You’ve done all the hard work, procured the contract, survived implementation and the early set backs which everyone faces, and now you’re cruising along through a 10 year contract. You have regular meetings with your senior counterparts and might have even agreed a few contract amendments on the way.

So where’s the value in spending time looking in-depth at a contract you can’t change?

We’ve recently completed a piece of work as a Partnering Advisor for a housing association and a repairs and maintenance contractor which illustrates why this is worthwhile.

The Work

The partnership is two thirds through a 10 year contract for repairs and maintenance, and recently some planned works have been added. The housing association is based in south east England and has a portfolio of stock managed by a number of regional offices. The customer satisfaction rates (one of the contract KPIs) are encouraging, but the Steering Group – members of the Property Services Team and the contractor – wanted to review how the partnership is going and look for areas of improvement.

The 4i Solutions approach was to encourage feedback through an advance staff survey, followed up with a series of Roadshow workshops to provide a structured overview of the current partnership, the services it delivers, how it is managed and co-ordinated, and how well it performs. They also fed back the results of the staff perception surveys, opening up debate around the feedback received and how it compares to resident’s perceptions of the service.

The final sessions of the workshops invited the participants to work together in teams, firstly to explore the things that they thought the partnership did well, and then secondly to identify areas they would like to work on or to introduce to improve the service offered.

In total we facilitated six workshop sessions, engaging around 60 members of staff.

The Results

The feedback from the sessions was encouraging.  The partnership has come out of the process with an action plan on key issues which are affecting performance and perceptions of the contract delivery. As the contract enters its final years and both parties look towards the future, this gives them a very useful additional perspective.

Top 5 Benefits Of Taking Stock

• If you rely on KPIs as the only measure of success, you miss important information
• Engages your and your partner’s staff – they care about the service you are providing
• Communicates clearly with your staff – shows them the big picture, and asks them the reasons to celebrate as well as the areas for improvement
• An action plan that you know tackles the heart of the issues
• An honest and transparent appraisal of your contract and partnership

 

Would you like to find out more, or carry out a similar project in your organisation? Contact Us