COA - Council On Accreditation

	Human Resources

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

Administration and Management Narrative (CA-HR):

The Administration and Management Narrative should provide an overview of key practices that contribute to the performance and productivity of your organisation. The Narrative supports, but should not duplicate, evidence provided elsewhere in your self-study.

The Human Resources Administration and Management Narrative should provide the Peer Review Team with a clear, concise description of how your organisation's human resources practices advance and sustain your organisation’s mission and strategic goals.

Purpose Standard: Human Resources (CA-HR)

A stable, qualified workforce contributes effectively and efficiently to consumer satisfaction and positive service delivery results.

Provide responses to the following questions that address your organisation’s achievement of the Human Resource Management Purpose Standard. Highlight any obstacles and innovations, if any, in each of your responses.

1. Describe how your organisation manages its human resources: Does your organisation have a separate HR department? If not is there a dedicated HR position, or is human resource management the responsibility of an individual with additional non-HR responsibilities? Does your organisation outsource some of its human resources functions? If so which ones?

2. Describe any challenges that your organisation may have faced with regard to recruiting qualified staff. Has your organisation implemented any solutions that have proven effective?

(e.g., there is a shortage of MSW's in your area, or funding cuts have made it difficult to pay for direct service staff with advanced degrees for your foster care programme…)

3. Provide 2-3 examples of how your organisation has recruited staff that are culturally and ethnically representative of the service population.

4. Describe any challenges that your organisation may have faced and any solutions that have proven effective with regard to staff retention.

5. Provide any additional information that would increase the Peer Team’s understanding of how your organisation’s human resource practices contribute effectively and efficiently to consumer satisfaction and positive service delivery results.

Attachments:

A list of administrative and management personnel that includes: a) name; b) title; c) degree held and/or other credentials; d) FTE; e) length of service at the organisation; and f) time in current position. Please organise the list by department.
An organisation chart that includes all the organisation’s departments or divisions and programmes.
All COA-approved NA Requests.
A list of all NAs applicable to your organisation provided within the standards.

Note:

Organisations being accredited for the first time: Please provide information for the last year.

Organisations being reaccredited: Please provide information for the period since the last accreditation review.


	Self-Study Documents	On-Site Documents	On-Site Activities
CA-HR 1 Work Environment*	Copies of attorney, administrative agency or court opinions that indicate the organisation’s personnel practices comply with applicable laws and regulations; or a description of the process the organisation uses to monitor labour laws to ensure that personnel practices comply Discrimination prohibition policy Harassment policy	Personnel Manual Relevant meeting minutes See nepotism policy	Interview: CEO HR manager Supervisory personnel Direct service personnel Persons served
CA-HR 2 Human Resources Planning*		Workforce analysis and documentation of actions taken	Interview: CEO HR Manager Supervisory personnel
CA-HR 3 Recruitment, Selection, and Deployment*	Recruitment and selection policies/ procedures (CA-HR 3.04) Policy and procedures regarding background checks	Job Descriptions (CEO, CFO, Directors and sample of direct service personnel) Personnel records Personnel Manual Relevant portion of governing body minutes (CA-HR 3.04) Legal permissibility regarding the consideration of protected characteristics in recruitment and selection (CA-HR 3.04) Relevant portions personnel committee and/or administrative meeting minutes regarding personnel utilization Policy and procedures describing the use of volunteers	Interview: CEO HR manager Supervisory personnel Students as applicable Direct service personnel Volunteers Personnel responsible for recruitment and supervision of volunteers
CA-HR 4 Satisfaction and Retention*	Personnel grievance policy and procedures Aggregated personnel satisfaction and retention information	Meeting minutes and/or schedules Personnel Manual Methods/protocols employed by the organisation to obtain personnel participation/input and for providing feedback to personnel about their recommendations/suggestions Grievance reports Relevant minutes related to retention rates and improvement action, if necessary	Interview: CEO Governing Body HR manager Personnel at all levels
CA-HR 5 Human Resource Practices*	Relevant policy and procedures (CA-HR 5.03, CA-HR 5.04, CA-HR 5.05) Table of Contents for Personnel Manual	Personnel Manual Personnel records Recruitment materials Analysis report (CA-HR 5.04) Relevant meeting minutes	Interview: CEO Governing Body regarding CEO HR manager Supervisory personnel Personnel at all levels
CA-HR 6 Performance Evaluation	Performance review forms/templates	Personnel Manual Personnel records Performance review process Contract policy and procedures Contracts	Interview: HRmanager Supervisory personnel Direct service personnel Personnel at various levels Independent contractors
CA-HR 7 Personnel Records	Sample of five job descriptions (of different jobs throughout the organisation)	Personnel records Procedures regarding access to personnel records	Interview: HR manager Supervisory personnel Personnel at all levels

Fundamental Practice Standards:


Essential Life and Safety	Health and Welfare	Client Rights
CA-HR 3.03	CA-HR 1.02

RELATED FILES


	CONSUMER The individual, family, group, or community that seeks or receives services.


