Management program tailored to Aboriginals

Page 10

As the movement towards self-government picks up steam, many band councils are finding their management and administrative skills deficient. But translating those needs into an effective Aboriginal management training program at the post-secondary level is often a problem.

Michael B. Kennedy, a program development consultant with Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), said the problem exists because many post-secondary institutions fail to understand the real needs of Indian bands when developing management training programs.

But Kennedy said that NAIT seems to have found a solid solution. Two years ago, NAIT, backed by Indian and Northern Affairs, embarked on a training needs assessment study of 30 of Alberta's Indian bands.

"Our goal was to develop a human resource development plan for the bands in the five regions, and then a plan for the entire region," he said in Edmonton at the Association of Canadian Community College's annual meeting.

Management Services Consultant Ed Willson was hired to travel to the participating bands for one-on-one information gathering sessions. He began the process by getting a rough outline of what skills each band council deemed crucial, and at what level the skills training should begin.

"Because of the differences in sophistication - some bands were free-enterprise and others were quite primitive - the skills ranged from general accounting to the law."

Willson recorded the job positions and titles within a given band along with the self-determined skill level of each employee. Then, in what amounted to 212 individual interviews he asked the employees to determine their own training needs and then those of the band.

Once compiled, the employees' top five concerns - typically ranging from operating computers to understanding the Indian At - were "broken down into more precise meanings." That information was then condensed into a detailed questionnaire.

"We eventually got a profile of what the expectations are for a position with the band and a self-assessment of their own skills," Willson explained.

Once a band's needs were established, Willson and NAIT concentrated on creating personalized four-year action plans to incorporate the customized courses, seminars, and training programs deemed crucial.

"Each band manager can now identify whether or not a specific training is necessary or not. They can now make a decision whether to fund a program or not," Willson said. At the same time, the plan is sensitive to the needs of the individual - training requires no more than three days away from family.

Although band councils were keen on having a plan, Willson said concerns about spirituality and tradition were paramount throughout the process.

"They saw that their culture was coming to an end in that they just couldn't conduct business like they had in the past."

But Percy Woods of NAIT's continuing education division said the time is right for stringent management skills.

"The government is moving away from controlling the bands, and the management and spending skills are poor on reserves."

He cited several instances of fiscal mismanagement, including one example of an outside company offering a band a two-day time management seminar for $10,000.

"They came in with an outline that may have cost them $80, read an introduction and left."

Woods added that the seminars and training programs are being well received by the participating bands.

"It's really opened their eyes."