"Quality Career Counseling Services:" A Developmental Tool for Organizational Accountability: ERIC Digest

Accountability in career counseling is receiving increased attention. However, few organizations have specific guidelines for the delivery of career counseling. This digest describes a workbook, developed in Canada, which furnishes a practical, valuative approach for support organizations that provide career counseling services. The procedures in the workbook are developmental and concentrate on supporting organizational and staff growth. The spirit of the workbook is to demystify policy formulation. It is designed in two parts: Part One addresses policy development, and Part Two looks at staff development. Each part begins with a self-assessment. In areas where the assessments indicate room for improvement, staff are guided step-by-step through suggested procedures for decisions. Part One focuses on policy development for the external delivery of services, whereas Part Two concentrates on human resource planning practices. Both parts promote a respect for career development of all players in an organization. Recognizing that most organizations have resource constraints, the workbook provides a framework for understanding and prioritizing critical factors in service quality. It also strongly advocates a concentration on client and service outcomes. Field tests of the workbook helped organizations identify areas in which they needed help and areas in which they were solid. (RJM)