The Agency Assessment Tool can be used “as is” or it can be adjusted to suit the needs of individual agencies. However, whatever process is used, it must:
- Be dynamic and include a system for continuous progress toward quality improvement objectives
- Include direct consultation of clients (including learners, MTCU, partners and stakeholders) and staff, and
- Ensure that the Plan for Improving Results (Step III in MTCU's Guide) has identified one area of strength and two areas for development/improvement
There are four steps to agency assessment:
- Understanding your program outcomes, or results. The objective of this step is to obtain a clear understanding of the agency's actual results, its strengths and areas that need improvement. This can be done by reviewing performance results against a minimum standard or baseline, annual agency targets and provincial LBS targets. Feedback from learners, partners and other stakeholders is also important. Although anecdotal evidence is valuable, it must be combined with more reliable evidence such as survey results and performance data.
- Understanding “cause”, i.e., management process or steps that can be changed to improve outcomes. This may be the most difficult, yet most important step! It requires research and creative thinking. The overall objective of this step is to understand why you are achieving the results you are. You need to be able to identify what is happening in your agency and what could happen if you make changes. Causes should be within the control of the agency and have a clear link to desired outcomes. So, for example, while a plant closure is not a cause (it is beyond the agency's control), the agency's RESPONSE to the plant closure may be a cause. MTCU's draft documents include some sample exercises to help identify cause.
- Planning to improve outcomes (results). This includes defining desired measurable outcomes, listing alternative approaches to changing probable causes and developing a concrete plan with measurable targets, milestones and timelines.
- Continuously and regularly reviewing progress and adjusting activity accordingly. The objective here is to assess progress toward desired outcomes and take corrective action as necessary. Key activities include reviewing progress at pre-established milestones and developing adjusted action plans. This is critical to a continuous improvement process. Constant review and adjustment is the key to seeing real results.
Throughout this four-step process, proper preparation and organization is key. In the Assessment Guide, MTCU suggests creating a committee or group made up of staff, volunteers and board members. However, this may be difficult for smaller programs. In that case, perhaps you could get together with your LSP partners to brainstorm some ideas.
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