The Government of British Columbia and the Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition released the South Okanagan Business Solutions Forum Report, providing concrete and creative actions for workforce retention and development in the area.

With feedback and data gathered from businesses participating in the Business Solutions Forum Project and the South Okanagan Skilled Labour Strategy Summit in March 2016, a report was commissioned to provide information on challenges faced by the business community in the South Okanagan and provide examples of local and regional solutions.

The project created an opportunity for the business community to share creative solutions to common challenges.  The results determined that, regardless of sector, the most prominent challenges were:

• Attraction and retention of skilled labour, and;
• Relative lack of proactive succession planning in the small business community.

The findings provide businesses an opportunity to learn from best practices and explore creative solutions to promote a sustainable and competitive regional business environment. The report identifies several human-resources strategies that businesses in the South Okanagan have successfully used to address their labour attraction, recruitment and retention challenges.

Some of the creative solutions covered in the report include:

• Providing spousal assistance during job relocation
• Targeting underutilized talent for specific job opportunities
• Creating partnerships and regionally focused human resources strategies
• Addressing seasonality of employment
• Creating employee engagement through workplace culture

The Business Solutions Project was a partnership between the Summerland, Penticton and South Okanagan Chambers of Commerce, Okanagan College, Community Futures, City of Penticton, Destination Osoyoos, and the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Responsible for Labour.  The project facilitated the further sharing of local and regional solutions within the business community.  Financial contributions for the project included $5,000 from the ministry and $2,000 from Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition.

Quotes:

Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour –

“B.C. has reached a tipping point where more people are retiring from the workforce than younger people entering it. It’s great to see the South Okanagan business community working together to determine solutions to their current and anticipated labour challenges. Our government is happy to support them in order to keep the regional economy diverse, strong and growing.”

Dan Ashton, MLA for Penticton –

“I’m happy to see the South Okanagan Business Solutions Forum Report available to the public. Labour attraction and retention success stories and best practices gathered at the forum and published in this report will be incredibly helpful for business owners and employers in Penticton and across the South Okanagan region.”

Erick Thompson, president, Summerland Chamber of Commerce –

“The South Okanagan Business Solutions Forum has been very important for the local business community. Through this study concrete, creative and actionable solutions have been proposed for key sectors. The key finding, of the many challenges around attracting and retaining skilled labour, was also addressed at the South Okanagan Skilled Labour Strategy Summit in March where local employers participated in creating a strategic multi-year plan for addressing these issues and helping us to confidently move forward.”

Learn More:

BC Jobs Plan: http://engage.gov.bc.ca/bcjobsplan/

B.C.’s Skills for Jobs Blueprint: https://www.workbc.ca/Training-Education/B-C-s-Skills-for-Jobs-Blueprint.aspx

BC Economic Development Portal: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/economic-development

B.C. 2025 Labour Market Outlook: https://www.workbc.ca/Labour-Market-Information/B-C-s-Economy/Reports.aspx