Labour Market Information - British Columbia - September 1997

Labour Market Information - British Columbia

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• Introduction
• Evaluation Purpose and Approach
• Evaluation Findings
• Conclusions

Funding for the Labour Market Information (LMI) Strategic Initiative is provided jointly by Canada and the Government of British Columbia, for the three-year period from 1995/96 to 1997/98, as part of the Strategic Initiatives Program to test new approaches to social security reform in British Columbia. The objective of the LMI Strategic Initiative is: "to answer the need for the development, production and distribution of high quality job and career related labour market information and, particularly, its integration into career counselling in secondary and post-secondary educational settings, in order to support the school-to-work transition."¹

To ensure the LMI Strategic Initiative was closely linked to ongoing efforts to enhance labour market information in BC, the existing Joint Committee for enhanced LMI was given the responsibility for the delivery of the Initiative. Authority for funding decisions resides with the federal-provincial co-chairs of the Joint Committee. In addition to the Joint Committee, six sub-committees oversee the delivery of the following activity areas:

• Research and data development: to develop new sources of labour market data for use in career-related labour market information products and services;
• New and enhanced information products: to produce and distribute new career related labour market information products, using existing or new sources of labour market information;
• Community based information partnerships: to pilot test selected community-based projects, in collaboration with community or sectoral agencies;
• Implementation of new technologies: to test the relative merits of alternative delivery mechanisms and technologies for the dissemination of labour market information in schools, community agencies, homes and government offices;
• Quality standards and training: research to develop standards for training of career practitioners and quality standards (currency, accuracy, etc.) for the development of labour market information, as well as pilot testing training approaches and strategies for delivering training; and
• Linkages with the Assessment, Counselling and Referral (ACR) Strategic Initiative: to produce products to meet the labour market information resource needs of the ACR Initiative. (The purpose of the ACR Initiative is to test an enhanced assessment counselling and referral system for people on income support to improve their access to employment programs and the labour market.)

¹ Cooperation Agreement Concerning the Labour Market Components of the Canada/British Columbia Strategic Initiatives, Schedule C, 1995.

The primary objectives of the formative evaluation were to determine:

• the relevance of the activities of the LMI Strategic Initiative to the purpose of the Initiative and to the needs of the intended audiences;
• the effectiveness and efficiency of the management and delivery of the Initiative;
• the key features of the Initiative that make it work well, as well as any limitations to its effectiveness, and possible improvements;
• and whether there are appropriate processes in place to plan for the long-term sustainability of the achievements of the Initiative, where warranted, both for the Initiative as a whole and for individual projects.

The evaluation approach consisted of in-depth interviews with a variety of people to obtain different perspectives on the issues. People involved in delivery of the Initiative, ranging from government personnel chairing committees, to people in the field who worked on only one project working group, were interviewed. In addition, a selection of people working in the field, who had not been involved in the Initiative's delivery, were interviewed. This group included representatives of career practitioner organizations not involved in delivery, as well as career development practitioners working for not-for-profit or for-profit agencies, career counsellors at post-secondary institutions, career program coordinators and classroom teachers in the secondary school system, and field personnel of Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) and Ministry of Education, Skills and Training (MoEST).

Relevance to End Users

Overall, the activities of the Initiative are reasonably relevant to the intended audiences. Recent efforts to make resources more accessible to end users through changes in language and format, and current planning for training indicate that the Initiative is increasingly aware of the needs of end users and is focusing its activities on these needs. The greatest need is for information and support to career practitioners to raise their understanding about the relevance of labour market information to the career planning process, and to demonstrate how labour market information can be used in making career planning decisions.

Communication

Despite the lack of a communication process, people involved in the Initiative have been kept reasonably informed, duplication of efforts have been generally avoided and numerous partnerships have been established. Awareness of the activities of the Initiative among career practitioners in the field is low and understanding of potential uses of labour market information is still an issue. The Initiative has only recently began communicating about the labour market information resources available and how to obtain them. The Initiative has recognized the need to improve communication to its intended audiences, and is currently developing a marketing plan to meet this end.

