Avia Employment Services Coquitlam Annual Report
April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014
Avia Employment Services Annual Report| Coquitlam| Contract # 33
Back in Motion’s Avia Employment Services (WorkBC) has been serving Clients since April 1st 2012. Over the past two years the program has
been evolving, with many accomplishments. There has been two major program changes to policy and the fee schedule as the result of
Consultations with Contractors, and improvements to the delivery of services to Clients.
It has been a year of growth and change at Avia and we look forward to sharing some of our milestones with you through this report!
In this Report
How Participants Access Services ............................................................................................................................................................................. 1
Demographics ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Service Efficiency ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Outcomes .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Stakeholder Satisfaction ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Participant Satisfaction ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Avia Employment Services Annual Report| Coquitlam| Contract # 33
How Participants Access Services
Participants, both Case Managed and Self-Serve, access Avia services through a number of ways. The following describes how Participants
heard about Avia and through what channel they accessed services.
How did you hear about us?
(The top ways Participants learned about
our services)
Total ESC *Visits
Purpose of Visit
(i.e. type of services Participants accessed)
**Self-Serve Remote Visits
Participants who registered for Self-Serve
independently
(i.e. not referred by an external service)
***Out of area registrants
2013/2014
2012/2013
Friend/Family 19.5%
Other 17.5%
Human Resource Centre 16.7%
Service Canada 8.4%
19,611
Attend a Workshop N=9,891
Use the Resource Room N=5,672
Meet with Staff N=3,645
Meet with an Employer N=403
5,482
Human Resource Centre 26.8%
Other 24.1%
Back in Motion 13.7%
Friend/Family 12.9%
9,171
Attend a Workshop N=4,373
Use the Resource Room N=3,019
Meet with Staff N=1,621
Meet with an Employer N=158
3,423
2,245
2,915
103 (of 2,245) or 4.6%
158 (of 2,915) or 5.4%
Participants who indicated they
learned about Avia from ‘Other’
sources (N=940), include, but are
not limited to, Educational
Institutes, Internet Searches,
community organizations, radio/
newspaper advertisements, and
other WorkBC programs such as
via transfer or accessing another
catchment.
*A visit is one instance of a Participant attending the Employment Service Centre (ESC), or logging into their Unique Portal from a non-ESC location. Visits can occur several times for one
Participant. A Registrant (or registered) is considered the first Visit of a Participant when the Participant first accesses the ESC.
**Self-Serve Remote Visits are visits where Participants have logged on to their unique Avia Profile from a location outside of the ESC such as their home, a library or a mobile device or tablet.
***Out of area registrants are persons who registered for self-serve services but who live outside of the Coquitlam catchment area. These persons are queued to Reception for further support.
More about how Participants access services?
 As noted above, the total number of client visits significantly increased this year, as did the number of remote visits to self-serve
services.
 It is interesting to note that fewer clients registered for self-serve services independently in the 2013/2014 fiscal, which may be due to
the community becoming more aware of the WorkBC centres and referring more clients to our centres.
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Demographics
The following demographics are based on Case Managed Participants who joined services between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013:
2013/2014
2012/2013
Number Served
1,604
1,669
Male : Female Ratio
1 : 1.07
1 : 1.14
% of Participants who accessed services in
the city they live in
88.4%
87.5%
40.4 Years
Male = 40.7 / Female=40.1
41 Years
Male = 41 / Female=41
15 − 77
General Population 48.5%
Immigrants 31.9%
Youth (15-30) 15.3%
Persons with Disability 11.4%
17 − 73
General Population 45.9%
Immigrants 29.9%
Persons with Disability 11.5%
Multi-Barriered 6.9%
Average Age at beginning of Service Delivery
Average Age by Gender
Age range (youngest to oldest)
Of those served, Participants identify with 1
or more of the following populations (in
percentages):
Continued excellence! (I am)
learning so much.
The services were excellent, like
always. Thanks a lot.
