Times Change Women's Employment Service
By Louise Chatterton Luchuk
February 23, 2009
TORONTO, ON // The roots of Times Change Women's Employment Service highlight the power that can come from a small group of ordinary women. Back in 1974, a group of women wanted to return to the workforce but discovered a lack of support services to help them do so. As a result, they established Times Change and went on to inspire many other women to make a better life for themselves by finding meaningful employment.
The time was right for establishing a women-centred employment service. It was the International Decade of Women, and the United Nations' International Year of Women was just around the corner (1975). As a result, there was government funding available for women's services. Fast forward to 2009 and Times Change remains committed to serving unemployed and underemployed women in Toronto. The difference is that today's clients are more likely to be women who have been laid off or, because of a health reasons, need to change their occupation. Services include free professional employment, career, and educational counselling, as well as a wide range of computer services and a comprehensive resource centre - all provided in a comfortable, supportive, accessible environment that welcomes diversity and respects individual needs. Services can be accessed for as long as a woman needs the support.
Rooted in the feminist and social movements of Toronto, Times Change operates as a single layered, self-managed collective, where each staff member has equal decision-making power in the administration and in the long-term planning of the organization. A board of directors lends its expertise in heading the agency, affirming management decisions, and forming standing committees to advise the staff and make recommendations.
Working women helping working women
Today, you'll find staff members that started with the organization back in the 1980s and have a strong understanding of the power of "the ordinary women" who founded Times Change, the interesting history of the organization, and their strong involvement in the social movement for women. One of these staff members is Holly Kirkconnell, an employee for almost 29 years. There's huge satisfaction in helping women reach their goals. As Kirkconnell explains it, "I am one working woman helping other working women to get their needs met and reach their goals. Helping them is what has kept me here. It's very satisfying work."
While both men and women face difficulties while unemployed, female clients at Times Change express how they feel more comfortable, safe and supported in a women-centred environment. Friendships grow out of group sessions and clients often meet beyond and outside of the groups. Some women have experienced abuse so being in a women-only group is important. Culturally, it's also often important to offer a women-only environment.
Making a collective work
Kirkconnell is one of four employment counsellors at Times Change, but in addition to her counselling responsibilities she shares administrative and managerial duties. "There's a lot of variety. I don't think I'd want to be only managing or only in administration or only counselling," says Kirkconnell. She describes working in the collective as working in a team of equals where staff shares both power and responsibility. Each staff member is responsible for her own work but also the whole team's work. That means that everyone has to be comfortable with both giving and accepting feedback. Times Change developed a protocol to follow because pointing out mistakes has to be done but you have to do it well. Kirkconnell admits that it's a non-typical way of operating and that finding the skill set combination in prospective employees can be trickier. "Even if the best counsellor in the world applied, if she is not willing to share those other responsibilities, it might not be the right fit for Times Change. We need a mix of skills that may not always reside in the same person," explains Kirkconnell.
A snapshot of... |
Who: Times Change Women's Employment Service
Mandate/Mission: In a welcoming and supportive environment, Times Change Women's Employment Service offers career and educational counselling, a wide range of computer services and a comprehensive resource centre, all free of charge. Our staff members are experienced professionals with a special interest in helping women reach their employment goals in today's labour market.
Location: 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, ON
When established: 1974
Number of staff: 9
Number of volunteers: 7
Budget: $741,000 annually
For background information and previous media coverage, including photos and YouTube videos, visit the media room.
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Working as a collective definitely has benefits, though, and a main one is the fact that any staff member can perform quite a number of functions. That point was clear when they retained the services of a real estate agent to find their current office location. As Kirkconnell recalls, "She wasn't sure about decision making in a collective. She was worried about how difficult it might be. But she found that, although she had one main contact person, because we were all in the loop, her questions could always be answered even if that contact person wasn't available. She was skeptical at first but she learned how well it worked and how it helped her do her job more efficiently!"
"You can't solve a problem without seeing it"
Recently, Times Change hosted high profile business leaders as part of the Seeing is Believing program, a program of the Canadian Business for Social Responsibility. The premise of the program is a simple concept that you can't solve a problem without seeing it. This year the theme was "Increasing Employability and Economic Independence for Women." Big name business leaders met with a diverse group of seven clients at Times Change to hear their personal stories of career transition and the search for employment. Clients also discussed their employment successes thanks to the expertise of staff at Times Change. As a result, a group of local business leaders listened intently and asked how their businesses could help Times Change. Ideas include a future visit with a new group of executives, providing workshops on opportunities within their businesses, or mentoring clients of Times Change.
Louise Chatterton Luchuk is a freelance writer and consultant who combines her love of writing with experience at the local, provincial and national levels of volunteer-involving organizations. For more information, visit www.luchuk.com.
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