The Next Steps: A new beginning in the JLP Journey
We last left off when the Program was shuttered at the end of March 2004. There was no further funding beyond the pilot project, despite its undeniable success – 620 learning events and 10,000 participants were enviable statistics for any program, never mind one so young. An outside audit of the pilot confirmed that the JLP had been a successful partnership with a solid delivery model and high-quality, cost-effective products and practices.
In March 2005, a new collective agreement was signed. It once again included a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide funding for the JLP. The wording of the MOU was brief and barebones. The negotiators believed that the details should be worked out by a committee, not explicitly outlined in the collective agreement. However, one detail did not go unmentioned: bridge funding. In this and each subsequent collective agreement, an amount would be provided to fund the JLP when the collective agreement expired. This meant the Program could continue to operate until a new collective agreement was signed.
The JLP would be back up and running soon enough. The people involved in the pilot had learned so much in those first years, and used their knowledge to build a new structure that would support an even better JLP, one that would stand the test of time.
Two committees were struck: the Steering Committee and the Joint Advisory Committee on Learning. The Steering Committee had three representatives from the union and employer sides and was responsible for big decisions at the administrative and program levels. The second committee was responsible for advising on the development of new content. The basic infrastructure of the Program was also established, which included two co-coordinators to manage day to day activities, financial and communications support, program officers to develop material and train facilitators, and administrative staff. Most importantly the new iteration called for Regional Field Coordinators to handle workshop logistics in each region of the country.
Staff spent 2005 and 2006 building personnel and a new cadre of facilitators. In 2007, the re-launched JLP started offering in-person workshops once more, this time for good. The four original in-person workshops remained, but slowly others joined them: Employment Equity, then Duty to Accommodate, then Mental Health in the Workplace in 2014. Each workshop was developed with both union and management perspectives in mind and the learning was delivered by one representative from each party.
The JLP’s motto is “Learning and Growing Together”, and the Program has continued to honour that, constantly evaluating the effectiveness of its learning events and materials. It has remained flexible and agile and has adapted to public-service employee workplace needs to stay relevant. There have been some big wins and unexpected twists. Stay tuned to learn more about them in the months to come!