Fort Frances to review hiring policies
Some frustration among Fort Frances council about the town losing employees who were hired from out of town.
Councillor Bill Morrison wonders if not enough is being done to find local candidates.
He feels that how the town advertises for those positions may be the problem.
“Local people aren’t having a chance to apply because you’re not seeing advertisements,” says Morrison.
“We talked two months ago about spending some money on social media advertising in the newspaper or radio so local people have a chance. People are already here. I just want to see it.”
“If we’re able to hire someone locally, we’re not paying to move somebody here and losing them,” adds Councillor John McTaggart.
“So there may be a trade-off in investing a little bit more in advertising and trying to hire local without incurring the moving expenses of bringing someone from somewhere else in Canada.”
The town has focused much of its recruitment efforts on using online resources, such as Facebook and platforms like Indeed and LinkedIn.
“In this day and age, online is the most common and most cost-effective,” says Mia Sexton, Human Resources Manager.
“That’s why recruitment moved to online. That was the easiest way to get the information out to the public.”
Chief Administrative Officer Marcel Michael says he understands the frustration expressed by council.
“I harp on staff all the time. They know local is always better if everything else is even,” says Michaels.
“If somebody is going to be here who’s been here for 30 years, they’re more likely to be here for the next ten than somebody who comes from across the country. We know that. So, we are trying to build a culture of that.”
Administration is now reviewing its hiring policies to address council’s concerns.
