PD Pathways

In the 1990s, I worked at the federal government, at what was then called Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. I was in my second year of obtaining my accounting designation and I was hired to review the audited financial statements of one-third of the First Nations in BC. I travelled to communities when there were financial difficulties identified in their audit, to work with the First Nation on creating their five-year financial plan.  

Each time I visited a First Nation, I heard their story and learned about their history, their needs, and the wrongdoings of prior and existing governments. I was well-trained, well-educated, understood the government processes, and was Indigenous myself, but I learned there was a real gap between what I thought I knew, what I thought they needed, and what they actually needed to achieve financial sustainability.

There have been some positive changes since then, mostly as a result of First Nations in BC that legally fought and won court cases regarding Indigenous rights, Indigenous title, and treaty rights, as well as human rights. Many non-profit organizations have formed, including AFOA BC and the FNFMB,  who worked with the Federal government to make needed changes to various financial legislation.

These have led to changes in business arrangements between the profit sector and Indigenous communities. For example, impact benefit agreements between industry and Indigenous groups that charge fees for land use are evolving into true partnerships and Indigenous ownership. Some First Nations see economic prosperity as a way to exercise financial sovereignty and a means to close the socio-economic gap that may exist for their members. Accordingly, over the past 25 years, Indigenous entrepreneurship has increased exponentially for First Nation owned corporations, social enterprises, and Indigenous individuals.   

With this in mind, here are some ways that you can prepare your company to work with Indigenous businesses: 

Truth and reconciliation

As a business in Canada, reconciliation should be on your agenda, as well as how it could be reflected in your corporate culture. A starting point is to enact Call To Action 92 (Business and Reconciliation) from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. This call to action is to “commit to meaningful consultation, building respectful relationships, and obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples before proceeding with economic development projects.”

Further demonstrating that reconciliation is a business responsibility, questions such as, “How are you enacting reconciliation in your company?” are beginning to show up on requests for proposals and interviews. If reconciliation is done correctly, it can engage staff and management in important conversations on the history of Indigenous peoples. 

Define your value

Here are some questions that your organization can ask to define your value proposition to Indigenous businesses:

• What are you bringing that is of value to the Indigenous business?
• Is it of value now or in the future?  
• What other value can you add?  

Some newer or growing Indigenous businesses may need support for business management, or could benefit from mentoring, while others are well established and do not require those supports. Before offering support, familiarize yourself with the business and their needs through your discussions first, to determine if these supports are appropriate or required – if they aren’t, your offer might be perceived as paternalistic.

Do your research

Before reaching out to an Indigenous business, get to know them. For example, a First Nation corporation can have a CEO, CFO, board of directors, and report to a Chief and Council who act on behalf of their membership. Some First Nations businesses are run out of a First Nation administration office. There are many variations in this structure based on what works for a specific First Nation. Learn about the business through their website, Indigenous Services Canada, and other sources. An Indigenous businesses owned by an individual may have a separate office, they may work from home, or may not be affiliated with their First Nation.

It may take some time

Some companies go wrong in thinking that because they have worked with one First Nation, they understand them all. This is not the case – there is variation in values, experience, administration, availability, and goals and objectives, and these variations show up in business decisions.

In the case of a First Nation corporation, depending on if the work is done on-reserve or in their traditional territory, others may need to be consulted and provincial rules may not apply. Other factors that may affect your business relationship are: taxation, location (on-reserve or off-reserve), upcoming elections, land designations, and/or environmental acts, all of which take time and effort to understand.  

These are just a few ways to start thinking about working with an Indigenous business. Approaching this relationship from the perspective of learning, listening, and understanding first will go a long way in helping you reach your goals.

Vickie Whitehead, CPA, CGA, CAFM is the Director of Indigenous Services at Crowe MacKay LLP. Based on her 22 years of industry and government of Canada experience, Vickie works with her indigenous clients to help them achieve success in their sovereignty goals, specifically in the areas of indigenous Trust creation and management, board governance, and financial management.    

The majority of her early career was at the Department of Indigenous Services Canada (DISC) in the British Columbia and National offices in various financial and management related roles for over 17 years. In the past seven years she has specialized in indigenous trust administration, trust structuring, indigenous governance and program, financial advisory, and policy development.

