matches the cost

Aboriginal communities Money (in itself never a lasting benefit)

Jobs

Economic participation

Reasonable compromise between exploiting resources & preserving environment & way of life

Page 8: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Focus today …

Sustainable jobs for Aboriginal Albertans through Aboriginal Community/Industry Engagement

Page 9: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Urgent priority for all stakeholders

Aboriginal individuals & communities

Want to take their place in the economic life of the province

Industry & business

Require qualified & productive workers

Province

Needs its citizens productively involved in the economy

Page 10: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Current scene

Foreign workers

Brought in to address shortage of qualified workers

Workforce projections indicate continuation

and yet …

Large (and growing) untapped Aboriginal workforce

Many trained at considerable expense

Page 11: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

No government – federal, provincial or

Aboriginal Community – can afford the

increasing burden of supporting a large

population that is not productively

involved in the economy

Page 12: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Initiatives taken

Province Building & Educating Tomorrow‟s Workforce

MLA Committee on First Nations, Métis & Inuit Workforce Planning Initiative

Active engagement on government-to-government basis

Dialogue with urban Aboriginal organizations & service providers

Meetings with reps. from industry, employers, educational institutions, & training providers

Page 13: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

In the MLA Committee’s words …

“The hope was this engagement approach would be a more positive, inclusive process and would support FNMI communities and leaders in bringing their interests, issues and ideas forward and actively involving them in the implementation of solutions.”

Page 14: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Another long, necessary comment …

Only when all parties get involved and commit to the action/s that each of them can and should be taking individually and collectively to improve Aboriginal participation in the workforce and economy will the meaningful results that have so far evaded all stakeholders become a possibility.

Page 15: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Why has success been elusive?

Different expectations

Unclear understanding of what each party is capable of and must deliver for sustainable results

Inadequate coordination & application of available resources

Program implementation controlled a too high a level in government and industry – not enough hands-on solutions

Funding levels lesser issue than absence of results

Not enough joint strategy development; practical accountability; or reasonable performance measurement

Page 16: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Be realistic

Industry gets blamed for the temporary nature of jobs provided to Aboriginal communities.

Many of those jobs, tied to development & construction, are temporary by definition.

Aboriginal career development is often hampered by lack of mobility.

Industry is pragmatic and would welcome Aboriginal workers who meet requirements.

Industry needs assurance that workers are well trained, productive, reasonably mobile, and committed.

Page 17: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Flourishing economies depend on ‘getting’ & ‘giving’.

The system (society) cannot sustain itself otherwise

Government & Industry invest in people: Governments educate & train people & support them

through infrastructure and services so that they can be contributing members of society – and put money back in the pot to help others.

Industry puts money into people who in turn produce money for the company & for themselves.

The system can only function sustainably as long as all parties – government / industry / individuals – give and get.

Aboriginal governments, too, cannot afford to train people if those people do not invest part of their earnings in government – through contributions & user fees.

Page 18: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

It’s a two-way street that places legitimate

demands on all parties

Get Education \ Training

Get Job

Give Productivity

Get Pay

Give Contribute to Community

Page 19: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Balance avoids exploitation

Exploitation happens, but it cuts both ways – whenever any party in the circle receives without giving anything in return

The challenge is to keep a balance, but the basic process is essential

Page 20: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

All stakeholders have a contribution to make

Community Province Industry / Business

Educational Institutions

Individual

Commitment to the process.

Inventory of skills, training & work history.

Trained, job-ready, committed people.

Social support network.

Services to help people be productive.

Funding. Expertise. Planning.

Share future plans.

Suitably tailored jobs.

Training. Wages. Future security.

Appropriately trained & educated workers.

Commitment. Work ethic. Contribution to community.

Page 21: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Paradigm shift

If the province, Aboriginal governments, & industry want results, nothing less than a paradigm shift will do.

This will involve 3 approaches:

Page 22: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

One

Willingness to suspend political correctness (on both sides).

Open debate on the reasons why we have failed to meet the Aboriginal workforce participation challenge effectively.

Page 23: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Two

Agreement about- and acceptance of a number of „truths‟, and adopting those as a set of principles in designing solutions:

It is the interest of all parties to get greater Aboriginal involvement in the workforce & economy

Having a job is not a „right‟, but a privilege.

Creating the right atmosphere & circumstances for economic development & job creation is the responsibility of all levels of government – Aboriginal governments, too.

Page 24: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Aboriginal governments have an active stake in the challenge to get jobs for their people – the province is there to assist them, not to take the full responsibility.

Governments help prepare citizens for jobs on the tacit understanding that they become contributors to the economy & society.

Industry & business do not exist to „provide‟ jobs, but to produce products & services for profit. They hire people to achieve that.

Albertans cannot expect to gain employment & stay in the workforce if they are not qualified & prepared to maintain appropriate levels of productivity.

Page 25: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Jobs cannot be artificially created in the absence of viable local conditions.

Aboriginal leaders can only be effective at the table if they understand what is required in the workplace; what is possible and not possible; and the obligation on all parties to „bring their side‟.

Page 26: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Three

A change in the way „business is done‟:

Accepting that all issues are inter-related & there is no single answer for all circumstances.

Placing less emphasis on centralized, hierarchical decision making in the provincial structure.

Putting more authority for program delivery at the local level.

Taking „politics‟ out of the job creation & people preparation equation.

Page 27: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Change is tough

Tackling the status quo is never easy.

If government, communities & industry keep doing what has always been done with only minor tweaking, the results will not change.

Page 28: Industry Engagement Strategy - igf*fmi · Industry Engagement Strategy A Meaningful Approach to Consultation Dan Martel Four Winds & Associates

Finally, the ‘change’ proposal

Time to take the bull by the horns

Go at the challenge with integrity

Talk turkey to one another

Acknowledge different interests & try to accommodate what is reasonable & possible

Accept responsibility where it falls

Remember, a balanced outcome is in everybody‟s interest