In the workplace, no one talks to an aboriginal employee unless they have to – and only if it’s a matter that’s related to work.
It’s Robert Laboucane’s painful conclusion following hundreds, if not thousands, of interviews with skilled aboriginal employees and their former employers.
The reason?
Most of corporate Canada – with some exceptions, of course – is “profoundly ignorant” of the native community, Laboucane says.
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| Robert Laboucane says most of corporate Canada is profoundly ignorant’ of the native community. |
And employees, paranoid that they might unintentionally insult an aboriginal worker and be deemed a racist or bigot, choose not to socialize.
The result is an aboriginal employee who feels ostracized, who internalizes his or her situation, loses confidence and self-esteem, and quits the job.
This is the rule, not the exception, says Laboucane.
According to his research, 97 per cent of post-secondary aboriginal graduates quit their first job within six months of being hired.
It’s a numbing statistic.
The figure comes from Laboucane’s work with employers – companies that have asked him why they can’t retain aboriginal people on whom they’ve spent time and money to recruit and train.
The problem is nothing new. Laboucane, a Metis businessman, has been working 20 years helping businesses and government create an atmosphere where aboriginal workers are successfully recruited and retained.
His Calgary-based company, Ripple Effects Ltd., today has approximately 200 clients throughout Canada. In 1995, Laboucane’s company began interviewing hundreds of skilled aboriginal workers who had quit their jobs.
Companies wanted to know why, often without notice, employees stopped coming to work.
There were no discussions, no exit interviews, no way of knowing what had gone wrong.
“When we talk to management, they don’t know what the problem is so there is no way to correct it,” Laboucane says.
“So management has to assume that the individual (the aboriginal) has the problem.”
Since 1995, those interviews have shown the opposite; management, not the aboriginal employee, is at fault.
“We determined one thing. In the workplace, no one talks to the aboriginal employee outside of the immediate need of the work that needs to be done.”
As an example Laboucane offers the following scenario, a typical interview he conducts with an employer whose aboriginal employee has quit:
Laboucane: What do you know about Dennis? Is he a good engineer? Does he have good people skills?
Employer: Oh yes, he does a good job. He has a great sense of humour.
Laboucane: Is he married?
Employer: I don’t know.
Laboucane: What part of the city does he live in?
Employer: I don’t know.
Laboucane: Have you ever asked him out for a beer on a Friday after work?
Employer: Oh no, we would never think of doing that.
Laboucane: Why not?
Employer: We’re afraid he’ll go Indian on us.
Laboucane: Well, Dennis doesn’t drink.
Employer: He’s an Indian, isn’t he?
Laboucane shakes his head.
“I hear that kind of stuff all the time,” he says.
“Would you want to work in an environment like that?
Tempering that anxiety is another reality that brings some hope.
As a number of studies have concluded, aboriginal workers are an untapped resource in a Canadian workplace that faces increasing shortages of skilled employees.
Additionally, any company that wishes to develop projects (mining, forestry, pipelines, etc.) on aboriginal land must build partnerships with the aboriginal community that are based on trust and understanding.
It is incumbent on employers to bridge the communication gaps, and to understand some basic information, Laboucane says.
“I would say that 95 per cent of Canadians know absolutely nothing about the aboriginal community and the other five per cent know a little bit,” he says.
And most of that is wrong.
“It’s not even a matter of apathy.
“It’s a matter of separation of the aboriginal people from mainstream society by geography, legislation and law.
“The way it’s been designed is to keep the two communities as far as apart as possible.”
Currently, there are about 40,000 aboriginal students taking post-secondary education at Canadian universities and colleges.
The federal government spends about $360 million annually in job programs primarily aimed at aboriginal employment, and many companies, especially large corporations, take “extraordinary steps” to attract qualified candidates, Laboucane says.
Aboriginal graduates are smart and adaptable, he explains, but far too many companies take the short-sighted attitude that an employee either gets with the program, or gets out.
Successful companies – many of them larger organizations – are doing the right things, Laboucane says.
He praises companies such as Alberta Pacific Industries, Royal Bank Financial Group, Syncrude Canada Ltd., Shell Canada Ltd. and Suncor Energy. Smart employers give their new aboriginal employee a copy of their aboriginal relations program and a copy of their aboriginal employment policy, and they’ll assign a mentor for an orientation period.
Companies like RBC have also created internal aboriginal employee associations or groups to act as internal support structures where managers are invited to meetings to share information.
As part of his business, Laboucane runs aboriginal awareness training workshops, where larger companies sometimes put their entire staff (often hundreds of employees) through the program.
Mid-size or small companies should at a minimum have their management teams take awareness training to offer support and guidance for their employees.
“When an aboriginal worker is hired, it’s a good idea for the employer to encourage staff to meet the new employee, invite them to lunch or coffee and not to be fearful,” Laboucane says.
“The problem is, that it doesn’t always happen.”
The issue of aboriginal employment is alternately complicated and simple.
On one hand, aboriginal people missed out on most of the Industrial Revolution and only in the past 30 years have recognized that they must become a part of the global market, he says.
On the other hand, the workplace doesn’t know the aboriginal worker.
Employees don’t have a basic knowledge of the new worker’s culture, and fear saying anything that might be misinterpreted as racist.
While Laboucane says efforts are being made to encourage young aboriginal workers to take the initiative in the workplace and help dispel fears, it’s important to remember that new aboriginal workers are often young and unsure of themselves – not unlike most graduates.
Sometimes an encouraging word or a pat on the back from a co-worker or boss over coffee is the small boost a new employee needs to gain that self-assurance.
But, as Laboucane notes, it won’t happen if no one will talk to you.
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