	SERVICE One or more organisation-operated programmes or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organisation’s material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organisation that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licenced to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	ADMINISTRATION The personnel responsible for management functions of the organisation, including fiscal management, human resources, and service delivery. Such personnel determine organisational goals, acquire and allocate resources to carry out a programme, coordinate activities toward goal achievement, and monitor, evaluate, and make needed changes in processes and procedures to improve the likelihood of goal achievement. The term is synonymously used with MANAGEMENT.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organisational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	PERFORMANCE A measure of how well an organisational system provides services to consumers. Performance is often based on key indicators, such as rates of service, cost per consumer, degree of satisfaction with services, and extent of consumer access to services.


	HUMAN RESOURCES A department or service that is responsible for recruiting, hiring, and retaining personnel and monitoring the regulations and services applicable to a particular organisation.


	PEER REVIEW An evaluation process in which professionals from similar backgrounds review the work of their associates.


	ADVANCED DEGREE A degree at the Master’s level or beyond from an institution of higher education. An advanced degree does not include a Bachelor’s degree, an associate’s degree, or an educational certificate.


	PROGRAMME A system of services offered by an organisation. For example, an organisation providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programmes to different populations, e.g., a mental health programme for adolescent teens. The word “programme” can be used interchangeably with the word “service” or to describe specific programmes.


	SERVICE POPULATION A group or target population that the organisation’s services are designed to serve in accord with its mission, and which includes the organisation's service recipients. An organisation's service population may be defined by geographical location, specific problems or needs, religion, ethnicity, culture, or other factors.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	ACCREDITATION The formal evaluation of an organisation against accepted criteria or standards. A professional society, non-governmental organisation, or a governmental agency may conduct accreditation activities. A COA-accredited organisation has undergone a period of rigorous self-study and is capable of providing programmes and services that meet or exceed COA standards.


	BACKGROUND CHECK The review of an individual’s personal information typically performed by or at the request of an employer, which may include verification of educational credentials or employment experience, as well as an examination of the individual’s criminal records, driving records, licencing records, and civil abuse or neglect history.


	JOB DESCRIPTION Explicit obligations and specific tasks required of personnel as a condition of employment. Such descriptions are in writing and may include educational, experiential, and skill requirements associated with the job.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organisation’s tasks under the organisation’s administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards.


	SAMPLE A portion or representative percentage of a greater whole.


	GOVERNING BODY A person or persons with the legal authority and responsibility to set policy and oversee the operations of an organisation. Generally, the governing body is a group, such as a board of directors or board of trustees. While the exact responsibilities of the governing body depend on the nature and character of the organisation, the governing body has minimum fiduciary responsibilities to the organisation set by Letters Patent, statute, regulation, and case law, and typically assume responsibilities for long term planning, risk management, and evaluation and effectiveness of management.


	VOLUNTEER An individual who performs services for an organisation for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered. Such service must be offered freely and without pressure or coercion, direct or implied, from an employer. If the individual is otherwise employed by the same employer for which s/he volunteers, the individual cannot volunteer to perform the same type of services that s/he is paid to perform as an employee.


	SUPERVISION Assumption of responsibility for directly overseeing and evaluating the work or work products of personnel within an organisation. Also includes inspecting the act or process of accomplishing a function or activity.


	PROTOCOLS Instruments and procedures used to accomplish a particular goal, activity, or purpose.


	CONTRACT A formal written agreement between two or more parties that specifies the services, space, or products to be provided in exchange for some form of compensation. Also known as “purchase of service arrangement.”


	INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR An independently employed individual who contracts with an organisation to do a piece of work according to his/her own methods and is subject to an employer’s control only as to end product or final result of the work, not as to the means whereby it is to be accomplished.