Quality management in corporate language training

Quality management in corporatelanguage training Lincq Workshop November 2013

What do wemean by quality? • Qualityisa verygeneral notion – the originis Latin «qualis» = whatkind of? • It wasapplied in production and service industries as Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Management (QM) • QA and QM have been based – operationally - on a number of models– customer satisfaction, process management, fitness of / and for purpose, zerodefect etc.

The Lincq project • In ourprojectweaim to provide guidelines for corporatelanguagestrategy and policyattwolevels • How to makelanguage training effective and useful for the success of the company • How a strategy for corporate plurilingualism canbe a factor in the overallquality of a company

Models of quality1 • A process model of quality – quality involves analysing all the processes involved in delivering a service – for example, a language course – and making sure it is produced efficiently. • Processes can be divided into three phases – planning, implementation and outcome. In industry the objective is to achieve zero tolerance of error and a slogan for process management is “get it right, the first time, every time”

Models of quality2 • A client satisfaction principle - quality is achieved when customer needs are met, when client expectations are exceeded. To do this you need to identify your client. • This is quite complex – the person who “consumes” the service is often different from the one who is paying for it, so you have direct and indirect clients. Some people who work in an institution do not have direct contact with external customers but provide services for their colleagues – who are internal clients • Who are the clients in the education /training systems you work in – the employee? The employee’s boss? The HR department? • Think about who are the clients in your working situation. Are they direct, indirect, internal, external? • Think about yourself as a client? Who provides services for you? What needs and wishes should they satisfy to provide a high quality service?

Models of quality 3 • Quality based on results – one way of defining quality is based on results – in tests and examinations, for example. The principle is that unless you can prove the effectiveness of educational activity by measurable results, you cannot claim quality. • What are the advantages and disadvantages of using public examinations and test results as indicators of quality? • Can you think of other bases for measuring results of corporate language strategy?

Models of quality 4 • Quality based on personal development – in this model quality is based on the motivation, the attitudes and skills of the people involved. In order for it to help maintain and improve quality, the institution needs to establish an environment which enable staff to develop and co-operate. • These can be through staff development programmes, action research, peer observation, innovation. • Describe – from your own professional experience – good practice in creating a working environment which promotes quality.

Models of quality 5 • Value driven quality. Education is not just a mechanical industrial process, but embodies and tries to communicate values. The work of the Council of Europe in language learning seeks to promote plurilingualism as an instrument of tolerance and respect for other ways of life and other values. • What are the explicit values which affect quality in your working environment? What are the unstated ones? • What values might (or should) be specific to language teaching and learning?

A new paradigm? • Qualitybased on a combination of trust and legitimacy • Procedures and practices whichcontribute to establishingtrustbetweenstakeholders • Systems, tools, resourceswhichprovideevidence to legitimate the trust

Plurilingualism and corporatequality • A strategywhich encourages a plurilingual approach to languages in corporate life canbe a factor of quality: • Clients and stakeholders are more likely to beaddressed in theirownlanguage • If the linguisticskills and backgrounds of employees are acknowledged and recognisedthey are more likely to identifywith the company • The companycancommunicatebetter, with more nuance and more richly • Encouragement of laplurilingualoismispart of the ethics of good employmentpractice, and a feature of its public image

Qualitycriteria • What does quality mean in your profession – as a teacher, a trainer, a manager? What rationale enables you to say: • That was a good lesson / course / project? • It’s an effective school / centre / training provider? • This was a successful learning experience?

Questions for the workshop • What guidelines can we give for quality as a factor in corporate quality? • Purpose– Why are we encouraging language training? Is the purpose a ‘fit’ purpose for successful corporate strategy? • Evaluation–How does it compare with set standards? • Management – what can we do to ensure that quality is maintained? How can we make it better? What standards do we apply to this? • Guarantees – how do we know we can rely on the quality of a particular thing or activity? How can it be reliably accredited? By whom? • Resources – how can Council of Europe resources contribute to developing corporate language strategies

Commitment to quality • Try and express for yourself your commitment to quality in your job. “For me quality means …..”

Somequality slogans • “quality is that which meets the customer’s expectations” • “quality is that which exceeds the customer’s expectations” • “ a quality product is not an average product or a minimal product. Would you want to be operated on by an average surgeon?” • “Say what you do. Do what you say you do. Check that you are really doing what you say you do.” • “Do the right things. Do things right.” • “there can be no improvements where there are no standards”

Quality management in corporate language training