Innovative Management Awards - 2007 Finalist
Online System in Nunavut Links Employers and Job Hunters To Spur Economic Development
Employers and job hunters in Nunavut don’t have to try to find each other over long distances any more, nor to come together as strangers. They can get to know each other in one online community that spans the entire territory.
The Nunavut Community Skills Information System, a community-based skills inventory and reporting tool, has become a critical resource for the Government of Nunavut, communities and businesses as they work to build capacity of key economic sectors and meet the employment and training needs of individuals.
The Government of Nunavut has won a 2007 IPAC Award for Innovative Management for conceiving and building this unifying social and economic resource.
When Nunavut was created as Canada’s newest territory, little reliable data existed on the number and types of jobs available and the skill sets held by those interested in securing employment. The Nunavut Community Skills Information System (NCSIS) was designed to provide accurate data that would assess individual employability skills and assist in the creation of targeted training programs tied specifically to economic development opportunities, such as those associated with the mining industry.
It does this by gathering detailed information about the essential skills required by available jobs and then comparing that to the essential skills held by Nunavummiut. Using this information, individual job seekers can be matched to appropriate jobs. NCSIS also assists in identifying the individual training needs of an employee so that a training program can be developed to fulfill the job-specific needs identified by the employer.
Four Languages
The system is fully operational in Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English and French, with a voice-over component for lower literacy clients. NCSIS consists of four components:
• An online employer component, which enables the employer to advertise a job opening and outline the nature of the job and its associated skills requirements;
• An online employee component -- prospective employees can see the jobs that are available in Nunavut (the region or the hamlet), as well as the skills associated with each job, and file an online resumé. In addition, a prospective employee will be able to self-assess his or her own level of attainment of essential skills;
• An online job-matching module, which will match positions and applicants based upon the alignment of skills;
• A reporting system that can extract information from the NCSIS database and present a wide variety of labour market information either at the territorial or the community level. This application will become a valuable part of the strategic planning process within Nunavut.
Twenty-eight organizations in Nunavut were involved in the development of NCSIS and the system has received support from communities, Inuit organizations, and employment and training bodies.
NCSIS can be used at the territorial, regional or hamlet level by Inuit associations and government to gather essential information for policy decisions, operational issues related to economic development, and in the development of adult learning and training programs.
IPAC Award for Innovative Management
The IPAC Award for Innovative Management, established in 1990, recognizes exceptional management within the public sector in Canada. The theme of the 2007 competition was “New Service Breakthroughs with Technology”. The award is co-sponsored by IBM Canada and KPMG.
For more information, please contact:
Government of Nunavut
Bruce Rigby
Senior Advisor Adult Learning, 867-975-5619
brigby@gov.nu.ca
Institute of Public Administration of Canada
Gabriel F. Sékaly
Executive Director
416-924-8787, ext. 230
gsekaly@ipac.ca
www.ipac.ca
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