Continuous improvement
Standard 8: Service management
How Standard 8 applies to all service types
Each service provider adopts quality management systems and practices that optimise outcomes for service recipients.
Standard 8 context
Policy and program context for Australian Disability Enterprises
Effective and efficient service management is essential for optimising outcomes for supported employees. These outcomes may include job durability and satisfaction, support satisfaction, skill and career development, wage rates and integration in the workforce and community.
A management system simply refers to all the things an organisation does to establish the outcomes it wants to achieve and the policies and procedures it uses to ensure these outcomes are attained. However, the type and complexity of the management systems used by Australian Disability Enterprises are expected to vary greatly, depending on the size of the organisation and the type of work undertaken. Clearly, a small rural Australian Disability Enterprise is not expected to have the same management system as a large multi-site organisation. In addition, where an Australian Disability Enterprise is part of a larger organisation, it will need to consider what management systems are needed at the local level and how they link to management systems across the organisation as a whole. In all cases, what is important is that each Australian Disability Enterprise has a management system that best enables it to optimise outcomes for supported employees.
Key signposts for a quality management system are:
- a clear organisational structure and corporate governance arrangements that promote supported employee confidence in the probity and accountability for the management of the organisation;
- processes for setting and working towards business priorities and supported employee outcomes (e.g. corporate or business planning processes);
- continuous improvement (processes for identifying service strengths and weaknesses and working towards service improvements); and
- documented policies and procedures relevant to the Disability Services Standards
It is also important to note that it is a requirement for Australian Disability Enterprises to support the quality assurance process, by providing copies of all policies and procedures relevant to the Disability Services Standards to their certification body as part of their application. To assist with this process, many services have collated their policies and procedures into a Quality Manual (either paper based or electronic)
Although it is not compulsory in all instances for an Australian Disability Enterprise to do so, an internal audit process should be developed and actioned, documenting evidence of internally identified and implemented corrective and preventative actions to improve service delivery. This ensures that when certification bodies undertake a certification or surveillance audit, the service has a record of work they have undertaken to address potential areas of non-compliance and to ensure ongoing compliance with the Disability Services Standards. Sample Internal audit worksheets can be found in Section 3, Standard 8, Tool 8b.2
It is expected that over time auditors will place more and more emphasis on the commitment and success of continuous improvement processes within the Australian Disability Enterprise - in other words, not just what the organisation does to ensure compliance with the Standards, but how they will continue to achieve better outcomes for supported employees. Further information about Continuous Improvement can be found in Section 3 of this Toolkit.
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Policy and program context for Disability Employment Services providers
Effective and efficient service management is essential for optimising outcomes for participants. These outcomes may include job placements, job durability and satisfaction, support satisfaction, skill and career development, wage rates and integration in the workforce and community.
A management system simply refers to all the things a service does to establish the outcomes it wants to achieve and the policies and procedures it uses to ensure these outcomes are attained. However, the type and complexity of the management systems used by services are expected to vary greatly, depending on the size of the organisation and the type of work undertaken. Clearly, a small rural service is not expected to have the same management system as a large multi-site service. In addition, where a service is part of a larger organisation, it will need to consider what management systems are needed at the local level and how these link to management systems across the organisation as a whole. In all cases, what is important is that each service has a management system that best enables it to optimise outcomes for participants.
Key signposts for a quality management system are:
- a clear organisational structure and corporate governance arrangements that promote participants’ confidence in the probity and accountability for the management of the service;
- processes for setting and working towards business priorities and participants’ outcomes (e.g. corporate or business planning processes);
- continuous improvement (processes for identifying service strengths and weaknesses and working towards service improvements); and
- documented policies and procedures relevant to the Disability Services Standards
It is also important to note that it is a requirement for Disability Employment Services providers to support the quality assurance process, by providing copies of all policies and procedures relevant to the Disability Services Standards to their certification body as part of their application.. To assist with this process, many services have collated their policies and procedures into a Quality Manual (either paper based or electronic)
Although it is not compulsory in all instances for a Disability Employment Services provider to do so, an internal audit process should be developed and actioned, documenting evidence of internally identified and implemented corrective and preventative actions to improve service delivery. This ensures that when certification bodies undertake a certification or surveillance audit, the service has a record of work they have undertaken to address potential areas of non-compliance and to ensure ongoing compliance with the Disability Services Standards. Sample Internal audit worksheets can be found in Section 3, Standard 8, Tool 8b.2
It is expected that over time auditors will place more and more emphasis on the commitment and success of continuous improvement processes within the Disability Employment Services provider - in other words, not just what the organisation does to ensure compliance with the Standards, but how they will continue to achieve better outcomes for supported employees. Further information about Continuous Improvement can be found in Section 3 of this Toolkit.
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