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Welcome to: Community Collaborative Approaches

to Job Development

Futures Conference, October 2015

Sandi Firman & Carol Stewart

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INTRODUCTIONS • What the heck is ESCLM?

• Building a Job Developers Network (JDN)

• Research and Key Learnings across Ontario

• Putting What We Learned into Practice

• Your Ideas and Questions… How Can We Help Each Other?

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EMPLOYMENT SECTOR COUNCIL LONDON-MIDDLESEX (ESCLM)

• 40+ members: comprising nonprofit and public employment service delivery, community and economic development, labour, education, training, and government organizations

• ESCLM member agencies serve over 80,000 job seekers/year and work with hundreds of area employers

• 20+ years of knowing everyone’s business (A.K.A. network building)!

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A FEW THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT ESCLM: • Advocacy, workforce planning, service coordination

•“OneClient” Standards for Employment Service Delivery

• Common Assessment Process

• Rapid Response Protocol (e.g. for layoffs)

• Professional Development and Networking

• Job Developers Network

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ESCLM’S JOB DEVELOPERS NETWORK (JDN)• Developed in 2011 and has grown to include 16 employment services agencies from across London-Middlesex

• A forum for job developers to meet, discuss and share information, problem-solve issues, and strategize solutions that promote collaborative service delivery to job seekers and employers

• Common understanding: collaboration rather than competition will improve service delivery

• Supported by ESCLM, its Members, and the City of London’s Prosperity Plan

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SOME OF OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS

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CORE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE JDNSharing job postingsAdvocating on behalf of our members’ employment and employer services Providing a supportive environment for Job DevelopersExpanding JDs’ pool of employers and hiring opportunitiesExpanding Employer access to our significant talent pool of job seekersCommitting to high quality, consistent, and professional service delivery

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WE ASKED: VALUE OF THE NETWORK?1. A supportive environment for job developers

The large majority of our membership has seen improvements in service coordination and has benefited from sharing best practices

2. Contributes to the strategic interests of member agencies Provides a unified message to employers and the community

3. Improving efficiency of job development services Identifying more employment opportunities for clients = better employment outcomes

4. Increasing JD knowledge of sector developmentsIncreased understanding of changing government funding and programs, Labour Market Information (LMI)

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WE ASKED: FACTORS FOR SUCCESS?

90%

• Goodwill among job developers• A sense of team spirit

90%

• Support from and/or participation by organization’s leadership

87%

• Trust

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THAT’S GREAT! BUT … WHAT MORE IS OUT THERE?!• Learning Exchanges with other

community collaborative initiatives

• Innovative Practices and Key Learnings

• The ESCLM White Paper: Community Collaboration Approaches to Job Development

• http://bit.ly/1HkBkrt

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WHY BOTHER? The 2014 National Business Survey found that nationally, the greatest challenge facing Canadian businesses will be a shortage of skilled workers (31% of respondents) (CERIC 2014).

In the London Area, few (between 2% and 9%) businesses surveyed used a nonprofit employment agency’s services (EmployerOne Survey, 2014 & 2015)

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WHAT WE LEARNED FROM 31 CASE STUDIES (AND LOTS AND LOTS OF INTERVIEWS!)

Benefits of collaboration in Job Development include:

• More efficient employment outcomes

• Increased ease and efficiency of referrals

• Development of trust between service providers

• Enhancing the legitimacy of community employment services agencies

• Increasing in-house knowledge, increasing organizational efficiency and capacity

• Presenting a unified vision for employment services

• Working towards seamless service

BARRIERS TO COLLABORATION • The Nature of the Beast: Competition for funding

• Segmentation of service provision which makes inter-agency referrals difficult

• Lack of shared metrics

• Low employer awareness about community employment services

• Lack of recognition by funders of the significance and contributions of collaborative initiatives

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WHAT WE DID WITH WHAT WE LEARNED!• Renewed our commitment to sharing employers, candidates, and opportunities, despite differing funders and mandates

• Confirmed our adherence to the highest professional standards

• Governance: Memorandum of Agreement, Terms of Reference

• Developed Protocols and Standards

• Marketing and Outreach (especially to Employers)

• Continuous Learning

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STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS Shared Job Postings Guidelines and Templates Referral Guides for assisting both employer and job seeker clients Guidelines for holding Employer Information Sessions Guidelines for JDN-hosted Job Fairs A Customer Service Commitment (for Employers)

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MARKETING, COMMUNICATION, AND OUT-REACH Hired a Marketing Consultant

Shared Marketing Materials Elevator Pitches

JDN Representatives at Job Fairs, Networking Events, Employer Events (e.g. Chamber), Conferences, Trade Fairs, etc. Presentations to Community Stakeholders and Sector/Industry Meetings

Branding Workshops Name and Logo Review Identified Key Messages

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CONTINUOUS LEARNING Onboarding manual and supports for new JDN members Professional Development Regularly scheduled Formal Meetings and informal Networking events Ongoing Information Exchange with other communities and colleagues NEW: JDN Training Workshops

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NEW: ESCLM - JDN TRAINING WORKSHOPS

• Value of a Collaborative ApproachTheory/Philosophy

• What obstacles may need to be overcome in your community?Challenges

• Best practices for collaborative Job Development

Lessons Learned

• Resources you can use to implement a collaborative approach

Practical Tools

Purpose: To provide communities within Ontario with a stronger understanding for how a “Collaborative Approach” to job development can work and be implemented within their context.

Target audience: Employment service providers, including Executive Directors, Client Service Managers, and Job Developers

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Questions? Ideas?

Thank-you!

Sandi FirmanEmployment Development Specialist

Pathways Skill Development & Placement CentreLondon, Ontario

sandi@pathways.on.cawww.pathways.on.ca

Carol StewartProject Manager

Employment Sector Council London-Middlesex (ESCLM)

London, Ontariocarol@esclm.ca www.esclm.ca