Directorates
·	Director General's Office
·	Data Development
·	Strategic Evaluations
·	Partnership and Continuous Evaluations
Publications
·	Evaluation Reports
·	Evaluation Briefs
·	Labour Market Development Agreement Series
·	Lessons Learned Series
·	Evaluation Tool Kit Series
·	Evaluation Forum Newsletter
·	From Theory To Practice

Canadian governments are trying to achieve the most productive and cost-effective results from human resource programs and policies. Professionally-conducted evaluations can help them reach that goal. They document our experiences with policies and programs that have had similar goals. They add to the “corporate memory” that helps us make still better decisions in the future.

At Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), we have a strong commitment to continuous learning and improvement. Over the past decade, we have invested time and money in evaluating many of our programs and policies covering a wide range of human resources development issues. These have been complemented by our reviews of evaluations conducted by other governments, in Canada and internationally, in the area of human resource initiatives.

HRDC developed the “Lessons Learned” series to make this wealth of information and insight available to more people more easily. The Lessons Learned studies are a series of documents and supporting videos that synthesize what evaluations in Canada and other countries have taught us about a range of high-profile human resource policy priorities. They summarize what we know about the effectiveness of policy initiatives, programs, services and funding mechanisms.

Lessons Learned are of interest to senior managers and policy analysts in Canada’s governments. Program managers, public policy researchers and other stakeholders can also benefit from understanding the lessons we have learned from past and present programs.

HRDC is pleased to announce the latest study in this series, which focuses on the lessons learned from experience in innovative workplaces in Canada, and abroad. In the last 10 years, the advent of workplaces which have implemented innovations in various areas, have become ever more common. However, little is known about the effectiveness of these innovations. What makes an innovation successful? What factors are to be considered before embarking on such an exercise? These are some of the questions that this study attempts to address. The information produced for this study was used as an input to the Report of the Advisory Committee on the Changing Workplace published in June 1997.

As a learning organization, HRDC will continue to experiment with new approaches and evaluate their effectiveness. HRDC recognizes the vital importance of the evaluation process and is committed to continuing its work in this area.