RECONCILIATION: MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER - UNDERSTANDING RECONCILIATION
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• Hiring Indigenous employees and those with lived experience so the corporation can be representative of those they serve; • Job opportunities promoted on Indigenous hiring sites, in Indigenous communities, and with Indigenous organizations, including an Indigenous student co-op program; and, • Quantitative data collection on self-identified Indigenous hires per year. BC Housing provides staff optional training opportunities such as Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples , informal ‘lunch and learns’, internal presentations on projects with Indigenous Nations, communities, and organizations, and project specific cultural heritage training. The Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples training is offered on a voluntary basis. This training should be mandatory for all staff as it is important to build an understanding regarding relationship-building throughout the organization. There is a gap in the continuum of training such as training focused on what does cultural awareness mean in practical ways when communicating and working with Indigenous people. We also heard from a few respondents that BC Housing currently promotes reconciliation by: • Providing support to Indigenous groups (through funding, training, and capacity building); • Improving work culture and business practices through actions such as giving land acknowledgments during media events and branch meetings, hiring people who have worked with Indigenous communities or have lived experience, and by listening to and collaborating with Indigenous Nations, communities, and organizations on housing projects; • Adapting to the needs of Indigenous peoples; • To varying degrees and depending on the business area, BC Housing staff are learning about reconciliation, Indigenous history/experiences and best practices; and, • Applying Indigenous approaches or frameworks to work. 4.3.2.3 Areas for Improvement Staff suggested the following ways to improve the organization’s level of understanding and commitment to reconciliation: • Make the Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples training mandatory; • Provide more time to engage in discussions about reconciliation at staff meetings and day-to-day; • Increase education and training opportunities for BC Housing staff − Teach staff how to apply principles of decolonization, reconciliation, anti-racism and anti-discrimination to their day-to-day work practices; and, • Increase diversity within the organization to include more Indigenous staff members.
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