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The majority of staff members in Manitoba’s largest school district perceive hiring and promotion decisions in K-12 buildings to be motivated by who candidates know — be it relatives, friends or other connections in management — and favouritism.
The Winnipeg School Division, an employer with approximately 6,400 positions, released the findings of an external audit of its employment practices on Friday.
“Overall, a small proportion (of employees) expressed confidence in the fair and consistent hiring and advancement at WSD,” states an excerpt from the 125-page report.
(Winnipeg School Division Employment Equity Audit)
The April 2023 document was compiled by a Toronto firm that specializes in workplace equity and school board reviews to investigate its procedures and pinpoint policy gaps.
It includes 82 recommendations and, at times, scathing details about procedural gaps and workers’ comments to back them up.
Last year, the division hired Turner Consulting Group to identify “institutional, cultural and attitudinal barriers” that impede the recruitment, advancement and retention of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples and members of other equity-seeking groups.
Canada’s Employment Equity Act acknowledges women, racialized people, people with disabilities, and Indigenous people have historically faced barriers in entering the workforce and rising in the ranks. The WSD audit also zoned in on the exclusion of LGBTTQ+ job candidates and employees.
Everything from human resources policies to competition files, including job postings, interview panel members and their questions, reference check information and candidate-ranking material, were under review.
The reviewers consulted with more than 6,000 people, including teachers, non-instructional staff, union leaders and senior administrators — about 10 per cent of the division’s workforce. They completed online surveys, focus groups and one-on-one interviews in the early part of the 2022-23 school year.
The most common theme of the feedback was the perception that nepotism is a persistent problem and advancement within the division is primarily relationship-based instead of merit-based.
The most common theme of the feedback was the perception that nepotism is a persistent problem.
“Reference to WSD being an ‘old boys club’ was made several times throughout the consultations, noting that those from the designated (equity) groups lack the personal connections that influence their ability to get a job and be supported for advancement within the organization,” the report said.
The division faces challenges when it comes to branding itself as a desirable place to work due to negative perceptions on and off its premises, said Luis Tome, who represents educational assistants, clerical workers and other support staff.
Tome noted WSD updated its hiring practices several years ago to expand the use of panels so there are multiple interviewers involved in meetings — a bid to address claims about manager biases.
“There seems to be no rhyme or reason to hiring and promotion practices. There are inconsistencies so extreme it has led to toxicity and dysfunction in work places,” one staff member told the review team.
Another reported that “some people just get a phone call and have never had an interview.”
“Nepotism is out of control in WSD,” said another.
Some participants indicated there are employment prejudices against people with non-Canadian accents or whose first language is not English. Others raised concerns the division has overlooked competency by heavily focusing on hiring candidates who are from underrepresented ethnic groups.
“There seems to be no rhyme or reason to hiring and promotion practices. There are inconsistencies so extreme it has led to toxicity and dysfunction in work places.”–Anonymous staff member
Among the audit’s recommendations: bolster an internal conflict of interest policy on hiring matters; build an employment toolkit that advises interviewers about how cultural, gender and other biases can impact them; and ensure interview panels are diverse.
School board chairwoman Betty Edel said trustees are thankful for every employee who participated in the audit and take the feedback seriously to “turn diversity into action.”
Community members want to see change and board members are committed to making updates, which requires showing humility and having courage to own up to problems in the first place, Edel said.
“I just looked at this as a journey of reconciliation. I just looked at this and said, ‘OK, we need to find out what’s going on because we keep on saying we have the most diverse students in the province, but it’s public knowledge the make up of our staffing (does not reflect that diversity),’” she said Friday.
Division administration indicated it has made progress on addressing 58 of the report’s 82 calls to action.
In 1993, WSD’s board of trustees created an employment equity policy — the first of its kind among school boards in the province — to bolster its commitment to maintaining inclusive workplaces.
Gregg Walker, president of the local teachers association, applauded his employer for undertaking its latest equity-related project. The union leader indicated he plans to spend his weekend pouring over the document to ensure recommendations are implemented.
The division received an audit quote of $56,100 from the consulting firm. It did not provide the final cost of the report Friday.
maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
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