In the months ahead we’ll be using it to keep you up to date on what NITC has planned, on training news and issues in Nunavut, and on additional resources and tips for effective training.

We’ll also be profiling some of the people and some of the program that NITC supports, so keep your eyes open for your friends and neighbours on these pages.

This newsletter is distributed on both our website and by email. If you would rather receive the NITC quarterly newsletter by email when it is updated please contact us and we will add your email address to the list.

We welcome your comments on this newsletter, or on NITC in general. Please feel free to visit our new training forum (http://www.nitc.ca/english/talkback-feedback.html), and let us know what you think.

Enjoy!

Peter Kritaqliluk, Chairperson

Welcome to the first edition of our NITC quarterly newsletter.

This newsletter is just one more way we’ll be keeping in touch with our partners and stakeholders.

Most beneficiaries associate NITC with training workshops and scholarships. And those are both important parts of our mandate. But NITC has an additional responsibility, one that hasn’t received as much attention as our role in training support. I am referring to our role in the implementation of Article 23.

Article 23 is the provision of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement that commits the governments of Nunavut and Canada to achieving “representative levels” of Inuit employment, at all levels of employment. Put simply, that means that 85 percent of the managers, administrators, scientists, policy workers, deputy ministers and professionals working for government departments in Nunavut should be Inuit.

The Claim sets out some very specific measures that were to be used to achieve that goal. The government was to conduct a comprehensive Labour Force Analysis within three years of the signing of the Claim, to “determine the availability, interest and level of preparedness of Inuit for government employment”. This study would then lead to the creation of detailed Inuit Employment Plans, supported by Inuit Pre-employment Training Plans, all of which would be developed in consultation with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, as the DIO for Article 23.

The labour force analysis required by Article 23 was never satisfactorily completed. No pre-employment training plans have been developed, and NTI has never been adequately consulted on the development of federal or territorial Inuit employment plans. As a consequence, levels of Inuit employment in the Government of Nunavut have actually fallen over the last two years from 43% to 42%, while the percentage of Inuit employed by the Federal government is only 33%.

When Inuit ratified the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, they accepted the concept of a public government for Nunavut. One reason Inuit agreed not pursue self-government was the guarantee in the NLCA that Inuit would make up 85% of government workers at every level.

Ten years after ratification of the Claim, and four years after the creation of Nunavut, that guarantee has not been met. All parties are aware of the challenge associated with achieving 85% Inuit employment: but that goal remains an essential element of the NLCA.

So where does NITC’s responsibility lie?

While NTI is the Designated Inuit Organization for Article 23, the NITC is assigned a number of specific responsibilities in the Implementation Contract. The Contracts assigns NITC the responsibility to participate in the development and implementation of Government employment and pre-employment training plans, to help establish and maintain support measures to support Article 23, and to provide the Implementation Panel with suggestions for correcting deficiencies in the governments’ pre-employment training programs and plans every five years.

Last year we became active in the Article 23 working group. With representatives of NTI, the Government of Nunavut and the Government of Canada, we began jointly to look at some of the barriers to achieving representative levels of Inuit employment in Nunavut, and to strategies for overcoming those barriers. While progress on Inuit employment has been slow to date, there are some encouraging signs in GN’s development of a new Inuit Employment Plan and targets. But much remains to be done: GN’s target for 2009 is still only 50%, a goal that fall far short of the Claim’s requirement.

Peter Kritaqliluk, Rod Hick and myself will continue to work with this group, and I will be providing you with updates on our progress on this critical issue through this newsletter and on our website.

Lorne Kusugak, Executive Director

For years, NITC updated beneficiaries on our activities by contributing a section to the Nunavut Implementation Panel’s Annual Report. This month, NITC published its first independent Annual Report. You can view or download a copy of NITC’s Annual Report at our website. Copies are also available by writing or emailing NITC at nitckut@arctic.ca.

• As noted above, NITC has also a new web site at www.nitc.ca. The site will provide you with immediate online access to accurate, timely information about NITC’s programs, services, staff and Board. The site also features links to other Nunavut organizations, training tools and publications, educational institutions across Canada, and many other resources. Best of all, the site provides an online forum for discussion of NITC and of training issues in Nunavut.
• We are pleased to welcome our newest Board member. Anna Qaunaq of Arctic Bay has been appointed to the NITC Board by NTI for a three year term.
• We also welcome back Donna Adams, Program Management Officer, now returned from maternity leave.
• NITC’s Annual General Meeting was held June 10-12 in Ottawa. A summary of proceedings from the meeting will be posted to our website shortly.
  

An employee who never prepares reports in the appropriate format. A Board member who doesn’t seem to understand their role, and continually tries to manage the organization. An administrative assistant who doesn’t won’t use the main filing system, but keeps all the central files at her desk.