Who we serve:
 Participants who generally access services outside the city they live in are accessing services where they are attending an
Apprenticeship program
 Participants self-disclose the population they identify themselves to be part of. Populations include: Aboriginal, General Population,
Immigrant, Multi-Barriered, Person with Disability, Survivor of Violence/Abuse, Youth (age 15-30), Francophone, Rural/Remote.
 In Coquitlam, 14.4% of those who identify with a specialized population identify with at least 2 or more specialized populations.
 Participants who successfully gained employment, and subsequently had their program file closed, reported the following employment
status at commencement of Case Managed services:
 Unemployed 87.5%
 Working less than 20 hours/week 8.8%
 Employed 3.8%
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Service Efficiency
Delivering services efficiently ensures that Participants do not encounter long wait times to receive services and that they can smoothly
transition into preparing and looking for work. Thus, an important Avia Employment Services goal is to provide services to Case Managed
Participants in a timely manner.
The following measures demonstrate the level of efficiency in delivering services based on Participants who began services in 2012/2013:
*Inquiry to Acceptance
(occurs in ≤ 10 business days)
Acceptance to MDNA Complete
(occurs in ≤ 10 business days)
MDNA to Action Plan Complete
(occurs in ≤ 10 business days)
2013/2014
2012/2013
80.9%
70.4%
99.0%
87.7%
96.8%
81.9%
I learned very much in a short
time. I now have access to
resources I didn't find on my own.
*It should be noted that Inquiry to Acceptance data included Participants who accessed Self-Serve services for a period of time prior to moving into Case
Managed Services. Therefore the length of time from Inquiry to Acceptance is skewed.
More on service timelines:
 On average, Participants who began services in 2013, spent 70.0 days in the program before gaining employment.
 The average length of time Participants spend in the program from Program start to file closure is 278.1 days.
 These service efficiency measures allow Centre Managers to implement quality improvement strategies to reduce barriers to
Participants accessing services.
It is great to come to this office and looking for job. All the staff on
duty is very helpful and kind. (I am) very happy to work with Avia.
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Outcomes
The outcome goal for the Avia Employment Program is for Participants to secure labour market attachment in the form of paid or volunteer
employment. The following information summarizes employment outcomes of participants who achieved their employment related goals
between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013:
2013/2014
2012/2013
Number of Employment Placements
468
301
Percentage of Placements that are aligned with
the participants experience or training
19.7%
36.8%
Average Wage of Participants who gained
Employment
$15.64 (N=370)
$15.44 (N=265)
Hourly Wage Range
$9.00 − $55.00/hour
$7.00 − $65.00/hour
The top 5 sectors Participants achieved employment in include:
2013/2014
Employment Sector
2012/2013
I always feel very well supported by
all of the staff at Avia. I have
recommended several people to use
Avia services. Thank you for your
continuous support.
I got more than I ever expected.
Keep up the good work.
Employment Sector
Other
22.9%
Other
20.6%
Retail
21.4%
Retail
20.6%
Tourism/Hospitality
10.0%
Construction
9.1%
Construction
7.8%
Manufacturing
9.1%
Health
6.0%
Health
5.9%
The staff is always taking all extra
miles to satisfy clients needs.
What is interesting about this?
 Participants are using their transferrable skills and applying their previous experience and training to new employment opportunities
 The minimum hourly rate for client employment is higher when compared to the previous year, allowing .the placements to be more
durable for clients.
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Stakeholder Satisfaction
To better serve the Communities we work closely with throughout the year, we survey Employers and Community Organizations who we
worked with in the past year.
In 2013/2014, the survey was a joint effort across all Avia Employment Centres. We surveyed over 100 Employers and Community
Organizations who used our services, we established a relationship with, and/or marketed our services to in the past year, the sample size of
respondents however was very small, and therefore the results have not been included in this report.
As part of our 2014 quality improvement strategy, we will look at new ways of soliciting feedback from our stakeholders such as through
focus groups. This will enable us to gain a comprehensive understanding of Employers and Community Organizations who use our services.
“This has worked out very well for us. I
mentioned to a Job Developer that I was
looking for a new staff member and she
sent us what seems to be the perfect
candidate. We had received 10 resumes in
total from our own job postings and we
have an affiliation with a large employer
who lets us access their HR department to
screen and interview new candidates.
