Do good and talk about it
In order for continuing education providers to derive the greatest possible benefit from their certified quality management system (QMS), they need models that can be optimally integrated into the organisation. QMS are valuable guidelines for quality assurance and development, but the label alone is not enough. It needs a cross-divisional understanding of quality and a common language as well as quality goals that are supported by all employees.
Quality is a high priority for both private and public continuing education providers. The majority of continuing education providers in Switzerland ensure and develop their "quality". More than half do this systematically and have a quality certificate or label. This is the result of a study by the Swiss Association for Continuing Education. With over 1000 certified institutions, the eduQua quality label, which is specially tailored to continuing education providers and in-house continuing education departments, is the most widespread label (86%) among providers with a certified QMS in Switzerland. It is followed by ISO (23%; of which around three quarters ISO 9001, one quarter ISO 29990) and other labels, models and guidelines (25%) such as EFQM and specialised, sector-specific certificates such as SVOAM (work integration). Almost one third of the providers have two or more labels.
Great internal impact
Despite the high cost, training providers consider the benefits of a certified QMS to be great. This was also recently confirmed by a study from Germany. However, this assessment mainly refers to internal effects. These effects include the engagement within the organisation with quality, the improvement of organisational processes, the transparency in organisational structures as well as the benefit for internal communication. The increase of quality in teaching and learning processes as well as the professionalisation of pedagogical work is also supported by a QMS from the providers' point of view.
Nevertheless, most providers are pushed towards a certified QMS by the requirements of public clients rather than by their own conviction. This bears a certain risk that the QMS is not used as a control instrument but as a justification instrument towards subsidy providers and is only periodically managed for certification and interim audits. In addition, it is difficult to find a common language and to develop a uniform understanding of quality, because many continuing education providers work with complex, often decentralised structures, and the course instructors are employed on an hourly wage and with varying teaching loads.
Potential for external added value
Very few providers believe in the external effect of a QMS. Although three quarters of those certified with a Q-label notice an increase in their image, only a few attribute an increase in the number of participants, occupancy and turnover to certification. This contradiction indicates that, as a rule, the QMS is not used for branding and communication purposes. For optimal market positioning, a connection between quality management and marketing is obvious, since the participant or customer (branding) and their satisfaction (quality) are the focus for the entire organization and should be the goal of all activities.
Which figures and values are communicated externally and in which context should of course be well considered. The implementation rate, success rate or dropout figures may be rather unsuitable for external communication. In principle, however, it is the story that counts. Even negative customer feedback can be used in marketing communication to build trust and image; the way a customer complaint is handled and which processes are defined to reach a satisfactory solution can definitely be communicated as a positive "story".
Example: Incident Management
An online training provider, for example, receives feedback that course instructors are not readily available and cannot be reached, and that participants' questions are not answered within a reasonable period of time or not answered at all.
"The liason of QM and marketing makes the invisible visible to customers."
the. The provider then introduces an "incident" management system that registers incoming questions, assigns them to the responsible experts and ensures that they are answered promptly. In this way, the provider can improve not only the content-related but also the technical support of the participants. In the language of branding communication, this sounds like this: "By introducing incident management, we have ensured the professional and technical support of the course participants in our online courses and offer them optimal support during their studies". This can be supplemented by a testimonial from a participant who reports on the positive development.
Quality indicators as a basis for marketing
The liaison of QM and marketing/communication makes the invisible visible to customers; it stands for customer focus and transparency and also provides evidence for this from the QMS. Quality indicators provide marketing with basic data for story-telling, infographics and success stories. Skilfully applied to the marketing instruments and used appropriately for the target group in classic and modern marketing channels, the QMS can thus create competitive advantages.