Attend PD Nexus: Business & Leadership Insights on July 7, and select the session on Developing Indigenous Business Relationships to hear Vickie and other panel members discuss perspectives on how to partner with and support indigenous businesses.

Analytical Skills – you’ve crunched the numbers, what’s next?

It’s fairly simple to collect a mass pile of information to create impressive looking spreadsheets, but are you effectively, efficiently and thoroughly analyzing all that information to produce useful insights? Honing your analytical skills – your ability to interpret data accurately, detect patterns, and make dependable decisions based on these strong observations – is a crucial step that will enable you to add value to your organization.

Here are some seminars that will help you hone those analytical skills:
Budgeting & Financial Management: Understanding Budgeting Variance Analysis & Forecasting; Budgeting and Forecasting Tools and Techniques; Creating Value Through Budgeting; Financial Analysis Fundamentals 

Risk Management – the lower the risk, the higher the reward

There’s no way to completely eliminate all risks to an organization. But part of a modern finance manager’s role is to be aware of potential risks and then minimize the possible fallouts resulting from these risks. As new technology and shifting work trends proliferate the employment landscape, CFOs are increasingly required to take on a more strategic role in risk management. This results in a cascading requirement on their finance managers to do the same. 

Be confident in your risk management fundamentals and stay on top of new potential threats:
A Risky Business: Risk Management Tools for Professionals; Enterprise Risk Management Fundamentals; Fraud Happens – What to do When You Suspect Fraud; Fraud in the Workplace; 5 Ways COVID-19 Will Forever Change Our Risk Thinking

Creative Thinking and Innovation – repetition is not always your friend

As accountants, repetitive tasks and procedures are sometimes just part of the job. And while fixed processes are naturally necessary in the accounting space, hesitancy to explore new ideas can create barriers to problem solving. But keep in mind that the world has advanced rapidly over the last few years - being open to how evolving technologies and thought processes can transform the finance function will present new opportunities for you and your organization. By creating a culture of innovation, you can also keep your team ahead of the curve – while your organization may not necessarily be adopting AI, machine learning, big data, or cloud based solutions tomorrow, an open and creative culture will increase the likelihood of such transitions being embraced, properly prepared for, and successfully deployed in the future.

Discover how creative thinking works: Creative Leadership: Bringing Innovation to the Workplace; The Strategic Finance Department: 15 New Roles; Thinking for a Change: Preparing Your Mind and Brain for Disruption; Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurial Thinking; MBAexpress: Creativity and Innovation; Bring Innovation To Life In Your Business

Communication & Interpersonal Skills – it’s not just all talk

Your role as a finance manager will often require you to communicate tasks and build relationships with a team – bad communication and presentation will almost always lead to misunderstandings and time-wasters, while good communication will often produce a well-oiled team that performs collaboratively and efficiently. Similarly, your ability to handle challenging interpersonal situations positively will go a long way towards ensuring that your team functions smoothly. Communication skills are also essential in conducting favourable negotiations and delivering impactful presentations.

Here are some ways to improve your communication and interpersonal skills: Communicating With Influence; Communicating Effectively Under Pressure; Level Up: Public Speaking and Presentation Skills; Level Up: Writing for Clarity and Impact; Tools for Communicating with Difficult People; Becoming a Skilled Negotiator; Presentation Skills for Finance Professionals and Executives that Make an Impact

Leadership & Teamwork – put together a good team and then trust them

Transitioning from your role as a professional expert to actually leading a team can be a serious challenge. Many of us are at least aware of the basic traits of effective leaders, but we don’t always know the why’s, when’s, and how’s. Becoming a truly effective leader starts from understanding yourself and your leadership style, then building upon your leadership capabilities from there. Discover what true delegation and empowerment look like, explore how to become a more inspirational leader capable of coaching and mentoring others to fulfil their potential, and learn about elements of good versus bad feedback to elevate performance management. Consider how to get the best out of your team by building a leadership brand. You can also listen to our recent episode of Coffee Chats with CPABC as Laura Villacrusis, senior consultant with Kwela Leadership, discusses what makes a high performing team member. 

Explore these topics to help you build your leadership repertoire: Building Your Leadership Brand; Building High Performance Teams; Employee Delegation, Engagement, and Empowerment; Leadership and Coaching; Leading Professional Teams - Successfully Transitioning from Professional Expert to Team Leader; Performance Management in Challenging Times; Hire the Best, Keep Them and Fire the Worst