Human Resources Strategic Plan Update July 2008

Greetings!

The following is a brief update on the recent developments related to the implementation of the sector-wide Human Resources Strategy.

First of all, I would like to announce that Bob Butella, Executive Director of the Guelph-Wellington Association for Community Living, has assumed the role of Chair for the Core Competencies Committee. Lynn Price, unfortunately, had to step down due to unforeseen circumstances and Bob agreed to take on this challenging task. We thank Lynn for her willingness to serve and congratulate Bob on his new appointment. As you know, the other five committee Chairs are: Ann Bilodeau (Awareness and Marketing), Joe Persaud (Agency Based Training), Nancy Wallace-Gero (Competency Based Compensation) Jill Symington (HR Best Practices) and Janet Nolan (Program Standards Committee).

With regard to the Core Competencies to be developed for six (6) key positions within our sector, I am pleased to report that the first focus groups working towards this objective are being held next week in the Hamilton Niagara region. Many thanks to Core Competency Committee members Sarina Labonte and Donna Marcaccio for pulling this together on short notice over the summer holiday period as I am sure it was a challenging task indeed. We are treating this first round of focus groups as somewhat of a ?pilot? for the focus groups to follow across the province, and thank all participants for their involvement during what is surely a very busy time. We look forward to the emerging themes and feedback from these initial groups and anticipate at least one more round of focus groups in another region prior to the end of summer.

At present, the Core Competency Committee is the only one of the six committees to be formally up and running with the other committees scheduled to begin their work in September. There is a meeting of the Human Resources Strategy Steering Committee scheduled for July 30th at which time the work to date will be reviewed and plans for the other committees developed. As further information with regard to the work of all the committees becomes available, I will share it via this forum.

Further updates include a preliminary meeting being held with senior representatives of both CUPE and OPSEU re the overall project and some beginning discussions on how they can have meaningful input and involvement. Towards that end, we have scheduled a second meeting for July 25th, 2008.

And finally, I am pleased to announce that Holly Duff has accepted the position of Project Coordinator and will begin her new role in late July. Holly, formerly a Community Support Manager with Aldaview Services will be assisting and resourcing myself, Co-Chair Colette Kent and all the Committee Chairs with ensuring the overall project stays on track and achieves the results we have targeted for the sector. Congratulations to Holly on her new appointment.

Well, that’s the update for now. I anticipate providing a further update in late September, however, if you have any questions of clarification in the interim, please don?t hesitate to contact me. I wish everyone a great summer.

Sincerely,

Steven A. Finlay
Co-Chair, Human Resources Strategy
Steering Committee