Failure to recognize the need for formal communication processes earlier has been the primary limitation of the Initiative. Now with the wealth of information that there is to communicate, the need is even greater. This has been recognized, and steps are being taken to address this need. A related limitation has been the lack of a support infrastructure to coordinate the activities and facilitate communication both with those involved and with intended audiences.

Partnerships

Working in partnership has been a key feature of the Initiative. Most obvious is the partnership between the federal and provincial governments. Others partners have included other Strategic Initiatives, other Ministries, government agencies, career practitioner organizations, and, to a limited extent, industry. These partnerships have enhanced the Initiative by increasing understanding of the needs of various audiences; bringing additional expertise, broader perspectives and creativity to projects; adding credibility to the end product; and enhancing the ability to reach audiences that would not otherwise be reached.

Management and Delivery

The overall management of the Initiative has provided clear direction, ensured effective and efficient use of resources and has been accountable and responsive to changing circumstances. Roles and responsibilities have been, for the most part, clear and appropriate, although many participants would prefer that roles and responsibilities were explicitly defined. The role of the new Centre for Education Information Standards and Services, and how it will work with partners, is unclear, which is a concern for some of the participants involved in projects delivered through the Centre.

Sustainability

Labour market information is dynamic information that becomes outdated quickly. Hence, many of the specific resources produced by the Initiative will have a limited shelf life. If they are useful, and many appear to be, they will not remain useful indefinitely. The achievements of the Initiative, and its potential impact on the process of social security reform through its long term effect on labour market supply and demand, will be limited if ongoing work does not continue, at least to keep useful resources current and available.

As a three-year Initiative that was intended to be innovative, the LMI Strategic Initiative has been well managed. It has been able to carry out a great deal of activity in a short period of time. There are four key elements that have made the LMI Strategic Initiative work well:

• Its open and inclusive structure has ensured input from a broad range of stakeholders and thus provided for greater understanding of the needs of end users.
• The Initiative's flexible, non-bureaucratic management style has empowered the people involved to be innovative, while at the same being responsive to identified needs and the practical constraints to addressing these needs.
• The Initiative's flexibility and responsiveness has been possible, in part, because the Initiative has been independent of normal government structures and has had its own independent budget. As a consequence, it has not been hampered by the government reorganizations and budget cutbacks experienced during this period.
• The commitment of the people involved, who have, for the most part, participated because of their belief in the value of the Initiative, not because it was a specific requirement of their job, has been a key reason for the substantial level of activity that the Initiative has been able to sustain.

Those involved in addressing the need for sustainability of the Initiative's activities need to recognize the legacies the Initiative can be expected to leave, and find ways to build on these:

• Partners have established working relationships through the Initiative. These partnerships should be used to sustain the work of the Initiative after it ends.
• Lessons that may be learned from the Initiative's projects, of what works and what doesn't in terms of improving products and enhancing access and integration into career planning, may be useful for extension to further programming. The lessons need to be collected now, by those involved in carry out the activities. An explicit process is needed for collecting and sharing the lessons.
• A wide range of resources are being developed that are intended to meet a range of needs. These resources will provide a legacy upon which to build. At the very least, the process of sustainability will need to ensure that useful resources are kept current and made available.
• Standards regarding the development and dissemination of labour market information and standards regarding training for career practitioners, are being developed now. These standards also have the potential to be part of the legacy of the Initiative, providing that the standards are generally endorsed and used.

A paradigm shift in the use of labour market information in the career planning process is underway. Traditionally, labour market information was not used in career planning. The need for the incorporation of labour market information into the career planning process has arisen since the traditional pattern of stable employment until retirement has been replaced by more frequent occupational changes over the course of an individual's working life and higher levels of unemployment. The LMI Strategic Initiative is trying to address this need.

The LMI Strategic Initiative cannot be expected to fully achieve the objective of integrating the effective use of labour market information into career planning. This will require a complete paradigm shift in the career planning process. Such a shift takes time. The work of the Initiative can, however, support and even expedite the shift, but work in this area will still be needed when the Initiative ends. To effectively meet this end, the production and dissemination of high quality labour market information resources will not be enough. Services that support the effective use of these resources will be critical to the ultimate success of the Initiative and its ensuing legacy.