Summer Casuals Summer Recruitment, Training and Retention (SPA)

TCard’s Signature Program Assessment of summer casual staff training, reflects a strategic initiative to evaluate the training of our front line staff in support of (i) our strategic goal of fostering a welcoming entry point for students and other card holders, as well as (ii) the retention of great staff year-over-year, where possible. In Summer 2023, the survey was modified to establish stronger benchmarks. 

TCard casual staff who were trained in May 2023 and worked throughout Summer 2023 were surveyed at the end of the summer season. We exceed our goals: 

• 100% said that as a result of the training program they acquired strong skills in appropriate handling of sensitive/private info, UTORid/TCard issuance process and identity verification, and U of T systems 

• 86% agreed or strongly agreed that as a result of completing the training program, TCard casual staff had a clear understanding of what was expected of them in their role when they started their first shift  (Goal/Benchmark was to exceed 75%) 

• 86% said that they acquired effective customer service skills as a result of the training 

• 71% said they would consider working there again the following summer (Goal/Benchmark was to exceed 50%) 

In 2024-25, we will look to enhance our customer service training to build on our team’s ability to effectively serve our diversity of users, and look to account for skills that are learned when staff start working with on-the job mentoring, not just from the training sessions at the start of the hiring period. 

In terms of our goal of hiring a diversity of casual staff that reflects the U of T community, survey results showed: 

• 86% identify as a Person of Colour 

• 71% Asian 

• 43% Middle eastern, North African, Southwest Asian 

• 14% Black 

• 14% Queer 

• 14% Nonbinary 

• 14% Prefer not to answer 

• 0% Person with a Disability 

• 0% Indigenous 

While the survey confirmed that our relatively small TCard summer team is diverse, it provided a benchmark and confirmed the need for TCard to continue to promote its job opportunities to a broad audience as we work to expand that diversity further e.g. via First Nations House, Accessibility Services, CIE, etc.