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Edmonton likes to call itself, the ‘City of Champions.’ And with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) located there, who can blame them.
With a student body of 72,000 that represents between 50 and 60 countries, it’s easy to see how CEO and President Dr. Sam Shaw can say, “There’s not any delegation that comes through NAIT from anywhere around the world that we don’t have someone that speaks their language”.
But its diverse student body is only part of NAIT’s success story. Besides campuses in Edmonton, Fairview, Grande Prairie, High Level and Peace River, the institute also has active projects in 23 countries worldwide.
“Diversity is a very important component when you play on the global stage,” Shaw flatly states.
At NAIT, diversity comes in many forms: On the student side, it has both aboriginal and international student centres, a multi-faith prayer centre, works with landed immigrants to help them top up their credentials, and is involved with gender diversity projects such as Women Build Habitat for Humanity.
 On the employee side, it’s easy to see why a diverse workforce would be attracted to NAIT—with its fingers in pots all over the world—but why would they stay? And records show a great deal has stayed for 30 to 40 years. Not surprising. Just about anything you could imagine from getting the car or the dog fixed to having your own personal trainer is available to staff at NAIT, including Ernest’s, one of the best restaurants in the capital region. But a more important reason is Shaw’s open door policy. It’s wide open.
“It’s about interacting with staff. It’s about listening to staff,” he says, which may explain why whatever they put their hand to has been successful. “We’re doing some things right and we’re doing it for the right reasons at the right time. And I think what we need to do is we need to do more of that.”
NAIT’s success is based on its ability to, in Shaw’s words, “fail forward.” In other words, experiment, see what sticks, and do more of the things that work well, rather than try to fix those that don’t. The only limitation right now is one of space. “We need more space so that we can expand,” he says. NAIT is currently in negotiations with the City of Edmonton to build a world-class recreational centre for students, employees and the community.
In the meantime, NAIT can take pride in what it’s accomplished. This year alone, the institute’s won the Senator Thelma Chalifoux Award in recognition of leaders who encourage aboriginal success, the National Institute for Staff & Organizational Development’s Excellence Award for Diana Blackman’s work as liaison coordinator at the EnCana Aboriginal Student Centre, and the Diversity Leadership Award of Distinction from the Alberta Human Rights Commission. NAIT also earned a place on Mediacorp Canada’s list as one of the top 25 employers in Alberta—the only post-secondary institution to achieve this distinction.
Shaw credits the institute’s place on the list squarely with its 3,000 employees who “drive us to succeed.”
“Being named one of the top 25 employers in Alberta reinforces that not only is NAIT a world-class centre for training,” he says. “We are also a world-class employer.”
And champions. In every sense of the word. |
