Rashid Hasan: An award-winning focus on professional development
A 2016 labour action at the City of Fort St. John, B.C. revealed the key issue for employees wasn’t wages or working conditions, but rather that they weren’t being provided with the opportunity for significant professional development.
For a small, northern B.C. community with some 260 municipal employees and a population of 22,000 people, this represented a significant obstacle. However, the quest for a solution to the problem was a resounding success. The results was the creation of what has became an award-winning internal professional development program.
Rashid Hasan, Fort St. John’s Director of Human Resources, shared details of the city’s Employee Learning and Development Program during a conversation in Quebec City with Municipal World CEO Susan Gardner.
Fort St. John Focused on its Internal Talent Pool
“The best solution is to have your own, homegrown talent. You can always hire external, but internal talent pools need to be developed,” Hasan said. “That’s why the City of Fort St. John started investing in its internal learning development program so we can have our own folks ready to serve the future needs. A lot of our folks are going to retire. We are not any different than any other community or municipality.”
Hasan acknowledged many municipal positions in the years prior to 2016 were being filled by external candidates. Since the program launch, that situation has turned around. More importantly, Hasan said, while the city always cared about its employees, the staff now believes that as well.
Development Program Receiving Rave Reviews
As Hasan noted in the video, the program has received “rave reviews” from staff. And although he had some doubts to begin with – “Like any program, success – until it happens – you don’t know.” – the fact it was launched with a positive mindset, and for the betterment of staff, is what made it a success.
In the years since the program launch, the training program has been opened to other communities, including those smaller than Fort St. John.
“We actually have opened it up to anybody,” Hasan said. “If they would like to attend these courses, we invite them.” MW
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