“…to find where you are going, you must know where you are.”
John Steinbeck
Starting the Process for Accreditation
It can be difficult to know where to begin when thinking about preparing for accreditation.
To make your services better, clients more satisfied and staff more excited about quality, a great place to start is to identify the things you do well and where improvements can be made – find the strengths and gaps
Knowing where your strengths and gaps are can provide:
- Information to management, staff and the Board about how the organisation is performing
- A focus on what you can build on and where you might start your improvement journey
- Details about how much work is involved to become accredited and what resources are required
- Information to support the development of an action plan
“The Assessor was clear in the lead up to review process about what she needed from us at all stages, which allowed us to prepare appropriate evidence, understand how it was best presented and ensure that the team understood how they would be involved.”
Alison Davies, Community Development Coordinator, Morella
“I would like to thank you for your hard work and help during our ASES learning and preparation. We obtained our Certificate…Everyone is thrilled! We made it, and the team now is really working well for the Centre.”
Denise Jacobsen
Port Augusta Youth Centre Inc
Cost:
- Prices for all our customised services are negotiated with you around the work required
- The Department of Human Services (DHS) has a cost calculator which can assist you in checking the costs of an Australian Service Excellence Standards (ASES) assessment for your organisation
On-site visits and video conferencing can be arranged.
Options to Identify Strengths and Address Gaps
Highwire can assist you in a variety of ways – we specialise in tailoring our services to your needs
Service Development Reviews and Gap Assessments
We can look at your services, behaviours and documentation to help you understand ‘where you are at’ and how you might proceed.
The process for an assessment is negotiated at the beginning to make sure it delivers what you need, taking account of the organisation’s purpose and priorities. It can also be tailored to address a range of compliance and accreditation requirements.
Service Development Reviews and Gap Assessments:
- Identify examples of good practice and documentation that can be built upon
- Identify where improvements might be made
- Provide information on best practice
- Make suggestions for next steps
- Assist with developing a plan to move forward
“There were no surprises in her analysis of gaps and actions required to achieve accreditation … furthermore she had identified strengths of the organisation that weren’t documented.”
Alison Davies
Libraries & Community Centres
City of Salisbury
Customised Workshops
We can tailor workshops specific to your requirements, including whole of organisation, small groups or work-specific clusters to gather input and ideas.
Some advantages of this approach include:
- Individualised framework, format and content – aimed at meeting specific needs to bridge gaps and build on strengths
- Cost effectiveness – more people can benefit from the process at the same time, and we build upon existing resources, tools and structures to make the content specifically relevant
- Convenience – dates and times can be scheduled to fit with the organisation’s priorities and be delivered onsite, at another location or online
- Collective and peer learning – deeper understandings and stronger relationships are developed as people work and learn together. This is one way to support participants to feel they are ‘on the same page’ and recognise each other’s abilities
- Support – learning opportunities and activities can be developed for before and after the workshop. We are available to answer questions, share knowledge, and provide ideas and tools to support ongoing growth and improvement
“I wanted to let you know that we were extremely happy with how you approached the workshop, the tone, the levels of participation and the input that you were able to elicit from the participants… We thoroughly enjoyed working with you and hope that we get the opportunity to do so again at some stage in the future.
Kathleen O’Ryan
FaHCSIA- Australian Government
Canberra
Cost:
- Full day workshop at your place: $1800 (5% discount for small organisations with less than 10 staff)
- Negotiated cost for customised program
“I found Maree to be a very experienced presenter and enjoyed her sessions immensely. Maree was bright a vivacious and it was a pleasure being in the group.”
Robert Allan
Sydney
NSW
Customised Presentations
Sometimes an informed presentation to the governing body, staff or clients can generate understanding and provide an opportunity to begin gathering information from others.
Customised presentations provide an opportunity to:
- Hear a breadth of information in a relatively short time commitment
- Save you and your staff a lot of research time and effort
- Bring people and groups together
- Share ideas and develop new ones
- Develop understanding about how to move forward
External Consultations and Research
We are also able to help you by consulting with external stakeholders, such as clients, industry leaders, the industry sector, funders and government to seek their views and plans. We are also able to talk with management, employees and volunteers in an objective capacity.
Some of the positive outcomes from engaging in external consultation and research include:
- Independence – free of any historical experience, or organisational agendas, our process adds objectively and impartially to information that is gathered and we can ask the hard questions and provide honest feedback
- Expertise and credibility– we have a wealth of experience which enables us to match a consultant to your particular need and identify appropriate participants and approaches to use
- Cost effectiveness – if we undertake information gathering and analysis, you and your staff can continue with your day-to-day responsibilities
- Industry connections – our consultants bring a wealth of cross sector experience. We have a deep understanding of quality improvement and best practice
- Creative approaches – we are never afraid to try something different… if you think it will work, let’s give it a go!
Our consultations and research on best practice can help to inform your decision making – new ideas and perspectives often lead to better results
“Maree and the team are professional and easy to work with.
Feedback was given by interviewees that Highwire’s approach made them feel comfortable, and that they enjoyed the conversation and the review. Thank you.”
Emma McDonald, City of Marion
“Would we recommend the Highwire Group to other organisations?
Absolutely yes!
We appreciated the common sense and sensitive approach you demonstrated when talking with staff, volunteers and community
members. The feedback given to us was constructive and will help support continuous improvement.”
Pamela Hamdorf, City of Onkaparinga
Other Ways We Can Help
We are flexible and adaptable and understand that no one organisation is the same. Our job is to support your organisation within the context of your unique size, structure and purpose.
Some other ways we can assist you to identify gaps and be successful in your quality improvement journey towards accreditation include:
- Organisational Development
- Project support
- Coaching and mentoring
- Policy and systems review and development
- Management and Board training and support
- Workforce development
- Quality improvement coaching
- Review and development of quality guiding documents
Need help to review and develop policies and procedures?
Check the Document Review and Development page.
Cost:
- Prices for all our customised services are negotiated with you around the work required
CONTACT US
Wherever you are, we’ll get back to you promptly.