They felt the referral from Avia was
impressive and she was also the first
interviewee. We interviewed her this week
ourselves and are making her a job offer
today. We expect she will accept. She really
looks like a good fit.”
“Avia Employment Services helped us expand our
recruitment network by facilitating introductions,
meetings, and interviews. The staff at Avia are
professional, accommodating, and efficient. Our
success in recruitment efforts over the past few
months was strengthened by their assistance and
support, and ability to facilitate our recruitment
efforts in a cost-effective and timely manner.”
“The staff is excellent, very approachable and eager
to assist. Avia has helped us out on numerous
occasions to find the staff we needed.”
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Participant Satisfaction
To better serve our Program Participants, we solicit feedback on an ongoing basis. We use the information to make services more accessible
to Participants. Here is what Participants said in 2013/2014:
2013/2014
2012/2013
Average Satisfaction Score
91.6%
89.4%
% who would recommend us to a friend
99.5%
96.4%
On a monthly basis, Participant written comments are reviewed, marked for follow-up as necessary, and disseminated to Centre Managers
who will either investigate comments further, and address identified service gaps within the centre. On an annual basis, all progress with
comments is reviewed and progress and outcomes are reported as part of our Accessibility Status report.
Improving our Services
 Feedback is provided from both Case Managed and Self-Serve Participants. Participants provide feedback on an ongoing basis when
they have comments to share.
 Through the Centre Managers’ continuous efforts on improving the number of responses, we had 360 Participant responses in
2013/2014. The response rates have increased 182% from 2012/2013. Centre Managers and staff continue to implement strategies
and encourage Participants to provide their feedbacks.
Excellent service, very friendly and professional staff.
I have been to three centres and the Coquitlam Avia tops them all!
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Celebrating Success
On an ongoing basis, the Centre collects stories of success’ that have occurred throughout the year. Below is an example of a Participant and
Community success:
Success Story #1 – Participant –Human Resources
My name is Theresa. I was working in human resources and payroll position for an automotive Collision company until I was laid off last year.
After going to EI office to inquire about benefits, they referred me to AVIA and met my Case Manager who assisted and encouraged to apply
for training. My CM did assist in my success, mainly motivating me to get training needed and completing paperwork related to this.
I got my training grant approved and I was able to go for training and certification program at Vancouver Community College, as I didn’t have
any formal studies in many years, and potential employers did not take me because I did not have formal credential and certification. I
worked with my CM from October 2012 to September 2013, and after completion of my training I got a Human Resource position with one of
the leader companies in the Canadian food industry.
I am completely satisfied with my new job, utilizing my new skills and my previous working experience, I got better salary than ever before ,
and very thankful to AVIA for all the support and encourage to accomplish my training and able to find job in very short time.
Success Story #2 – Community Partnership – Coquitlam Library
My name is Teresa Rehman and I am a Community Services Librarian at Coquitlam Public Library. I first heard about Avia Employment
Services in January of 2013 when Gillian Kirk visited our City Centre Branch and proposed hosting job-search related information workshops
for library patrons. It was not long before we held our first workshop on “The Hidden Job Market” and it was a great success. We scheduled
several more information sessions throughout 2013 and then in January of 2014, Gillian and I sat down to create a monthly schedule of miniworkshops to give participants a taste of what they could expect as a client at Avia. The topics of the sessions are: “The Hidden Job Market”,
“Resumes and Cover Letters”, and “Interview Skills”.
These workshops have been very popular and the feedback that we receive from attendees is overwhelmingly positive. Gillian is an engaging
presenter and she is able to give job-seekers some good tips while marketing the WorkBC initiative. I particularly like the way she expresses
genuine interest in each individual. At the end of the sessions she collects the contact information from anyone who would like to learn more
about their eligibility for the program.
The job search workshop series adds value to our programming at the Coquitlam Library and we very much appreciate the partnership we
have with Avia. We look forward to continuing this strong, mutually beneficial relationship.
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