Human Resources

Natalie Petawabano, Director of Human Resources
 

During this past school year, Human Resources Services focused on key areas in its efforts to improve the services it provides to the schools and departments of the Cree School Board.

One of our key initiatives in 2015-2016 was to review our whole recruitment process. An analysis of our current practices and challenges was completed, and we developed a list of recommendations to improve our processes. An area of importance was finding out why people work for the board, and why they stay. We held focus groups that provided valuable information that will be very helpful in our bid to improve our recruitment process. We also completed the orientation package for professionals this past school year, which will provide needed information on general information about the board and working conditions.

This year was a challenging one for recruiting teachers, as there were changes in the university intakes for education programs and therefore less teachers graduated in a province from which we normally recruit many of our future teachers. We were only able to hire 45% of our teachers before goose-break.

We continued our work on the implementation of the performance management program for managers. This work is intended to focus the efforts of the Board in its continued work toward student success. While we continue to have some challenges, we are confident as we move forward with the program that we will become more accomplished in it, and consequently, in the delivery of the services to the schools and departments.

Also in 2015-2016, our service underwent an assessment of our operational effectiveness and customer satisfaction. Many key stakeholders were interviewed, along with the whole human resources department. The final report made many recommendations for changes, and our department implemented some immediate ones, such as creating two additional positions that will focus on staffing and learning and development. We have also put together a plan to address the remaining recommendations over the next five years. In line with the reviewing the effectiveness of our service, we partnered with the payroll department to look at issues related to data integrity within the system, and have made a plan of action to address issues identified in the report.

In the future, we will continue to strive to improve the services we provide and to partner with other departments and schools in the education of our students.