By Jeremy Appel | Alberta Native News
A Saskatoon-based firm is bringing a human resources conference for Indigenous professionals to Treaty 6 territory in late October.
Morris Interactive is hosting the event on Oct. 28 and 29 at the River Cree Resort and Casino on Enoch Cree Nation in Alberta.
Morris CEO Matthew Cey told Alberta Native News that the conference, which is usually held in Saskatoon, is headed to the Edmonton area by popular demand.
“We get a lot of participants that come to this from all across Canada. People had asked, ‘When will you come to Alberta?’” Cey explained. “We just listened to our customers.”
He added that his firm does “a lot of hands-on work with First Nations communities, developing policies, working on performance management, working on the whole employee lifecycle of hiring and onboarding and exit.”
Morris clients include private firms, as well as First Nations governments.
“We saw that there’s a real need for some to help build capacity with First Nations, to help with culturally relevant HR practices, and what we found over the years is it’s great to have the Indigenous and the non-Indigenous perspective at these conferences,” he said.
“We want to build inclusive workplaces. We want to focus on discussions around some of the unique challenges within First Nations workplaces, looking at long-term talent development and retention, helping provide some tools and templates for some of the common challenges and opportunities.”
The conference also provides opportunities for Indigenous and settler professionals to build “professional connections to develop modern HR strategies” through networking.
The event’s target audience is, “first and foremost, HR professionals within Indigenous workplaces, whether it be entry level or experienced HR people,” said Cey.
But, he noted, the programming will also be of interest to “anyone in a supervisory or management role.”
“Some of the biggest challenges in any workplace are dealing with conflict and creating long-term career paths for employees where they can see that aligned vision,” Cey said.
“For every role, as you become a leader, HR is a component of your role, and doing it effectively is easier for some than others, so the more tools, practices, and sharing of information and strategies that you can have in your tool belt, the better you can do in that environment.”
People spend much of their lives at work, which Cey says makes it crucial that workplaces are as welcoming as can be for everyone, including First Nations, Métis and Inuit employees and employers.
“It’s important for our own mental health and our existence to enjoy what we do on a daily basis, so if we can provide a pathway for those coming into the workforce, or those that have been there a while, to make it a better experience,” said Cey.
