GN Human Resources Survey Report

Overview of the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations’

Human Resources Database Project

March 31 2011 Report by: Jessie Hemphill PO Box 998, Port Hardy, BC, V0N 2P0 (250) 949-8343 | Fax: (250) 949-7402 | jessieh@gwanakplan.org (Photo above: surveyor Lucy Scow)

Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

INTRODUCTION In 2011 the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations received a grant from the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation (Province of British Columbia) to conduct a Human Resources Database project.

The project was managed by Jessie Hemphill, Executive Assistant & Communications Officer (and past Community Planner) for the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations. Les Taylor, Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations Band Manager, also advised and assisted with the project.

The main activity of the project was to conduct surveys with Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw community members about their contact information, demographics, education levels, volunteer and work experience, readiness to find employment, strengths & weaknesses, and career goals. In the end, 198 community members participated, an unprecedented amount of participation that encompasses over 100% of our employable population (130 people) as indicated in the 2006 national census.

To conduct the surveys, we hired four community members to go house-to-house in pairs and do the surveys on iPads, which we purchased for the project. Each pair shared one computer bag, one iPad with keyboard dock (for easier typing), paper copies of the survey in case of technological problems, tracking sheets to keep track of who had completed the survey, the date and time of the survey, the surveyees contact information, who their surveyors were, whether or not they received their gift card, whether or not a quality check had been done, and whether or not the surveyor had been paid for that survey.

Surveyors also had troubleshooting tips for dealing with basic internet connectivity issues on the iPad, as well as quantities of $10 gift cards for the local grocery store, gas station, and telus pay-as-you go cards to give to people after they took the survey.

We had less than three weeks to get this survey done, from the hiring process to finishing the report, but we were able to work within this timeframe using a few different techniques, which are explained in this report.

The report is roughly chronological, explaining how the project happened, what some of the lessons were that we learned, with findings from the survey results at the end.

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

PLANNING THE PROJECT Creation of the Workplan Because of the short timeframe for this project, the emphasis had to be on speed, without sacrificing the quality of the data. In order to make the project as efficient as possible, the workplan included the following: 

Making the survey accessible online, using www.surveymonkey.com. This allowed data entry to occur at the time of the survey, reducing the time required to create the report. Survey Monkey has excellent features including real-time updates as surveys are entered, and customised reporting, which made the creation of this report and the database incredibly easy and quick.

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Using iPads to conduct the surveys. The iPads we purchased were 3G enabled, allowing them to have internet service while surveyors were out and about in the community. Using the iPads allowed us to deliver the survey online (although we had backup paper copies) making the whole process more efficient. Using the iPads also built technology skills in the surveyors and generated a positive perception of the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw administration as technologically savvy.

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Incentives for surveyors and surveyees. Surveyors were paid by the completed survey, not by the hour, to incentivize the speedy completion of the surveys. They were also offered a $200 bonus if they could complete 50 surveys by the end date of that part of the workplan, March 25.

In order to convince people to take the survey, participants were offered a $10 gift card and a chance to win an iPad or an iPod touch, which are very desirable prizes in our community.

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

Designing the Survey The first thing that I did to design the survey was to think of basic questions: demographics; education levels & goals; professional experience & goals; certification levels & goals; strengths, weaknesses, and barriers; and job readiness. Other questions included volunteer experience, interest in jobs for the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations, and others which you can see on the attached sample survey.

After designing the draft survey, I sought feedback from several others employed in education and economic development. The feedback helped me streamline the survey; include wording to keep it in line with wording used provincially and nationally (although the focus was mainly on the specific needs and context of the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations). Special thanks to Tony Wong of Quintry Consulting, who provided a link to another survey which led to a very beneficial overhaul of the Gwa'sala'Nakwaxda'xw survey.

Advertising the Survey The surveyor job postings helped to generate some buzz around the survey project as a whole. In the days leading up to the start of the project, I had asked for feedback on the best incentive prizes (which led to the purchase of gas and phone cards as incentives, in addition to gift cards for the local grocery store) and had also posted some updates on the project proposal as I was writing it.

