A Case Study of Development following a JISC-Funded project to examine how well Business and Community Engagement (BCE) was embedded within the core business processes of the College
Context
The Embedding Business and Community Engagement through Business Process Review and Internal Engagement project (2008/2009) undertook a series of interviews and workshops to identify both strengths and areas for potential improvement within the context of how Business and Community Engagement work was supported by the core business processes of the organisation, such as HR, Finance, Marketing, IT, Estates and Facilities and Libraries etc.
The outputs of this initial project were a case study of perceptions of people from managers to practitioners within both the core processes and those engaging with businesses and the wider community sectors and a list of potential developmental activities to address issues identified.
This case study follows on from that original activity to document the implementation of developments to further identify good practice and any common issues faced by organisations within the Further and Higher Education sectors seeking to implement cross-institutional development.
Prioritisation of Potential Development Work
Two other projects were underway at the same time. One looked at effective staffing in business development and the second programme managed the introduction of a Customer Relationship Management system (CRM). The college had also agreed to go through for assessment for the Training Quality Standard (TQS). This is a standard derived from the European Excellence Model and is specifically designed for employer responsive activity. All theses complemented each other adding detail to the whole process. Driven by senior management and the cross college nature of the business, each process added value to the whole business and community activities undertaken. It made the whole process of acceptance more manageable and easier for buy in as all were actively involved in some part of this development.
The Agreed Development to be Implemented
The initial BCE evaluation found a number of areas where further development was needed and we duly went away and developed an action plan. The two other projects and the TQS evaluation also produced action plans. As we had one manager who overviewed all these processes it became apparent to this manager that all four development plans could easily be included on one plan as there were key overlaps with all these projects. It then became easy to prioritise these actions on a basis of easy, quick fix, priority and impact on process, but not necessarily in this order. Cost did play a part in how far we could take some aspects of this development but in most cases could be offset by the improved business position. We had a 200% increase in income for employer activity, not as a direct result of this process but it certainly made the process easier to manage.
“In the process of quality planning across most processes in Further Education the outputs tend to be action planned. This can result in more than one action plan, in order to reduce cross over and inform monitoring and review of these actions a holistic approach to action plans can and generally does improve take up and completion of these plans.”
Evaluation at the end of year one saw over 90% of actions completed. 8% needed more time to complete than originally estimated but were manageable. 2% had been dropped as actions were no longer needed.
The Authorisation Process
As the BCE process was driven by the senior management team the cross college approach was taken seriously making the authorisation process relatively straight forward as there was buy in to this process.
The priority for growth at the time of this project was geared to employers and as such this was the key area for the college, developing employer stakeholders. There was significant progress here that was ratified when we were successfully evaluated for TQS 24th March 2010. Account managers identified in schools play a key part in maintaining the drive for employer engagement.
Community engagement was not developed to this extent although progress was made at the time of this project. Today however, as part of government cut backs, community engagement is back as a key expectation for Colleges. As austerity measures impact on communities it is the role of colleges to provide training for sustainable employment and social inclusion. The college is planning to revisit the BCE self assessment with regards to community activities to realise further development in this area.
The profile of business and community activity has moved from a relatively obscure, somewhat side lined college activity, to a key part of College strategy, making up in the region of a third of all college activities.
The identified Account Managers position, from the project, based within the schools has maintained a presence which allows continuous communication on business and community activities.
Engagement of Stakeholders
Strategy is now concise and easy to use moving from a wordy document to six key aims and objectives, a development plan and key performance targets. Stakeholders are aware of our strategy and help us achieve these goals and are actively involved in its review.
The yearly business cycle has been revised to review key business development processes that help inform strategy and business planning across all college activities. Both processes are now in line with the whole college approach to business development, thereby meeting key stakeholder needs.
Business processes proactively seek customer feedback as a continuous process of evaluation of training needs. Through our ‘Organisation Needs Analysis’ review, carried out by our account managers, they are key informers of change in our customer needs, thus helping in the development of our curriculum offer to match those needs.
Resources have improved, but are still under review. The CRM will be upgraded in October 2011 and fully integrated into the college MIS system allowing learner and financial information to be evaluated through the CRM key business and community sales activities.
‘Moodle’ our VLE resource, initially designed for all programmes now seems more effective for higher level qualifications and lends itself to distance or enhanced learning for levels 4-7. The calibre of learner at these levels tends to be more motivated to access this type of activity.
Staffing roles have improved with better cross college business and community activity. These are more embedded and information is now flowing more readily. Examples include centralised management of employer placement for full time FE students that were normally managed in the Schools. This has reduced work for the schools and managed the important employer contact more cohesively.
Customers, both community and employer based are feeding back through our normal review process. Perception has improved and stakeholders have a greater input into what we are delivering. This plays a big part in our TQS monitoring and is recorded through our CRM.
