Certification of One-Stop Career Centers and Their Affiliates

The Northwest Workforce Council, with agreement of the chief local elected official and in accordance with its Workforce Investment Act (WIA) mandate, designates and certifies one-stop Career Center operators and sites wishing to become, or remain, a part of the WorkSource-Northwest system. The Council is further authorized to terminate a site’s eligibility for cause. The certification process is managed by the Quality Assurance Committee’s Certification Team. The full Council acts upon the Committee’s recommendations.

Sites must represent the highest standards of quality in the delivery of employment and training services. Any entity wishing certification must demonstrate processes, practices, and performance outcomes which meet or exceed a set of quality standards based upon the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria.

1.Leadership

A commitment to excellence in the WorkSource Northwest system is modeled and shaped by strong public and private leadership. The Northwest Workforce Council provides the workforce development system with effective private-sector led oversight of the regional system, while agency leaders work collaboratively to provide active and supportive management to achieve system goals. Leadership refers not only to organizations’ senior executive and those reporting to that individual, but to all others demonstrating leadership traits within the realm or their influence. The leadership of the organization is directly involved in creating and sustaining common values, organizational directions, performance expectations, and customer focus. Leaders empower staff through team assignments and remove barriers which deter innovation and quality improvement.

2.strategic planning

WorkSource Northwest sites are managed in accordance with the Northwest Workforce Council’s strategic plan for integrated service delivery.  The Council’s plan focuses on ensuring quality and results from the delivery of services through WorkSource sites and is created through the participation of stakeholders and staff.  WorkSource site managers develop and use a strategic business plan that demonstrates to the Council the site’s strategies for achieving performance outcomes, customer satisfaction, and continuous improvement.  The site business plan sets goals and objectives for the next one to three years, while containing clear and measurable action steps for implementation.

3. CUSTOMER, STAKEHOLDER, AND MARKET FOCUS

The WorkSource Northwest system is based upon an unwavering focus on the needs of its business and job seeker customers. Services are shaped and sites are assessed in significant part by their attention to these needs and associated adjustments to strategies, processes, and products. Customer satisfaction calls for the use of relevant data and information to establish the organization’s performance. The Northwest Workforce Council requires each WorkSource site to actively solicit and use customer feedback to continuously improve.

4. MEASUREMENT, ANALYSIS AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

In order to ensure WorkSource Northwest sites are managed effectively, are responsive to customer needs, and produce results, consistent use of meaningful data by staff at all levels is fundamental. The Northwest Workforce Council will provide sites with performance data at regular intervals that is aligned with its strategic directions. Site-based staff are expected to supplement the Council supplied data with local data regarding customer requirements and key processes and to analyze the information to make effective management and quality improvement decisions.

5. workforce focus

WorkSource Northwest sites are high performance work organizations. Collaborating agencies invest in staff development, reduce duplication and empower staff to make decisions. The sites focus on employee satisfaction just as they do upon job seeker, business customer and stakeholder satisfaction. Management ensures staff members have the tools and skills they need to provide excellent service. The investment in staff development is substantial, ongoing, and focused both on cross-training and overall skill development. Every member of the organization has the ability and authority to meet customer needs, either directly or, where appropriate, by helping the customer make the right connections to the expertise he or she seeks.

6. process management

WorkSource Northwest sites are high quality, customer service enterprises. To ensure ongoing success, sites place a major emphasis on continuous improvement of their key processes. Sites are capable of flexibility and quickly respond to changing customer needs. An examination of how the organization designs, introduces, produces, delivers, and improves goods and services is required. Also, how processes are effectively managed and improved to achieve better performance.

7. results

In its oversight role of the one-stop system, the Northwest Workforce Council defines outcomes expected of WorkSource Northwest sites.  Each organization and program operating within a site contributes to the system’s goals, while each is responsible to its funding source and organization for results and compliance.  Program and organizational performance are one aspect of performance results submitted to the Council.  The Council expects performance on measures attuned to the WorkSource Northwest site delivery system (program integration, customer focus, continuous improvement, etc.) and the strategic goals of the Council.  The Council’s interest is ensuring the collective system, known as WorkSource, is achieving common system goals, established locally.

Click here to download the WorkSource Certification Application Package.