WHERE
The social firm CarMen gGmbH (Caritas for persons without a job, CarMen) was established as a company for employment and integration in 2003. Together with its predecessor, “Proju”, which was founded 1984, CarMen looks back to over 20 years experiences in the field of job integration and employment of jobless people.
Using the EFQM structure for a report works!
Proju, a project for jobless adolescents, provided projects for job-seekers and social welfare beneficiaries. In 2003, it became insolvent and CarMen was founded by the welfare organisation Caritasverband Koblenz, which is one of the six welfare organisations in Germany. CarMen additionally offers special working occasions called one-euro jobs for unemployed persons who are on supplementary benefit. CarMen employs 15 able-bodied and 15 disabled people, 12 expert trainers, 5 pedagogical workers and 4 trainees in gardening, caretaking and home economics. It also provides training for problematic adolescents.
WHY
Quality management has been introduced quite recently at CarMen. The main topic in the Equal Community Initiative for CarMen has been to establish a quality management system on the basis of the EFQM Excellence Model. CarMen develops quality standards together with the entire staff according to the EFQM criteria in order to improve the organisation’s key competences and economic independence. The performance improvement is based on principles of transparency through team work involving all employees as well as team responsibility. Therefore, the quality management systems need to designed as simple and comprehensible as possible. Everyone should be able to understand these systems.
In order to demonstrate its continuous improvement activities to the main stakeholders, CarMen has produced an annual quality management report according the EFQM criteria providing a presentation of the company’s performance.
HOW
The quality manager and the EQUAL project team consisting of the manager and employees from different areas produced an EFQM development report annually. The report consists of six sections:
- Introduction: Documentation of the general development and strategic remarks,
- Milestones within the quality management year: monthly highlights, events, and visits,
- EFQM areas 1-9: Brief outline of all 9 criteria strengths and potentials for improvement according to the self-assessment are mentioned as well as the measures initiated.
- Efforts in quality management activities: Use of manpower days per quality cycle and project of improvement, general input in quality management – general input in company (time, money)
- Outlook for the year, and
- Attachments: Minutes of the working groups, quality cycles.
The report is available in printed form as well as in electronic format (PDF handbook). A description and list of self-assessment processes, questionnaires, their results and the actions taken make the development of the enterprise visible for all key stakeholder groups. At the same time, the references to each EFQM criteria are made in this report.
Examples of the contents include: How many discussions have taken place between the management and the employees? How many workshops have been offered to take strategy and policy into action? How many disabled people have been taken on? How many jobs have been arranged? How many training sessions have been carried out? What have we developed together with our partners? How many new customers have we found? What about work satisfaction? How is the working atmosphere in comparison to the year before? How many articles about CarMen have been published in the last year? How many PR activities have taken place? Did we reach all our financial and social aims?
The report will be used as a document of proof by the management to show the learning potential of the enterprise transparently. There are areas that are available for everybody and those available only for CarMen’s employees. The EFQM criteria serve as a structure for the annual report. A short description is provided to explain the concepts.
The report is assessed in the employee, customer and user surveys and potentials for improvement are identified. In the following year the results are reviewed and if possible, improvements are taken into action.
Providing a development report helps evaluate to which extent the company is able to manage its readiness for change and provides a transparent insight into its EFQM processes, the resources used, and the results achieved.
Enclosure: Table of contents of annual quality management report
For more information: CarMen gGmbH, Achim Meis, meis(at)caritas-koblenz.de