Human Resource Capacity – Government of Nunavut

Audited Entities

• Department of Human Resources
• Department of Community and Government Services
• Department of Education
• Department of Environment
• Department of Finance

Audit Scope and Objectives

• To determine whether the Department of Human Resources and selected departments have adequately managed their human resource needs, including meeting the objective of a representative public service.

Audit Criteria

• The Department of Human Resources and selected departments have collected and analyzed appropriate information related to their current and estimated future workforce and human resource capacity gaps.
• Departmental and government-wide planning documentation adequately identified how current and future human resource capacity and a representative workforce would be addressed.
• The Department of Human Resources’ staffing policies are responsive to the human resource needs of selected departments, including Inuit employment.
• The Department of Human Resources and selected departments have adequate staffing practices to fill the workforce gaps, including Inuit employment.
• The Department of Human Resources and selected departments have adequately planned for and allocated resources toward the development and training of beneficiary staff to achieve a representative workforce.

Main Audit Findings

• Except in the Department of Education with respect to teaching positions, the departments have either not gathered or not analyzed the information that would tell them what qualifications and skills they have in their current workforce. They also lack information on how many people they need, with what qualifications and skills, to deliver their programs and services and meet their objectives. As a result, they are unable to develop plans for filling the gaps in capacity over the short, medium, and long terms.
• The majority of the vacant positions filled each year are staffed through external competitions in a process that takes, on average, 318 days. However, more than half of this time passes before the hiring department asks the Department of Human Resources to get involved. In addition, over a two-year period, almost half of the staffing competitions undertaken were unsuccessful in selecting a qualified candidate, and the reasons why have not been analyzed. Departments have also used temporary hiring practices to fill permanent positions, which may provide a short-term solution but creates additional staffing work and uncertainty in the future.
• In view of the Government’s goal of attaining a representative public service, the selected departments have put forward initiatives such as training and development programs to increase the representativeness of their workforce. However, the initiatives were not enough to achieve the 2010 interim target. In addition, it is clear that representativeness will not be achieved in each occupational category by 2020. One exception is the Department of Education, which has taken concrete steps to fill its gaps in capacity over the short, medium, and long terms.

Selected Audit Recommendations

• The Department of Human Resources, in collaboration with the other selected departments, should
  • identify key skill sets and qualifications that departments need in the short, medium, and long terms;
  • determine what skill sets and qualifications they have now;
  • determine the extent to which gaps exist at both the department- and government-wide levels, by identifying how many people they need and what specific skill sets and qualifications are needed in the short, medium, and long terms;
  • identify the underlying factors that affect the ability to fill gaps in capacity and analyze to what extent these factors represent chronic problems; and
  • assess the underlying causes of the common gaps in key skill sets and qualifications identified across departments.
• Where ongoing gaps in specific skill sets and qualifications exist at the departmental level, the Department of Human Resources, in collaboration with the other selected departments, should develop and implement strategies to address these gaps in the short, medium, and long terms.
• The Department of Human Resources, in collaboration with the other selected departments, should develop and implement a strategy for each occupational category in which representativeness has not yet been attained. The strategies should take into account
  • the availability of beneficiaries who have the needed skills and experience,
  • the time required for beneficiaries to obtain the necessary qualifications and levels of education,
  • the high school and post-secondary graduation rates of beneficiaries, and
  • the demand by other employers for skilled beneficiaries.
• The Department of Human Resources, in collaboration with the other selected departments, should
  • analyze their internal staffing processes to identify opportunities for reducing the time it takes to staff a position,
  • identify common areas across departments where timeliness of the staffing process could be improved, and
  • implement the necessary changes.
• The Department of Human Resources should set a standard of service for each step of the competition process that currently lacks a standard.
• The Department of Human Resources, in collaboration with the other selected departments, should identify ways to reduce the use of temporary staffing practices to fill permanent positions. This should include reviewing its existing staffing policies and determining whether additional policies are needed.
• In cases where participation and completion rates for training programs are low, the selected departments should
  • analyze the reasons, through consultation with key stakeholders and participants;
  • identify the changes needed to improve participation and completion rates;
  • implement the changes; and
  • monitor participation and completion rates to determine whether they improve.

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