Book Title: Building Trust with Indigenous Employees: The Indigenous Workways Toolkit

Book Description

Building Trust with Indigenous Employees: The Indigenous Workways Toolkit by Wendi L. Adair, Catherine T. Kwantes, and Leanne Gosse is designed to introduce employees and organizations in Canada to the worldviews and workplace experiences of Indigenous employees in Canada.

The book consists of two main sections: (1) organizational resources and (2) an individual employee training program.

The organizational resources include 3 manuals. These manuals have information and tools for assessing and supporting cultural safety for Indigenous employees, resources for developing mentorship networks for Indigenous employees, and documents for organizational outreach to Indigenous communities in the form of hosting a Career Day.

The training program consists of 6 training modules that can be completed in any order, although we recommend proceeding in the order presented below. Each module is self-guided and takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. The entire program should take approximately 3 hours to complete.

Each module includes the contemporary Indigenous context and lived experiences Indigenous employees shared with the Indigenous Workways action research project. These topics are presented along with self-assessments and recommendations for supporting Indigenous employees in an inclusive workplace and for creating meaningful, trusting relationships with Indigenous employees.

Content:

1. Indigenous Worldviews and the organizational context
2. Relational Communication
3. Microaggressions in the Workplace
4. Stereotype Threat in the Workplace
5. Holistic Conflict Management
6. Psychological and Cultural Safety

Please note: Building Trust with Indigenous Employees: The Indigenous Workways Toolkit is not a cultural awareness training. It is a skill-based, action oriented training focused on creating trusting relationships, organizational trust, and inclusive workplaces for Indigenous employees in Canadian organizations.