Improving Organizational Effectiveness
Improving Organizational Effectiveness:
From Diagnostic to Results at the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi
Boreala Management began working with the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi in early 2020.
On a journey to improve ways of working, collaboration at various levels in the organization, and augment the level of service offered to community members, CFNW engaged Boreala to conduct an organizational diagnostic of the Band Administration as well as Chief and Council.
This was a thorough process that involved consultation with employees at all levels as well as other external stakeholders. To ensure that everyone felt comfortable to provide input, various methods of data collection were leveraged, including focus groups, individual interviews, all staff survey, in person employee consultations (world café style).
The approach of the Boreala team was to build solid relationships and ensure that employees felt safe knowing that the objective was not judgement, but a focus on the future and how the results and recommendations of the diagnostics could support the CFNW to thrive.
Since completion of the diagnostic process in 2021, Boreala have continued to support CFNW in their journey of improvement, co-developing solutions as a result of the recommendations in the recommendations report.
Since 2021, Boreala management have partnered with CFNW on projects to enhance organizational effectiveness including:
- Development of a Strategic Plan at the Chief and Council level cascaded to an Administration Strategic Plan and departmental Action plans.
- Creation of a new Performance Management Program, including training of all employees to support in creating SMART objectives, and training for all people leaders on giving feedback and managing performance issues.
- Redesign of the full Compensation Structure.
- Development of Recruitment/ Interviewing Strategies at senior level to allow for elevated and equitable hiring processes.
- Restructure/ Change Management to support in the implementation of structural adjustments.
- Roles & Responsibilities / reporting mechanism
In the years since the initial diagnostic, CFNW have launched benchmarking surveys to employees, gathering key insights into what has improved and what areas can continue to be worked on to enhance organizational effectiveness.
Testimonial
“My experience with Boreala has been very positive. Their professionalism and knowledge helped the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi better achieve its goals. We worked with Boreala on a very sensitive project. They were conducting diagnostic reports on how departments are functioning.
They dealt with the staff in a respectful manner and always treated individuals with dignity. They manage to balance truthful and honest feedback with staff and leadership while remaining professional. I was very impressed with how they navigated this very delicate project for our organization.
They never took over the sessions or overstepped their role as a facilitator to the process. They kept us on track to achieve what we set out to do. They were excellent and quickly learned how to work with all levels of our organization and created an environment of trust.“
Rhonda O. Cooper, Deputy Chief. Cree First Nation Of Waswanipi
Case Studies
Facilitating Organizational Redesign at the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay
