The Client

A bridge program for internationally-educated professionals, delivered by a university in Toronto

The Assignment

e-NOVA Consulting was commissioned to evaluate the effectiveness of this bridge program, to document the program model and to develop a quality assurance framework.

Coaches, instructors and staff were interviewed to develop a clear picture of the key elements of quality that contributed to the success of the program. Elga Nikolova facilitated off-site staff meetings to reflect on the critical factors for success of the program, and to formulate a program philosophy and a program logic model.

The Results

▶ Staff appreciated the opportunity to reflect on their work and the quality elements that determine success.

▶ A program logic model was developed. In addition to the program elements and outputs, it identifies the tools, intangible resources and processes required to achieve the program outcomes.

▶ A quality assurance framework was produced, and successfully used for on-boarding of new staff.

The Client

A national organization that oversees the implementation of a funded service on behalf of the federal government, develops service standards and assesses the compliance of delivery agencies with the national standards.

The Assignment

The client organization developed and piloted a new service model that was expected to maximize the use of space, ensure more efficient use of staff resources and provide better results for those using the service. The federal ministry funding the initiative requested a third-party assessment of the effectiveness of the model. e-NOVA Consulting was retained to conduct the assessment.

The Results

▶ Identified areas of low efficiency that resulted in staff costs several times higher than projected.

▶ Identified causes for low efficiency and proposed solutions.

▶ Documented best practices that could be incorporated in the large-scale implementation of the new model.

▶ Identified issues with data collection and reporting that impacted the ability of the funder to make budgeting and funding decisions. Recommended solutions.

▶ The report recommendations informed the broader implementation of the model.

Over the past five years e-NOVA consulting has been involved in several projects with TMP: the flagship project of an organization that supports the labour market integration of internationally-trained professionals.

The Client

TMP matches internationally-educated immigrants with Canadian professionals for occupation-specific mentoring. The program is run by a partnership of 13 community organizations and 40 major employers in the GTA. Employer partners include all major banks, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Xerox, PepsiCo, Ontario Power Generation major colleges and hospitals, and the City of Toronto among others.

All partners use coordinated processes, a common database and mentor-matching software to match thousands of registered mentors and mentees. All mentorship matches are supported and monitored for completion and outcomes.

The Assignments

e-NOVA Consulting has participated in a number of consulting assignments with TMP that required

▶ An evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of the program

▶ Information systems audit

▶ Development of a quality assurance framework, monitoring and data collection tools

▶ Redesign of the occupational classification used by the mentoring software

The Results

▶ Over 100 recommendations for changes in the design of the mentoring software; most of them implemented in the current version

▶ Recommendations for the automation of scheduling and reporting functions that were implemented in the development of the current version of the software

▶ Specific recommendations to improve the monitoring and quality control of data collection and data entry, timing and coordination of operations, reporting and oversight. The recommendations resulted in the development of a QA framework

▶ Development of quality standards, performance targets, and tools for monitoring and collecting feedback

The Client

A major community college in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) that provides services to the general public, including job search preparation and employment services.

The Assignment

e-NOVA consulting has completed several assignments with this client, including evaluations of four bridge programs and a business case study the delivery of bridge programs at the college. In this particular assignment, the Community Employment Services Department was looking to develop quality standards for building and maintaining relationships with employers.

Employers looking to fill job vacancies are the clients of Community Employment Services. The relationship management includes “cold” sales calls to employers, establishing new employer contacts at various events, maintaining an employer database, communicating with employers in order to fill in vacancies posted with these employers, organizing events for employers, follow-up and evaluation.

The Department runs employment services out of four locations in the GTA. The purpose of the assignment was to create and implement quality standards that ensure consistent, efficient and effective service across all locations, as well as efficient exchange of job vacancies within the department.

The Results

▶ Facilitated the work of a Continuous Improvement Work Group over a period of eight months

▶ Documented best practices for relationship management

▶ Drafted service standards and a manual for their implementation

▶ Developed forms, templates, process guidelines, check-lists and other tools

▶ Developed and delivered a one-day staff training session on implementing the standards