An Opportunity for Change
(OWD) team was ready to make the change from Efforts to Outcomes® (ETO) to Touchpoints in their data and reporting system. Given the busy day-to-day operations of their employment programs and the challenges a municipal bureaucracy can present, it was a cost-effective and welcome relief to bring in Exact Change Strategies (ECS) as a partner in making the system upgrades. As a result, OWD has become more efficient in its data collection and reporting – and is actively exploring ways to leverage the potential of its system to reinforce staff performance and positive client outcomes.
OWD is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, across the river from the City of Boston, and serves residents 14 years and older. Their programming includes free employment readiness, job search assistance, and short-term employment opportunities. With a team of 15 staff members, they directly serve 1,000 youth and 350 adults annually – and reach many more community members through events such as job fairs and coordinating with other local workforce development partners.
An Awaited Change
The City of Cambridge as a whole had been using the ETO system since 2005 and information on OWD programs was under an umbrella of programs and services that also included the city’s Homeless Management Information System. When the city discontinued their ETO
contract for other programs, OWD was left with a decision: to upgrade the ETO system to the latest Touchpoints® model on a limited budget or choose new approach or system entirely.
OWD decided that it was time for the upgrade, and ECS was immediately helpful to their leadership team. ECS provided guidance on the scope of the planned project, including how OWD could improve reporting capacity and increase system efficiency during the upgrade. By clarifying exactly what services OWD did and did not need to reach their immediate goals, ECS was able to offer a targeted and budget sensitive approach.
New Possibilities
Throughout the course of the project ECS continued to offer a wealth of knowledge as well as guidance, encouragement, clarification, and even humor to sustain momentum. The result was a Touchpoints data system that could strategically meet the needs of OW
D programs and staff. ECS was able to streamline past kinks and challenging aspects of the system as well as automate common reporting functions and create a user-friendly experience.
As this first project together came to a close, OWD knew that they had identified had a trusted partner in ECS that they could rely on well into the future. While the first step was to create a functional tool, OWD leadership does not intend to stop there. They are aware of infinite possibilities of performance management and now envision opportunities to be a data-driven organization in ways that
will benefit both staff and clients daily. They want to go deeper and further in their work with ECS, and ECS is prepared to support them
in carrying their vision forward.
The ECS team is highly competent, responsive and very easy and pleasant to work with.
You can’t really ask for more than that! They’re worth every penny. You’re essentially paying for their time to devote to the stuff that you can’t do. You’d pay for it in time otherwise, so it’s a worthy investment for any organization. ECS was persistent and patient with us. Data isn’t our full time job; we have many competing priorities and they had the brains, expertise, and depth of experience to create short cuts for us.