By Sally Harvey CLT, CLP
Education and Labour Development Department

With the Fall season upon us, LO brings our members many opportunities to expand their horizons.

For instance, Garden Expo, on Oct. 21 and 22, will offer new products, networking and education through the annual Garden Centre Symposium, Landscape Designers’ Breakfast and the Interiorscape Breakfast. Go to
www.gardenexpo.ca to register today. I hope to see you there.

Our team has organized all training and development events this year to ensure that education is aligned with our theme, Sustainable Prosperity. The theme reflects our goal to help you, our members, become more prosperous through excellent technical, professional and environmental development programs. With that you will see focus on business management, technical upgrading and skill development, along with environmental stewardship strategies.  

Staff at Landscape Ontario are pleased to be partners to help each and every one of our members become more prosperous!

We are excited to release the 2009 – 2010 Landscape Ontario Professional Development Guide. It will be available at Garden Expo and arrive to members with this issue of Horticulture Review. Kathy McLean has worked to ensure that the education offered throughout Ontario is up-to-date, relevant, engaging and allows each attendee the opportunity to expand his knowledge and skill base, which will contribute to taking every business to the next level. Some new seminars topics include:

• Be a water leader
• Seize control of your operating budget
• Lean thinking in green industries
• Installation and construction week
• CHT prep seminar: turf and ornamental maintenance
• CHT prep seminar: soft and hardscape installation
• Chiseled in stone

We take those seminar surveys very seriously. Kathy aligned the seminars according to member survey input. You will notice a new format this year that should be easier to determine who should attend and what learning outcomes to expect. We have also included a simple template of a training plan. I encourage you to give this tool a try. Copy the training plan for each employee, and encourage them to select seminars and training from the new guide, based on the next steps that you agreed upon during the most recent performance review. Employers can then manage the training journey more accurately and know that those next steps in development are happening. What better way to invest in your people and your business? It’s great for employees, knowing that they matter and that you are serious about their development. It’s time to get those performance reviews completed now, if you have not already done so. To register for the professional development seminars please go to: https://secure.landscapeontario.com/locc/seminars. Sign up today to avoid disappointment.

We have strived to make the Professional Development Guide as inclusive as possible. However, as a team striving to bring the best to our members, we do tend to augment your opportunities from time to time. We will keep you informed via e-news in LO This Week. You may sign-up your staff to receive their own copy of e-news by contacting the LO home office.
 

Apprenticeship opportunities growing

Apprenticeship, as you should know by now, has become an even greater gift with the new Red Seal designation. More recently, the Apprenticeship Completion Grant was approved, which sweetens the pot by another $2,000 for those apprentices who complete their C of Q exams. We are working closely with industry, colleges and Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities to expand the locations where apprenticeship is offered. By registering your employees in the apprenticeship program, it will encourage the MTCU to offer the program in more areas. Sign them up now, if you have not already done so. Go to www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/tcu/employmentontario/training.  It is also time to register for the Safety Group, starting in January of 2010. The Safety Groups Program (SGP) is an innovative initiative that Workers Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) has implemented to help prevent workplace injuries and illnesses in Ontario. This five year program is voluntary and rewards firms that implement effective health and safety programs and return-to-work measures into the daily business routine.
 

Benefits of Safety Groups

• Keep Ontario workers safe
• Increase competitiveness
• Fewer WSIB claims
• More effective return to work
• Enhance employee morale
• Increase productivity and improve quality
• Access to health and safety resources
• Best practices through networking
• Structured approach for a sustainable health
and safety program
• Create and nurture a safety culture in the workplace
• Earn financial incentive

To Join a Safety Groups Program, a firm must have the owner or senior management commit to participate in the program, be paying premiums to the WSIB, be in good standing with the WSIB without charges, or convictions under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, be committed to participating for at least one full calendar year, be in only one safety group at a time and not be a member of the Safe Communities Incentive Program (SCIP).

The Landscape Ontario Safety Group offers safety group members five to six meetings from January to December, at the Milton home office, to develop strategies that help to become compliant or maintain compliance with the Ontario Health and Safety Act. The meetings set the stage for a firm to develop its own safety program, to network with similar businesses and take part in seminars covering up-to-date information and changes that affect safety in our workplaces.

Remember, it is not enough to just have policies in place. The law requires that we follow the steps outlined below to ensure that policy and procedures are practiced and continuously improved.

Safety is an ongoing live program that should be practiced by all staff on a daily basis to ensure the health and safety of all. Safety Groups’ registration closes Dec. 31, 2009, so register now at: www.horttrades.com/safety.  

Next month we will preview Congress 2010 seminar topics that will allow you to plan your days at Congress. It offers several symposia and seminars, between Jan. 12 to 14. Mark these dates in your calendars.
 

---

Sally Harvey may be reached by email at sharvey@landscapeontario.com