In an increasingly tighter market, performance is key to winning new contracts. We monitor progress of key performance indicators derived from our strategy and developed through our business planning process.
What Barriers Stood in the Way of Implementing Developments?
During this process it was noticed that there was a direct relationship between the size of the employer/ community activity and the size of the core or normal activities undertaken within the department/ School, so much so we were able to categorise them as follows:
- Small less than 25% of overall activity.
- Medium 25%-55% of overall activity
- Large 55%+ of overall activity
Small scale 25% operations present the most barriers. There is always a lack of commitment, as in most cases it is an add on to normal operations and tending to be more problematic as it’s not based in a class room. There is no time allocation for the activity to take place and no one person is identified with the responsibility, work tends to be shared by the team. All this and more adds to the likelihood that it will fail to develop further.
Medium scale 25%-55% is more likely to succeed but still relies on the allocation of time and responsibility. Activities to increase the scale of activity may be hampered as the allocation of time is now only for delivery and it is still not a significant need for the delivery team. This area is probably where most employer and community based activity is found, hence it is key that this area is managed effectively and targeted to increase.
Large 55% scale operations can now be stand alone and as such are less problematic. Any significant failure here results in job losses and loss of income to the organisation. It tends to be resourced effectively and there is a line structure that is accountable. Clear targets are set and staff buy in is prevalent throughout. This is where this activity will flourish and develop as a need of the business.
A key reason for categorising in this way is to understand the difficulties and to prevent failure by supporting the process. Within most cases a disproportionate amount of resource and management structure for that activity adds to the assumption that stand alone provision is a preference to mixed provision unless the organisation is willing to accept this cost.
Planning for Sustainable Solutions
Employer and community engagement continue to form the strategy for growth in FE. Falling demographics, reduced core funding, expectation for Apprenticeship growth continue to be key drivers in this sector.
The cost of delivery with rising fuel prices has led to a rethink in terms of how we can reduce these costs and remain sustainable.
Developments within e-portfolio have not generated the savings we first imagined. There are benefits but these tend to be with higher level qualifications. Learner motivation and to a greater extent the environment the learner is working in have been critical to the success of this application. Savings have been made across the board with the use of recorded and photographic evidence.
Our Moodle VLE is the main tool of higher performing learners around level 3 to 7, but lower level qualifications are starting to appreciate the benefits.
Issues and Issue Management
The main hurdle to this development was the buy in by senior management and in particular the understanding of how business and community engagement works. Even now they sometimes struggle with operations that are alien to normal FE delivery models. The saving grace here is that with the current round of changes, the single line budget (the combining of employer, community and learner responsive funding) may soon not be so different other than where they training delivery takes place
Impacts/Benefits Identified and Achieved
Operations have improved along with success rates. Achieving the Training Quality Standard was one of the main highlights of the year which dovetailed nicely into this project. The development of the customer charter and other tools along the way has aided a more joined up approach to employer and community engagement. More recently there have been direct benefits to the formal self assessment the college undertakes every year as part of its quality processes.
We are unable to measure the efficiency gains, as the size of the project dwarfs the existing structure to an extent that it is not a fair comparison. It is safe to say that customer feedback is positive and success rates continue to improve. Last year saw the largest surplus for business development with a 300% increase in income over the two years.
The Future
New markets are opening with the development of curriculum but we face new challenges for the future as we are already in a reduced funding cycle. Proposed 25% reductions in adult training in the next four years will mean that colleges will have to have a greater understanding of employer and community needs and be able to deliver as efficiently as possible, whilst trying to reduce the dependency on funding, moving to full cost courses. We will have to actively encourage employer contribution that will prove even more demanding in the current financial climate. In response, College products will have to have a greater perceived and ultimately achieved benefit.
Top 10 Tips
- Use JISC Diagnostic and Evaluation workbook to identify your starting point and where you need to develop.
- Adopt the Training Quality Standard (derived from the European Business Excellence Model) specific for employer engagement.
- Split employer and community engagement. Tackle as individual projects.
- Identify a senior manager with responsibility for BCE activity across the whole organisation. Clearly identify those staff involved with this type of activity, making them accountable.
- “Strategy counts”. The college strategy needs to clearly identify its response to BCE and that activity should have its own defined strategy ratified by the senior management team. (SMT)
- Allocate sufficient time in terms of staffing resource for these activities or they won’t happen. (record it on staff timetables)
- SMT agrees BCE action plan of strengths and weaknesses and sets key performance indicators (KPI). Academic Management Team or similar to monitor completions of the action points on the plan.
- Monitor customer feedback, preferably by an external source. “Are you getting it right?” There should be a KPI for this.
- Monitoring KPI’s at SMT level ensures they are achieved.
- Review strategy as part of the business planning cycle setting new KPI is, as a minimum, annually.