After the surveyors were hired, I posted the survey itself to our Facebook page and to our website, on the ‘For Members’ page. This was mainly for the benefit of off-reserve community members, though some local people completed the surveys on their own.

We had community members participate from as far away as Edmonton, as well as Victoria, Campbell River and Alert Bay. It was great to be able to include our off-reserve members, as they are almost always excluded from projects of this nature.

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

Deliverable 1: Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Staff will train four Gwa'sala'Nakwaxda'xw community members to use tablet computers to implement a house-to-house survey in the community.

HIRING PROCESS On March 11 a poster advertising the four surveyor jobs was posted on the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Facebook page as well as printed and posted up around the Tsulquate Reserve.

By the closing date of March 15 there were 14 applications for the four positions. The application letters were assigned a score based on the following factors: Whether or not they were done on a computer (since the project required extensive computer use); whether or not they included a phone number; their level of computer skills; their ideas about how to get participate in a survey; whether or not they had done this kind of survey before, and if so, how they overcame any challenges they had; their overall employment skills; and their grammar and spelling.

Out of the 14 applications, 7 scored between 8-12 points and the rest were 4-7 points. Those who got 8 or more points were invited to come do an interview on March 16.

Unbeknownst to the applicants, they were all invited to interview at the same time. I used a group interview approach for the following reasons:   

I wanted to see how well they would adapt to an unexpected situation.

I wanted to see how well they would communicate and support one another in the group.

I wanted them to evaluate one another individually to get a good sense of what an employer is looking for during an interview.

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

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I wanted to partially train them all during the hiring process, so that even the ones that weren’t hired would still benefit from the process.

Out of the seven applicants invited to the interview, five showed up on time. I asked them to do the following: 

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In 3-5 minutes, teach the group how to do something, or about something, and answer our questions about their lesson. o Scored on: Confidence, articulation, ability to be heard and understood, quality of lesson, ability to answer questions.

Do a 10-15 minute practice survey with a partner, asking them about their educational experience and goals and professional experience and goals. o Scored on: Confidence, articulation, ability to be heard and understood, and ability to write while interviewing.

In 3-5 minutes, explain the rationale for and benefits of a human resources database for the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw community. o Scored on: Knowledge of human resources, thoughfulness of answers, and understanding of the benefit to the community.

At the end of the interview, score each other on overall professionalism. o Scored on: Choice of clothing, whether or not they asked questions, whether or not they participated in all aspects of the interview, and their overall professionalism in language, body language, etc.

Each of the interviewees made a score sheet at the beginning of the interview and scored their fellow interviewees between 1 (very bad) and 5 (excellent) in the above categories. At the end of the interview, they were each asked to (secretly) indicate which one of the five interviewees they would hire, and which one they would fire.

I tallied up all of our responses which led to the hiring of Thomas Jack, Gloria Brotchie, Cara Anderson, and Lucy Scow. The fifth one (Lori Anderson) agreed to fill in as a back-up surveyor if needed, and we did indeed require her quite a few times.

Several of the interviewees said that it was the best, most interesting, most comfortable job interview they had ever done.

JOB TRAINING On March 16 the four surveyors received instructions about how to carry out the survey, use the iPads, and track their work. They signed their contracts, and I asked them all to come back for their first checkin the next morning after reviewing the survey, writing down their suggested changes, and making appointments for their first few surveys the next day.

On the morning of March 17 we met for the initial check-in. The surveyors began by interviewing each other, which was great because then I was able to modify a few of the questions to make them easier to understand.

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

The following are comments from one of the surveyors, Lucy Scow, about her experience in the project: “I have benefitted in this job many ways. I’ve gained a lot of people skills and a lot of knowledge from what our community wants and [I’ve] been keeping my own record while learning. I’ve also learned patience, understanding and most importantly, getting to know so many people and having this kind of job made me want to work more with our community. I’ve never had such a drive to do so until having this job ”

IMPLEMENTING THE PROJECT Deliverable 2: Surveyors will go house-to-house in pairs and conduct at least 50 surveys per pair.

Immediately after their morning check-in on March 17 the surveyors went out into the community to begin surveying. They were divided into two teams, the Red Team (Lucy Scow and Cara Anderson) and the Blue Team (Gloria Brotchie and Thomas Jack).

