Improvement Service

RESOURCES QUESTIONS

•    How much does PSIF cost?

The PSIF Partnership is committed to delivering PSIF efficiently and this principle is at the heart of all activities and plans.

The question set is free for participating organisations (approved by the PSIF Operational Board), as is the support provided by the PSIF Operational Board and Implementation Group. Naturally there are some costs associated with training and the electronic assessment tool (e-tool) which are covered in the specific E-Tool question.  Both our partners in Quality Scotland and Investors in People Scotland have offered discounted rates for their training and consultancy services which will also benefit the organisation and reduce the costs involved.  Therefore the associated expenditure and resources required varies according to the size and type of the organisation, with key factors to consider:

•    how the PSIF is to be deployed, whether all services will implement PSIF to begin with or specific services/departments
•    how many staff will be required to support the implementation and therefore how many will require training
•    the maturity and experience of your organisation in improvement initiatives

Organisations participating in the PSIF are also required to contribute to the good practice networks that have been established to drive and support the process.

However, PSIF is not about consultancy - the aim is to leave a legacy of self-evaluation and a culture of excellence in your organisation. Its purpose is to streamline improvement initiatives into an all encompassing framework, which over time will result in greater efficiencies and a better allocation of resources.

•    What training do we need for PSIF?  How do we access this training?

You will require a number of EFQM Assessors, dependant on the size of your organisation.  Those assessors will also be able to provide bespoke PSIF awareness training amongst your employees.  Any additional support or learning requirements can be tailored to your organisation on request.  Each Assessor you identify within your organisation will need to attend an initial 2 day Self-Assessment course and then a 3 day Accredited Assessors Course.  The 3 day course includes a pre-work element which requires approximately 25 hours to complete.  A CPD framework will be created by Quality Scotland over the next year or so to assist organisations to retain their accreditation. In the meantime, Assessors are required to re-accredit every 2 years.

•    What employee resources are required to support a PSIF roll-out?

Core Team
The Core Team can consist of 2 - 4 individuals depending on the composition and approach of the organisation, and these individuals are predominantly based in corporate roles in an organisation. The Core Team can be allocated to support specific Directorates or to support each Service area across the organisation.  If supporting each service area, it is useful to have a local co-coordinator to assist with communication and housekeeping issues such as room bookings, catering arrangements etc to resolve some time pressures. Preferably, the Core Team are accredited EFQM assessors and should be capable of training and supporting Assessment Teams.

Assessment Team
Ideally, this should be a team of 9-12 participants from the service area and should incorporate a cross-section of employees including officers working at the front line of service delivery.

Time Requirements & Distribution of Work
In addition to participating in any key milestone activities, Assessment Teams typically meet for 3-4 sessions, each lasting up to 4 hours.  The time commitment can be variable depending on the make-up of the groups and the nature of the Service.

•    What approaches can the Assessment Team use in carrying out the self-assessment?

Typically, the Assessment Team of 9-12 will be broken into smaller groups e.g. 3 groups of 3.

Two approaches can be used:

1.    Individual groups can each undertake full assessments
2.    Individual groups only undertake certain criteria typically broken down as follows:

Criterion 1 Leadership
Criterion 3 People Resources
Criterion 7 People Results

Criterion 2 Service Planning
Criterion 5 Service Processes
Criterion 6 Customer Results

Criterion 4 Partners & Other Resources
Criterion 8 Community Results
Criterion 9 Key Performance Results

The Core Team would normally monitor progress and be available for support as required.
An alternative could be that the Core Team attend some of the Assessment Team’s sessions to assist with e-tool input and to enable them to gain consensus of views as they go along. However, if adopting this approach the core team should be aware that the Assessment Team needs to be able to speak freely.