Community Skills Inventory: The beginning of a successful road to inclusive project employment
Project proponents are often required to comply with localization targets set by governments, regulators, or regional precedents. These targets often include employment, training, and procurement goals, defined either as a percentage of revenue, an absolute value, or a broader visionary objective. A critical flaw in many projects is setting these localization metrics without understanding the skills available in community. A community skills inventory can address this issue by supporting realistic and achievable goals, while also laying the groundwork for meeting employment targets, closing gaps, and understanding community socioeconomic aspirations.
Here area few best practice tips to get you started:
Establish a baseline: Understanding the community’s socio-economic baseline and interests is crucial. This foundation helps identify tangible opportunities for community participation. Direct community engagement is the most effective method for collecting data, although some information can also be gathered from federal census data (see point 3 for associated challenges). This data will highlight potential gaps, allowing targeted training and capacity-building programs that meet both project and community needs and future goals.
There are important variables to understand: When conducting a community skills inventory, several key data sets are essential which include a) Identify economic development officers and in-community training and human resources representatives to ensure that your data is supported by community intelligence, and remains current and accurate. b) understand overall skill baseline and availability including work-appropriate age, education, trades, and experience. c) Understand the challenges or barriers to skills development that may already exist.
Common challenges: Establishing a skills inventory can have challenges, including a) Indigenous historical mistrust of government data collection that often excluded Indigenous Peoples. This is compounded by data inconsistences from community-to-community and emphasizes a need for individualized approaches instead of a pan-community approach. b) Historical mistrust also impacts data ownership. Some communities may freely share data, while others prefer confidentiality. Respecting these preferences is crucial.
Establish individual worker plans: The collected data is only valuable if applied effectively. Developing individual worker plans can address workforce gaps and meet jurisdictional or corporate targets. These plans, often funded by project proponents or community socioeconomic programs, cater to each interested community member. They typically include baseline information on education and experience, career aspirations, skills gaps, necessary training, and milestone achievements with key timelines
Conducting a thorough community skills inventory is essential for setting realistic and inclusive localization targets for project employment. By establishing a comprehensive baseline, analyzing key data variables, addressing common challenges, and developing individual worker plans, project proponents pave the way for successful and inclusive project employment.