Each team received a computer bag including: 1.

2.

3.

4.

An iPad in a case + charger An iPad keyboard dock A set of paper surveys (in case of problems with the iPads) Clipboard with tracking sheets (to track people surveyed, dates, surveyors, gift cards, quality checks, and which ones the surveyors had been paid for) and maps of Tsulquate to help them plan which houses to visit 5. A troubleshooting guide with tips about the iPads and my home contact information 6. Pencil case, pens, white-out, etc.

Initially the Blue Team had some issues getting 3G service on their iPad, but we were able to resolve it within a few minutes.

The teams not only went house-to-house in Tsulquate, but also to our local mall (on child tax day, because they knew many of our community members would be at the mall), to apartment buildings where they knew a lot of community members lived, and to other places where they could reach a lot of people in a short time. The groups were very strategic, and the Red Team even got into the practice of doing two interviews at once, one on the iPad and one on paper, and entering the paper ones into the computer system in between interviews.

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

SURVEY RESULTS Deliverable 3: Data from the surveys will be put into a Human Resources Database and report.

Each individual response has been filed in the Human Resource database.

Each response includes the following information:                

Name Address & Contact Information Birthdate Description of current job Information about disabilities, criminal record, and assistance Number and ages of dependents Education level achieved and desired Certification achieved and desired Volunteer experience Work experience Career goals, desired fields of work Weaknesses, strengths, interests, values, and barriers Interest in Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nation jobs and volunteering to train for them Willingness indicated to move away for training Readiness for a job search Level of computer skills

These files will be used by staff to support individual community members in attaining their education, training and career goals. Community members may use these files to store copies of their resumes, cover letters, certificates, etc.

Copies of these files were also mailed back to each respondent for them to keep a record of their participation in this project.

Survey Report Following are some of the key findings from the survey, and how the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations will use these findings to deliver better services to the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw community. Charts show total number of respondents in each category.

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

Finding #1: Highschool Dropout Rate and Other Barriers

As the chart at left shows, the vast majority of Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw employables have not graduated from grade 12 with a Dogwood, and many did not make it past grade 10.

When asked what level of education they want to attain, the most common answer by far was “finish highschool” with 95 responses.

Comparatively, 44 people said they would like to get a professional diploma or certificate, and only 29 would like a university degree.

This data re-emphasizes the need to focus on students in the early years of secondary school, especially as they transition from elementary school, to try and help them graduate and ideally go on to post-secondary education.

When asked what barriers are preventing them from having the career they want, people responded:     

Lack of education (117 responses) Lack of work experience (79 responses) Caring for dependents (38 responses) Lack of motivation (31 responses) Health issues (27 responses)

Other barriers that people identified were lack of [Indian and Northern Affairs Canada] funding and not enough available jobs. Many people also commented that they did not have any barriers preventing them from achieving their goals.

It is important that the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations find ways to help people overcome their barriers. Dependence upon social assistance is a huge issue for our community. Of those surveyed, 46% said that they had been on social assistance, and 39% are currently on social assistance.

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

Finding #2: Strong Desire for Certification, Especially First Aid and FoodSafe

The Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations often offers certification courses to community members. These courses almost always suffer from poor attendance. Hopefully we will be able to use this survey data to target training to the individuals who have expressed interest in the different kinds of certification. This data will also help us find people with the required certification to fill jobs that open up in our community.

It is no surprise that the most desired certificates are also the most commonly required for job applications. When asked what kinds of certificates they are interested in getting, people responded:          

First Aid Level 1 (102 responses) FoodSafe (94 responses) First Aid Level 3 (89 responses) Serving It Right (76 responses) First Aid Level 2 (67 responses) WHMIS (50 responses) SuperHost (44 responses) Firearms Possession and Acquisition License (43 responses) Small Vessel Operator’s Permit (42 responses) Pleasure Craft Operator’s Card (40 responses)

Respondents are least interested in class 2-3 driver’s licenses, swiftwater safety and rescue, and traffic control.

Additional types of certification that people are interested in include:    

Forklift ticket Heavy equipment operator certification Early Childhood Education certification Computer training

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

Finding #3: Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Job Shadowing Potential

Community members expressed willingness to volunteer their time to train in staff positions for the Gwa'sala'Nakwaxda'xw Nations, with 44% saying that they would volunteer as much time as necessary to train for positions.

