Hot Topic
“It was great to have the support of
our Assessor. She helped us see the
wood from the trees, and really made
us think hard about where we could
go the extra mile.”
Julie Ball, Contract Performance Manager
CSW Partnership Ltd
Click here to see what other organisations have to say about the matrix Standard
Spicing up your objectives
Those who can remember the Spice Girls (first time around) will recall the line, “Tell me what you want …” This might have made a good theme for the matrix Standard because throughout the elements it is user-focused and aims at finding out what people want and showing how their needs are addressed.
But the same theme runs through the processes of Advice and Assessment. When you engage an Adviser, it is important that you clearly communicate what it is you want and need. Appreciating that if you are new to the Standard you may not be absolutely certain of how you can best be helped, make sure you ask the Adviser how he/she may be able to fit their service to your organisation. You may benefit from greater awareness of the Standard itself; their expertise to assist individuals or groups to apply the Standard; a readiness test.
And the theme continues to the Assessment process. The Assessor will want to support your application but needs to operate in a way that makes the best use of his/her time in gaining evidence but at the same time bringing your organisation added value. This is where you can play your part by suggesting objectives for the Assessment – bringing to notice areas where a concentrated view from a detached person can reiterate your beliefs or give you additional food for thought.
Some organisations have found difficulty identifying objectives for the Assessment and have resorted to the statement ‘To gain Accreditation’. This is somewhat obvious but it will leave you short of using the opportunity to examine aspects that show your flair or which are key to your business processes. The Assessment Report can usually reflect the outcome of these objectives. Examples of some that have been more helpful to the applicants are:
- To give an opinion of the newly designed Reception area and electronic information displays
- To consider our new system for reviewing staff performance
- To examine our different approaches to getting client feedback which have shown considerable change in the past 2 years
So, don’t be afraid to “Tell us what you want, what you really, really want.”