WHERE
InForma Zentrum für Hörgeschädigte gGmbH is a social enterprise in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany, founded in May 1998. The non-profit organisation employs, supports, counsels and accompanies the disabled, especially the deaf and hard of hearing, with the aim of integrating them into the employment market. Currently there are 33 employees, including 16 severely disabled, most of them hard of hearing. The counselling department of InForma offers advice on assisted living, integration service for hard of hearing people who have a job, sign language interpreting services, family assistance, as well as advanced training. Production work includes industrial sewing and alterations, laundry and assembly work. InForma also runs a specialised mediation service for the hard of hearing, called Integrationsfachdienst (IFD).
InForma is a member of the ’Diakonie’ (Diakonisches Werk der Evangelischen Kirche im Rheinland), one of the six German welfare organisations. In Germany the ’Diakonie’ is the institution for the social work of the protestant church. It is a non-profit association with 26,800 institutions and more than 420,000 employees.
For several years, InForma Zentrum für Hörgeschädigte gGmbH has been implementing a quality management system according to the EFQM Excellence Model, which was initiated by the Fachverband für Arbeit und Ausbildung (professional association for employment and vocational training) of the Evangelical Church in Rhineland. Members of this Fachverband are several organisations located in the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.
WHY
In Germany it has become normal for customers to expect companies to have a certificated quality management system. Even for social enterprises this need exists, e.g. for education and training programmes. In Germany there are several institutions, especially public authorities, that only place orders with enterprises that have quality certification.
There are several different quality management models available, and it is a challenge to find the right one. There was a need for a model that would be useful for the counseling department, for our production line, and for advanced training courses. Aside from this it was also very important to choose a model that would be affordable. The costs of implementing a quality management system differ enormously. For a small company like InForma it was not only essential to get a certification, but also to consider the costs and to find a practical solution.
HOW
The professional association consisting of institutions that are members of the Diakonie, authorised its Board of Management to develop a concept of quality management and quality assurance for the institutions of the Diakonie that are part of the ‘professional association for employment and vocational training’.
Implementation of a quality management system was intended to promote the individual institutions and, at the same time, to produce a positive common effect amongst the institutions in the association. It was also less expensive to implement a quality management system together with other institutions than to implement it in isolation. For example, the professional association trained assessors and facilitators for the self-assessment meetings. Then these institutions were able to order an assessor or moderator from the pool. This reduced the costs significantly.
The management surveyed different systems and concepts of consulting over a period of nine months. In a general meeting in autumn 2000 they proposed that the association adopt the process of EFQM with the support from an external independent consultant. The quality management system EFQM is a European model with the aim of integrating every staff member into the quality process on a continuing basis.
The management chose EFQM because the model makes it possible to compare the institutions in the professional association and between those institutions and non-members. The comparison helps the institutions in improving their own quality management (best practice). In addition EFQM weaves the member institutions into a nationwide and even European network.
It was announced that the introduction of the process and the consultation would be funded from the Budget for the Unemployed available. This is a budget given by the professional association for special projects. In 2001 there were 63 members in the professional association that were asked to participate, 41 institutions did so. In the meantime, the management and the consultant prepared the introduction to the EFQM. They offered training on what EFQM is and how it works. The facilitators of the self-evaluation meetings were offered to training be qualified assessors by the association. At the same time, the first manuals and forms for the first self-assessment meeting were developed.
At the beginning of 2002 InForma Zentrum für Hörgeschädigte gGmbH organised its first meeting of self-assessment and as a result defined three crucial points that it wanted to work on, as well as several small tasks that should lead to an improvement of quality in the institution. This was achieved by discussion in the whole group, teamwork and discussions in smaller groups and consensus building between the different groups (e.g. management, administration department, counselling department, and production line).
Experiences
The process of self-assessment demands a critical analysis of the organisation by the whole staff and management. This includes the opportunity to communicate and evaluate facts rather than rely on subjective perception. This self-assessment was used to identify the strengths, the weaknesses and the areas for improvement and as a result to realign the company strategy. The self-assessment meeting and the following meetings were completely new experiences for the staff.
The results of the meetings were transferred to the professional association and put on its intranet, so that the other members could see into the focal points of the other institutions and contact them if required for an exchange of the best practice. The professional association also offered training relating to central topics of interest.
Between 2003 and 2005 the institutions held their second meeting of self-evaluation and got their first certificate of being part of the EFQM process.
A key issue was the difficulty in motivating some of the staff of InForma, especially as some staff were told by management that they had to take part at the self-assessment. First of all it is additional work for everybody, and nobody has the additional time. The second problem is the special language used in the EFQM process. For example, for every staff member, especially for the hard of hearing, the meaning of ‘vision’ and ‘mission’ in the context of InForma has been difficult to understand. So the person in charge of the EFQM process has to do a great convincing job, which again means additional work.
InForma has set up a permanent quality circle for all staff members (hearing or deaf), which meets on a weekly basis. The membership is voluntary, but the time used for the quality circle counts as working time. In this circle the person in charge explains the difficult words related to the self-assessment, and the circle works to implement new ways of quality management in certain departments.
In 2005, the financial and professional support by the association was reduced. Moreover, the institutions had to prove to be part of the process to get further financial aid out of the Budget for the Unemployed.
The self-assessment meetings (InForma has had three meetings by now) are implemented as a system of evaluation, according to the points that could be advanced and improved by the institution and that should be given more attention.
Several institutions are already in the process of validation by the German EFQM Centre. The process of EFQM is becoming more and more important for quality within the institution, for example as a means to safeguard, receive and ensure orders.
EFQM is a continuous process of improvement. The certificates are granted by an EFQM organisation. They define the standards for the process, e.g. for the training of the facilitators and assessors. Several years ago, the process of EFQM was the most appropriate one for social enterprises.
InForma Zentrum für Hörgeschädigte gGmbH is now on the first level called ‘Committed to Excellence’, but without any validation yet. The process of EFQM is going to be continued, and InForma is preparing its first validations for a few processes in the next year.
In the meantime it is working on the action schedule to improve its quality processes in different workgroups. The staff are being informed about the different steps of the process in the team meetings, via e-mail or the intranet.
For further information: InForma Zentrum für Hörgeschädigte gGmbH, tel. +492631 - 91 71 0, gkissinger(at)informa.org