Only 9% said they couldn’t volunteer their time to take training.

Through the results of the survey we will be able to review individual’s files to see which jobs they are interested in training for and whether or not they are willing to volunteer to train. This will help us put in place a job shadowing program to help more Gwa'sala'Nakwaxda'xw members find jobs working for their own community. In particular, we often require fill-in receptionists, so we will be able to use this data to develop a contact list of potential fill-ins from the 40 people that expressed interest in that job.

When asked which of the available regular Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw jobs they are interested in, people responded:              

Youth Worker (68 responses) Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw School Support Worker (52 responses) Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw School Teacher’s Assistant (50 responses) Home Maker (49 responses) Family Support Worker (48 responses) Receptionist (40 responses) Elder’s Coordinator (39 responses) Janitor (35 responses) Public Works Coordinator (31 responses) Housing Administrator (29 responses) Fisheries Coordinator (29 responses) Education Counsellor (26 responses) Forestry Coordinator (26 responses) Infant Development Worker (25 responses)

The least popular jobs are: principal of the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw School, bus driver, finance manager, treaty negotiator, elementary school teacher, natural resources manager, economic development manager, and band manager.

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

Finding #4: Basic Needs for Job Searching

As the chart at left shows, very few Gwa'sala'Nakwaxda'xw community members (25%) have a valid class 5 driver’s license, and only 42% have a reliable vehicle. This is likely a big impediment to many people when looking for work, especially considering that many local jobs (at the mill in Port Alice, or local fish processing plants, or jobs “out in the bush”) require employees to commute. We will use this data to start looking at ways to support Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw community members to get their driver’s licenses, perhaps offering special classes or workshops to help people prepare for their driver’s license tests. It is also very difficult to get an appointment to take a driving test in Port Hardy, since they only happen once a month and the available slots fill up within hours of being made available. So, perhaps the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations could look at bringing in an examiner at additional times to do driving exams with Gwa'sala'Nakwaxda'xw community members.

This chart also shows us that only 45% of community members have an up-to-date resume. To help address this issue, we will look at ways to help people with their resumes, by providing templates on the public computer in the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Band Office and by keeping copies of people’s resumes in their file in the Human Resources Database, if they wish. We can also see that doing cover letters and preparing for job interviews are barriers for 12-13%of community members. We can offer training in these areas.

Another area that the survey results have helped is showing Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw staff skills people are lacking that will impede their job search. We will be able to target training to address these gaps.

When asked what their greatest weakness or faults are, community members answered:      

Shyness (14 responses) Health & mental health issues (14 responses) Patience and anger management (12 responses) Organization and time management (12 responses) Addictions (11 responses) Other common answers were lack of education and literacy issues

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

Finding #5: Interest in Owning Businesses, Esp. Related to Food, Construction and Children

This chart shows that almost half (43%) of Gwa'sala'Nakwaxda'xw community members are interested in owning their own business. Our Economic Development office is well equipped to support people in starting up their own businesses. We will be able to use the data from this survey to get in touch with people who are interested in owning their own business to offer them support in achieving that goal.

Some of the types of businesses that people are interested in owning are:       

A restaurant or catering business (25 responses) A retail business, especially clothing shop or convenience/general store (15 responses) A construction-related business (9 responses) A daycare (8 responses) An art or graphics-related business (8 responses) A health or beauty related business, such as haircutting or massage therapy (7 responses) An automotive business such as mechanic shop, carwash, gas station, etc. (6 responses)

When asked what their ideal career is, the most popular answers are:       

Teaching or working with children & youth (33 responses) Trades such as carpentry, plumbing, or mechanics (25 responses) Health jobs, especially nursing (18 responses) Hospitality & tourism jobs, especially cooking (17 responses) Forestry & fisheries jobs (10 responses) Administrative jobs (7 responses) Counselling jobs (7 responses)

One of the most immediately apparent ideas to come from this data is that we have a lot of people interested in owning and working in a restaurant as well as a construction-related business. We also have many people that want to work with children, combined with a median age of about 20, which means we have a lot of kids in our community. So, we will be able to match up the people with that interest with funding as it becomes available to work at getting more businesses started up in the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw community.

