MTCU estimates that this assessment process should take approximately 25 hours
each year, broken down as follows:
- 2 hours of preparation time
- 3 to 4 hours of preliminary analysis
- 2 hours for brainstorming
- 3 to 4 hours to document the plan
- 1 hour per month to review the plan
The purpose of the agency assessment is to:
- support delivery agencies in their efforts to continuously improve the quality of
services they offer,
- establish a consistent system-wide process of analysis, and
- obtain a clear, unbiased view of an agency’s performance
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 processes 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. Cause 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.
Constant review and adjustment is the key to seeing real results.