Collaborative effort for employment needs bottom line

Times Contributor

 

A collaborative research project done by Bow Valley College, partnered with the Rural Development Project, was released for the first time to a large group of distinguished community leaders, on Sept. 13 at the Strathmore Civic Centre.

Until now, there was incomplete data addressing the Strathmore, Chestermere, Langdon, and Gleichen employment and training needs.

“Our workforce is shrinking rapidly and we need it for a productive economy. The facts tell us we are moving into a global competition rapidly. The workplace programs are investments for business and the identification of essential skills required will help with workforce productivity,” said Teri McKinnon, Regional Lead for Education and Development, Bow Valley College. 

Strong local labour information is used for planning, assessing skill needs of local communities, identifying resources and targeting gaps. The research identified a need to provide employers with a way to identify essential skills of their employee and provide training and skill opportunities.

“Attracting educated and trained staff is a shared responsibility between industry and government. Education and training skilled workers is vital to maintaining Alberta’s workforce,” said Todd Shatford, Program and Operations Manager for Central Alberta, Alberta Works.

Shatford said there are predictions of a 114,000 worker labour shortage in Alberta by the year 2021. He said it is well documented that increasing literacy and essential skills leads to greater business productivity. 

“Just an increase of one per cent productivity equals a 32 million dollar raise in Canada’s economy,” said Shatford.

The research project contacted 294 businesses in this area. Of those, 99 employers participated in a detailed survey and interview. The majority of businesses are defined as small and micro businesses, providing specialized services. The demographics of Strathmore showed 41.4 per cent of the population is under 24 years old and 23.3 per cent are over 55. There were 79 aboriginals employed.

The survey determined that 64 per cent of businesses have some kind of training program and realize training importance. Some of the smaller companies have smaller budgets and Canadian statistics show businesses with less than 20 employees don’t usually offer training. The largest numbers of area residents were employed in government, media, education, and community services. Wholesale and retail trade came second with agriculture and animal services third. The report identified training needs as: Improve employee performance, stress management, customer service, problem solving, team building, and goal setting. 

Business and management development identified needs as: dealing with difficult employees, computer software training, management courses, leadership development, social media marketing, human resources courses and effective business writing. Sixty per cent of businesses said they saw a need for leadership training.

Influences affecting employment were resources easily accessed in Calgary and the distance from Siksika was a factor in aboriginal employment. Cultural barriers and misconceptions need to be addressed and increased communication of employment opportunities would help the number of employed aboriginals in the area to increase. Increasing aboriginal engagement was necessary as the aboriginal community is growing faster than any other in Canada. 

The final recommendations were forming a panel to develop a common growth vision, attract and retain able employees, which includes welcoming immigrants and aboriginals. Employees needed a solid foundation of essential skills. The plan looks to the development of variety of training and leadership programs within the next two to three years. A collaborative effort with the Rural Development projects expects to align post-secondary education with needs identified by the community.

For the full report or any information about networking, call Teri McKinnon at 462-2550.