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

Finding #6: Opportunity Zone and Yo! News Support Job Searching

The chart at left shows the most common places that people find job postings. This data is helpful as it will help us put job postings in the places where they are most accessible. This data also shows that the job posting section of the Yo! News (a biweekly newsletter created by Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw staff and delivered to each house in Tsulquate) is a valuable employment tool in the Gwa'sala'Nakwaxda'xw community and will continue to be used to share job postings with the community.

Survey Demographics and Other Figures Data taken from the following source, inconsistencies in figures are present in the census figures: Statistics Canada. 2007. Gwa'Sala-Nakwaxda'xw, British Columbia (Code630167) (table). Aboriginal Population Profile.

2006 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 92-594-XWE. Ottawa. Released January 15, 2008. http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-594/index.cfm?Lang=E (accessed April 12, 2011).

For the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations: Total population: 435 people (235 male / 195 female) Total population 15 years and over: 270 people (145 male / 125 female) Total population in the labour force: 120 people (80 male / 45 female) Median age: 19.7 years Unemployment rate: 37.5% of labour force (50% for males / 22.2% for females) For the Human Resources Survey: Total # surveyed: Median age: Unemployment rate: Total # on Social Assistance: Total with dependents: Average # of dependents: Total with Grade 12 or higher: Total with University Degree: Total with any computer skills: Total with advanced computer skills:

198 people (170 Registered Band Members) 33.5 yrs 59.6% of respondents 39.4% of respondents 62% of respondents 1.75 28% of respondents (Grade 12 with Dogwood) 4 people (All Bachelor degrees) 87% of respondents 12.1% of respondents

Industries in Which Respondents Have the Most Experience (Percentage of Total Respondents): 1. Sports (56.3%) 2. Fisheries (52.1%) 3. First Nations Traditional Skills (47.2%) 4. Maintenance (39.6%) 5. Food & Beverage (32.1%) 6. Construction (31.6%) 15

Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

Industries Which Respondents Are Interested In (Percentage of Total Respondents): 1. Physical & Life Sciences (chemist, biologist, geologist, etc.)(81.3%) 2. Engineering (81.1%) 3. Government (79.7%) 4. Precision/Fabrication Machinery (73.5%) 5. Research (67.5%) 6. Forestry (67.1) 7. Transportation (67.1%) 8. Heavy Machinery (66.9%) 9. Hospitality (63%) 10. Sales & Marketing (58.8%) 11. Business & Finance (58.4%)

Next Steps These are the things that we will be doing immediately:   

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Using our SurveyMonkey subscription to help us survey staff to standardize (and fill in gaps) in our band’s job descriptions.

Using the survey results to find individuals who expressed an interest in traffic control certification, to hopefully take part in free training that is coming up at the end of May 2011.

Using the data to inform the economic development strategic planning project that is underway, especially in terms of identifying fields of interest among community members in which the band should pursue business opportunities.

Bringing all of the people who expressed interest in running and working in a daycare into the economic development office to discuss the logistics (over 12 people expressed keen interest in this area, and it is something that our community needs) Using the results to find people who are interested in plumbing to potentially take part in a hands-on plumbing training course in late May 2011.

The longer-term next steps are: 

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To input the results from the survey into a more comprehensive database such as a CRM or Customer Relations Management database, to allow for updating and more efficient use of the data.

Staff can work with provincial and federal partners by inviting them to a meeting in the next two months to review the results and discuss incremental next steps/strategic steps to be taken to access resources and supportStaff will use the data to plan training and workshops for the areas of greatest need and interest.

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Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Human Resources Database Project: March 2011 Prepared by Jessie Hemphill, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Executive Assistant

Conclusion This was a highly successful project that was able to accommodate the higher-than-expected participion very nearly within the original budget, on a very short timeframe, thanks to careful project planning and incredible community support.

The long-term benefits of the project will be immense, and it has already generated a wave of positivity and purposefulness among staff and community members. The Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, especially Karen Ramsay Cline and Pam Millar, for their unending support.

Gila’Kasla!

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