Advancing Employment, Procurement and Partnership Solutions

The energy industry has done many positive things to reach out to Aboriginal communities and bring them onboard as employees and business partners, says Kelly Lendsay, President and CEO of the Aboriginal Human Resource Council (AHRC).

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"Over the years, the energy sector has taken the steps. They are making gains in skills development, they are making gains in partnership building and they are making gains in supporting Aboriginal businesses. If you look through the resource and energy sectors, there are tremendous examples of training and education programs, business partnerships and procurement," says Lendsay, whose Saskatoon-based organization works with employers across Canada to advance their employment, procurement and partnership solutions.

What Lendsay sees as the main challenge in terms of Aboriginal participation in the workforce, is "to awaken employers and help them with what we call their 'inclusion strategies,' and to position them as an employer-of-choice for Aboriginal talent."

The second challenge, he says, is that "unfortunately in Canada, many employers do not see Aboriginal people as a workforce solution. They do not see them as consumers and they do not see them as partners."

The energy and natural resource sectors, on the other hand, have "demonstrated over many years, the opposite," he says. More still needs to be done, but overall, Lendsay says, there are many energy and resource companies from one end of the country to the other, seeking to accelerate and expand their inclusion strategies.

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"For all kinds of reasons - legal, political, demographic and business - the energy and resource sectors have seen that the path forward is one of inclusion." As a result, the industry has created solutions to develop a skilled workforce to replace their pending retirements. There are now many companies that can point to a wide range of success stories with their Aboriginal workforce. "If you step back from all of this, what's happened is the business case for Aboriginal inclusion has been underscored," Lendsay says. As businesses develop and implement the business case for Aboriginal inclusion, they are eliminating one of the largest social deficits in this country: a large employment gap between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals, a large education gap, and a large economic gap.

Putting inclusion into action has a dual effect of achieving positive socio-economic outcomes, and eliminating a social deficit. "The vision has to be full employment, healthy communities, top quality education, and economic and social prosperity for all," Lendsay explains. "You have to keep your vision on the big picture for all Canadians- that's what we all want, and Aboriginal people are no different."

Partnerships, Lendsay believes, can play a vital role in helping Aboriginal people and communities move forward. "You can't do it alone. You absolutely need partnerships," he says, noting that more Aboriginal people are achieving success thanks to the inclusiveness solutions that are being developed by companies and organizations across Canada. These people will run into other challenges, he adds, but will be motivated to overcome them because of those earlier successes.

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The AHRC is constantly developing new ways to help companies advance their inclusion strategies, working with a wide range of energy and resource-based companies to help them become more inclusive in their hiring practices, and in how they do business. For instance, the AHRC offers a seven-stage road map to becoming an employer-of-choice for Aboriginal people. "We want employers to invest in practices, strategies, metrics and assessment tools to climb the 'inclusion continuum.'"

" The vision has to be full employment, healthy communities, top quality education, and economic and social prosperity for all."

- Kelly Lendsay, President and CEO, Aboriginal Human Resource Council

" As businesses develop and implement the business case for Aboriginal inclusion, they are eliminating one of the largest social deficits in this country."

- Kelly Lendsay, President and CEO, Aboriginal Human Resource Council