March 22 Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Diversity Forum

Wendy Dawson - Executive Director Indigenous Policy Directorate at the Department for Community Development

Wendy consulted with 30 Indigenous staff from DCD and represents their views for this forum

Ricki Hewitt - Director of Management Projects, a business that provides recruitment and other services to government and community organisations

Chris Cottier - Director of Policy and Coordination at the Department of Indigenous Affairs

Question To 50D or not 50D - What are the pros and cons?

Wendy

12%of staff within DCD are Indigenous

Pros

• 5OD gives country people an opportunity to enter the agency
• they believe they have a better chance of winning a 50D job rather than a mainstream job
• good opportunity to have life skills recognised
• provides a career path
• 50D position will ensure correct people in the job
• helps to breakdown barriers
• good support for people in these roles
• positive role modeling for others in the community
• get to be the voice of their own people
• appropriate staffing level to match the client base
• increases diversity within the workplace

Cons

• become the one and only expert on Indigenous issues regardless of skill level or employment level or complexity of issue
• marginalise and limit career opportunities into mainstream
• seen not as a real position, just a token position

Chris

• Consider - What are we trying to achieve as far as service delivery goes?
• Useful for field staff and where there is face to face customer service
• Department of Indigenous Affairs example where jobs in the Indigenous Heritage unit were culturally and gender specific to deal with particular issues
• Can be marginalised especially in smaller or remote locations

Ricki

• Are the objections to using S.50D real or perceived?
• Consider if you are using a proper whole of system approach to recruitment
• If there are perceptions of tokenism or someone not being appointed on merit, does the organisation need to be more culturally sensitive? Is there a need for effective cross cultural awareness training of agency staff?
• Ensure job design is appropriate and that support and development are in place to ensure people appointed under S.50D are not marginalised and are given opportunities for future progression

Question 2 What are the preconditions for successful recruitment?

Chris

• A good vision, clear goals
• Good support mechanisms once employed
• Peer support
• Management support
• Type of ads are important
• Good environment to work in

Wendy

• Recognition of life skills
• Networking
• Innovative and creative recruitment strategy
• Creative advertising
• Mentoring program
• Clear career development pathways
• Information sessions given before recruitment process commences

Ricki

Focusing on the recruitment process:

• Creative advertising
• Information sessions
• Searching - use consultants, networks - bringing the position to the attention of the people
• Design JDFs, including selection criteria, so that they are relevant, jargon free and reflect the true job
• Think about different ways of assessing applications, e.g. letter, samples of work and referee reports.
• Consider suitability of interview panel
• Fully involve Indigenous panel members and ask for their advice on interview arrangements and questions
• Ensure the interview environment is appropriate
• Get the language right
• Feedback - it is important to get applicants to take up the opportunity of receiving it

Question 3 Mentoring and career development for indigenous employees - What are the critical success factors?

Wendy

• Builds confidence and self esteem
• System needs to allow mentoree to choose mentor
• Should be recognised as a role, not just an add on
• Managers need to be flexible and encourage relationship building
• Can be an informal role - to just sit and talk through everyday issues

Chris

• Create positive working environment
• Good employees with good attitude
• Robust program
• Staffing structure must have career progression and acting opportunities
• Need to make Public Service more attractive

Ricki

• Effective mentoring and career development are key strategies for the retention and advancement of Indigenous staff. An important part of a holistic or system approach to recruitment and retention.