Community Living Chatham-Kent (CLC-K) couldn’t be prouder of team member Lesa Jansen, whose hard work and passion for excellence has earned her the prestigious Making a Difference Award from a provincial organization.
Jansen, human resources manager at CLC-K, was honoured by the Developmental Services Human Resources Strategy, a partnership between the Provincial Network on Developmental Services and the Ministry of Community and Social Services, recently in Toronto.
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The strategy is designed to help the recruitment practices of agencies such as Community Living to appeal to potential employees who are passionate about making a positive contribution to the lives of people who have a developmental disability.
The strategy initiated a pilot project called the Core Competency Initiative, designed to recognize the professional nature of people who work directly with clients and provide learning and job-advancement opportunities for those people. Core competencies have been created for seven key positions and are the basis for training, hiring and career progression in Ontario’s developmental services sector.
When Jansen heard about the pilot project, she worked hard to have CLC-K chosen as the site.
“Core competencies are the characteristics that drive people to competency in their job,” Jansen said. “People really do want to be the best they can and this is a way of enabling employees to develop behaviour for success.”
Jansen not only got Community Living named as the pilot project site, she went on to train all the staff, developed unique and motivating activities as part of ongoing staff training, including award recognition, trained nine other agencies in the area that provide support to people who have a disability, trained professors and students at St. Clair College in the Developmental Services Worker program, and shared project information at industry conferences.
“I am honoured to receive this reward. Through this process I have worked with a great group of people from across the province. I want to thank our executive director, Lu Ann Cowell, for her support of my role in this project and her acknowledgement of the value of core competencies for our staff and people who choose to be supported by our agency. This has been an awesome experience,” Jansen said.
Cowell had nothing but praise for Jansen’s actions.
“Lesa has a strong belief in the value of identifying and implementing a core competency culture within social services, and her incredible enthusiasm and extras that she has given to this project make her a more than suitable candidate for this award. She truly does make a difference every day,” Cowell said in a release.
The award is intended to recognize and celebrate contributions to Ontario’s Developmental Services by those who embody the best qualities and demonstrate outstanding practices.
