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“Working towards matrix re-positioned the whole concept of IAG within [the organisation], and it made our job a lot easier in implementing cultural change.”
Newcastle College - Offender Learning and Skills
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Tell, Show & Review: Feedback Mechanisms
It's hard to believe as I sit here In August looking at the rain streaming down the window that only a few short weeks ago I was in a very hot and sticky cab on my way to a Kensington Hotel to deliver the first training day for the matrix CQI Toolkit.
I admit to feeling more than a little nervous as I thought about the group of 12 delegates each expecting value for money for the £195.00 paid for the Toolkit itself and the day's training. In developing the day I had thrown caution to the wind and decided to focus on how to "do" continuous improvement rather than simply going through the Toolkit contents and how it relates to the matrix Standard. Fortunately all went well and feedback from the group was very positive. I know I enjoyed the day - apart from the fact that we had a lot of fun trying out the continuous improvement tools from the Toolkit, it was refreshing to spend time with a number of different organisations all approaching their Accreditation Review and thinking about how to approach it.
Since then I have been asked to do three Accreditation Reviews in quick succession and have found a similar commitment throughout these organisations towards continually reviewing what they do and how they do it in order to make changes and improvements in the best interests of their client. In each case, the organisation had addressed in some way the suggestions for continued development highlighted in the original Assessment report. As an Assessor this is very rewarding as it is sometimes easy to wonder whether anyone actually takes any notice of these points once we have left the building and the certificate and plaque has been put on the wall!
One of the areas that inevitably features in the Assessment report and one tackled by each of the organisations either at the Toolkit training or at Accreditation Review is that of how to collect feedback, particularly for hard to reach client groups. Of course, they had all had to demonstrate how they did this and used the feedback to successfully gain the matrix Standard the first time but none has rested on its laurels in the intervening years. As a Registered matrix Adviser and Assessor I have seen the move from the ubiquitous feedback questionnaire based on the "old" National Quality Standards for Learning and Work where the questions were prescribed regardless of the client group/s concerned. This shift towards a more client focussed approach was certainly evident in the organisations I have dealt with recently.
One of the organisations has set up a Client User Group whose remit is not restricted to giving feedback on the service but which extends to being involved in the development and approval process for policies and procedures - to the extent that clients are involved in the recruitment and selection process for staff. Membership of the group was nomination from fellow users and group members were given an induction/training to ensure they are able to participate fully in the group.
The organisation has taken the idea a step further and has introduced Client Mentors - service users that act as mentors for fellow users - to complement the dedicated one-to-one support provided by staff to clients. The mentor takes a proactive role in the induction process, introducing the new client to the service and other users and being available to answer questions and deal with concerns. On an ongoing basis the mentor is a first point for clients to feedback back concerns, complaints or suggestions. The idea is still quite new but feedback from clients and staff has been positive to date. Feedback to me suggested that the success of the idea was providing mentors with appropriate training and support in recognition that the role requires a set of skills and knowledge not necessarily in place just because someone would like to take on the role.
Neither of these two ways of gathering feedback uses a documented questionnaire but both have been successful as a means through which to gain meaningful feedback from clients in a way that really involves them in identifying service improvements.
One of the implications for Assessment is that I am not presented with the usual piles of feedback forms gathered as evidence for Element 7 but have the chance to speak to some of the clients that have participated in feedback activities about which they enthuse and which make them feel valued and appreciated. It has re inforced for me that the secret of how to gather feedback from clients is to involve them more widely in the way the service is managed and delivered rather than relying on simply inviting feedback through a questionnaire, comments cards or suggestions box at the end, or at points in the relationship between client and service provider. That's not to say that you should not use these methods as well as there is continued value in providing clients with as many ways as possible to feedback on any aspect of the service.
However, I never cease to be surprised at the number of organisations that have many good feedback mechanisms... but don't tell clients about them, how to access them or what has happened as a result of other clients' feedback. I can recall visiting one organisation where a suggestions box hung in the central foyer with nothing to say what it was for and not a pen or piece of paper in sight for clients to use. When asked if I could have a look inside the box, it was ceremoniously opened to reveal a very ancient, musty and mouldy leather glove - it could have been worse! The lesson to be learned (apart from checking on suggestion boxes regularly) is that when considering how to build on your current good practice is to think about how you promote feedback mechanisms as well as how to improve the mechanisms per se.
So in the spirit of continuous improvement I used the last session of the CQI Toolkit training day to invite verbal feedback on the day before asking them to complete the evaluation questionnaire as they rushed off to face the trials of London traffic in temperatures of 30 degrees C plus.