sue sheerin: why self-assessment exciting?

Why is Self-assessment so exciting?

“ENJOY it. See it as a blue-sky thinking moment, an

opportunity to push the boundaries of your service and

product, to be the best in what you do.”

“The customer comes second”

Happy staff =

Happy customers

= Happy profits

Henry Stewart, “Do happy staff make for happy companies and profitable companies”?

Sue Sheerin - sue.sheerin@googlemail.com Eaquals Sekretariat - info@eaquals.org 2

Happy staff and company performance

• Alex Edmans’ research

What makes staff happy?

Employee engagement

• “Engaging for Success” -

Macleod Report 2009

• Job satisfaction

• Organizational commitment

• Job involvement

• Feelings of empowerment

• “Engaged employees Inspire Company Innovation” - Gallup Study 2006: • More productive

• More profitable

• Safer

• Create stronger customer relationships

• Stay longer

Employee voice

• ‘Sunday Times Top 100 Companies

to Work for’ findings

• The importance of being heard

Leadership …

• A strong strategic narrative about the purpose of the organisation

• Employees have clear line of sight between their job and the narrative – they understand where their work fits in

• Aims and values are reflected in a strong, transparent and explicit organisational culture and way of working

Sue Sheerin - sue.sheerin@googlemail.com Eaquals

Sekretariat - info@eaquals.org 7

Self-assessment …

• …encourages reflection

• … gives staff a voice

• … engages and empowers staff

• … provides a safe framework for giving and receiving feedback, and acting on it effectively

• … is a great leadership tool

• … should be a positive, non-threatening journey of discovery!

Sue Sheerin - sue.sheerin@googlemail.com Eaquals

Sekretariat - info@eaquals.org 8

How can this be achieved?

• Preparation and communication • Consultation, Planning, Awareness-raising,

Training

• Carried out by groups / teams

• Empower staff to self-assess, recommend action, develop shared objectives

• Lead by example – self-assess

• Make self-assessment and review integral to your operation, and ongoing

Above all …

• Listen!

• Accept and act

on staff

feedback

Practical considerations

• Assessment criteria? • Service standards; Internal or external?

• Scope and method? • Agree the terms of reference

• Self-assessment instrument: questionnaire? checklist? report form?

• Evidence? • What data? What other evidence?

• Outcome and follow-up action? • Action plan

Eaquals Survey Data on Impact of Self-Assessment

Re sp o nse

Pe rce nt

Re sp o nse

Co unt

19.0% 8

69.0% 29

11.9% 5

0.0% 0

0skip p e d q ue stio n

Ho w wo uld yo u ra te the o ve ra ll imp a ct o f the se lf-a sse ssme nt p ro ce ss o n

yo ur ins titutio n?

Slightly positive

Extremely positive

a nswe re d q ue stio n

Moderately positive

Answe r Op tio ns

Not at all positive

Very positive

42 member institutions from 10 countries responded to the survey

Re sp o nse

Pe rce nt

Re sp o nse

Co unt

100.0% 12

0.0% 0

30skip p e d q ue stio n

If the re wa s a ne g a tive imp a ct o n yo ur o rg a nisa tio n, cho o se b e lo w the

a re a tha t ca use d the g re a te st d ifficulty .

The process was too disruptive, unsettling or similar

The process was too time-consuming

a nswe re d q ue stio n

The process caused resentment, bad feeling or other

Answe r Op tio ns

Other (please specify)

The self-assessment instrument (e.g. questions etc.)

Response

Pe rcent

Response

48.7% 19

43.6% 17

5.1% 2

2.6% 1

Would you ca rry out ano the r ins titutiona l se lf-assessment in future?

Other (please specify)

Yes, definitely, It is or will be a regular (annual or biennial) event

sk ipped question

Only if we have to because of an internal or external requirement

Answer Op tions

answered question

Yes, definitely, from time to time, when it seems necessary.

What would you do the same? What would you do differently?

• This was our first time we carried this out and we have

learned a lot for future self-assessments

• The same – we observed a lot of the teaching over a

period of three days. I would definitely repeat this.

Different – I would have liked to have involved more

stakeholders e.g. teacher focus groups, student groups

• Start earlier and involve everybody in a more carefully

staged way

• Small workgroups and an overall evaluation meeting at

the end

• Ensure that all staff are involved not just managerial staff

What advice would you give?

• Communication with all the team from the beginning

• Be fully aware of inspecting bodies’ criteria and use this as a basis

• Plan it carefully and plan plenty of time if you want to make it worthwhile

• Use a cross section of staff from different departments in each area of self-assessment e.g. member of the admin team in areas such as assessment & certification

• Be open-minded and ready to change things – there is always room for improvement and development

• Plan for the time and produce an action plan based on the results of the self-assessment procedure

• Enjoy it, see it as a blue-sky thinking moment, an opportunity to push the boundaries of your service and your product to be the best in what you do

Summary

• Not only … • Preparation for an inspection or quality audit

• But also … • Fostering a learning organisation

• Team-building, greater staff engagement

• Development of an institutional culture of quality

• Raising quality standards

• Enhanced organisational and team focus

• Improved performance in client satisfaction, product development and market share

“Worthy of your own approval”

And that is why self-assessment is so exciting!

sue sheerin: why self-assessment exciting?

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