Champion: Debbie LaVallee

Debbie LaVallee puts persistence at the top of the advice she would give to municipal managers who are thinking about starting workplace learning programs. Thanks to Debbie's firm belief in the benefits of essential skills education, the City of Kingston agreed to set up the Joint Employee Education and Development GEED) committee in 2005. As Manager of Employee Services in the Human Resources (HR) department, Debbie had been working toward that goal since 2002. She approached senior management twice before she got the go-ahead.

When the first plan for a workplace learning initiative was not ap- proved, Debbie, with the support of the City's top manager, joined with CAMA to host a pilot workshop for municipalities in the Kingston area. Labour and management representatives who came to the event drafted goals, principles, and terms of reference for joint committees. Debbie recalls, "It was something new that probably we hadn't thought about- the need for basic skills or essential skills. Instead, we had targeted people with Grade 12 and university grads for our training." Even after this workshop and the joint effort that made it happen, the proposed idea was again postponed. Debbie and her committed colleagues developed the project in more detail, added more stakeholders, and communicated widely about the benefits and outcomes of workplace essential skills. "We saw we needed to help people who were in the workplace longer. We heard that older employees were frustrated. They couldn't do the job because they didn't have the education. We got in and deCided to address literacy."

The plan that finally brought success involved making the JEED committee part of the Human Resources goals for 2005. When those goals were approved, committee planning with management, CUPE Local 109 representatives, and several HR trainers began. "We saw the value in getting this going as opposed to offering more for employees with higher education." At the start, JEED's focus was on courses that would give people new skills and credentials, namely GED, computers, and keyboarding.