Problems like this are common in many organizations, and so is the usual response….these folks need training. These are all training problems, right? The employee or Board member just needs to learn the “proper” way to do things, and the problems will disappear.

Well, maybe. But not always. Sometimes problems that look like training needs actually require a different kind of solution.

Think for a moment about what “training” actually means. It is an activity designed to provide a learner with the skills, knowledge and attitudes they need to do specific tasks.

If the Board member is acting like a manager because they don’t know what the role of a Board member is supposed to be…then training may change their behaviour. If the administrative assistant is keeping files at her desk because she doesn’t understand the filing system, then training is definitely called for.

But there are many reasons why people don't perform at their best, and training is not always the answer. Training, for example, will not fix these situations:

• An employee disagrees with a new policy, and decides not to follow it.
• The employee doesn’t know what's expected of him.
• The employee doesn’t have sufficient authority to do make the decisions or take the action required of her.
• The employee doesn’t get timely feedback on what he’s doing right and doing wrong.
• An employee doesn’t have access to the information she needs to do her job properly.
• Other employees aren’t providing the support or information an employee requires.
• There are policies or procedures blocking efficient performance.
• The employee’s job description is out of date or inaccurate.
• The employee is working with inadequate space or equipment.
• The employee simply has too much work on her plate to do a good job.

One quick way for you to identify a training need, as opposed to any other kind of need, is to ask: "If the person's life depended on it, and if all other obstacles were removed….could he/she perform the task?" If the answer is Yes, training will not improve performance.

So if it’s NOT a training need…what should you do?

• If you’re a supervisor, always provide timely and constructive feedback about the quality of work being performed.
• Consider providing written instructions on how to perform specific tasks that describe exactly how to perform the work, and what level of quality is required. Sometimes simple checklists help an employee to complete complex tasks.
• Don’t wait until the training needs assessment or performance appraisal to deal with performance issues…address them right away.
• When looking for the cause of a performance problem, dig a little…don’t immediately decide that training is required. Look for the root cause of the issue.
• Make sure job descriptions are up to date and accurate.
• Confirm that employees have the authority they need to make the decisions required to perform their work; and make sure their colleagues are aware of that authority.
  

“Be The Best You Can Be!"

Each edition of the NITC Newsletter will feature an NITC funding recipient or program. This month, we present Leslie Dean of Rankin Inlet, who has just completed the Nunavut Sivuniksavut Program, with assistance from the NITC Scholarship Fund.

• Tell us about the Nunavut Sivuniksavut Program in a few words.

It’ll be hard to do in a few words! It’s a one-year program that runs from September to April in Ottawa. It helps young people from the north get used to being in the south, and in the city. We had twenty-two students from across Nunavut this year; nineteen completed the course.

• What are some of the things they covered in the course?

Inuit history…everything from contact with the whalers right up to the Land Claim. We learned a lot about the Claim. There were English classes, Inuktitut classes, computer classes. And we visited the Inuit organizations in Ottawa, and learned about what they do and how they work with government. That’s just part of it.

• What was the absolute highlight of the year for you?

Getting to know people from the different regions. That was great. I never really knew much about people from Kitikmeot before. But I made some really good friends from Kitikmeot. They have a very different language, and a very different culture…I didn’t know anything about their style of music and dancing before I met the people on this course.

• What would you say was the most important learning you take away from this year?

About the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. Most people don’t know very much about the Claim, but the whole history of its negotiation is a really interesting story that means a lot to Inuit.

• Would you recommend this program to other Nunavummiut? Why?

I would definitely recommend it. I think it should be taught in the high schools!

• What support did NITC provide?

I was one of their scholarship recipients, and their support definitely made my life easier. When you’re studying away from home, you live cheque to cheque…NITC’s help certainly made it possible for Scholarship Recipients to focus more on their studies, and less on worrying about getting through the month.

• What are your plans now?

I’ve applied to take the second year of the NS program: I’ve also applied to the Western Academy of Photography to take their professional photographer’s course. We’ll see!

• What message do you have for readers of this newsletter?

To my friend at NS…I’ll MISS you guys.

And all the young people in Nunavut…we have so many opportunities nowadays. Take advantage of them…and be the best you can be.

• Earlier this year, NITC began the development of a 5-year strategic plan, incorporating input from both an independent review of the organization and from the comprehensive evaluations of NLCA implementation conducted by Avery Cooper and by Nunavut Tunngavik. The Strategic Plan will be posted to the NITC Website upon completion.
• An important note to all students…don’t forget the deadline for applying to the Nunavut Scholarship for programs this fall is September 1st.