PSQS: The Professional Services Quality Survey
The Professional Service Quality Survey (PSQS) helps universities to measure the performance of their corporate - or non-academic - service units providing both internal and cross institution comparisons.
Each participating institution is compared against aggregated data from all other participants. Standard benchmark performance measures illuminate how well each service unit is doing and help to identify areas for improvement to drive standards up.
The Participant guide section of this website provides a more detailed description of the PSQS.
PSQS: Our Mission
Clearly recruiting more Institutions will make the aggregated benchmark measures more representative of the sector.
This is our intent.
Benefits include:
- More representative benchmark measures
- The potential for customised comparisons against similar universities
- Identifying beacons of excellence
- Stimulate exchanges with regard to best practice
PSQS: Background
It is broadly recognised that, unlike academic operations, there are few reliable, readily available or widely-used metrics to calibrate the activities of non-academic university units. To address this, the sector has been developing the means to assess and report the performance of university Professional Service Departments.
In 2013 The University of Nottingham designed and administered a survey of its entire staff to evaluate their opinions and experiences of the full range of professional services within the institution. The overarching goal was to develop a consistent measure of service quality which could be readily adopted by other universities, adapted to their respective contexts and used to benchmark service quality.
The PSQS has since flourished, building on this bold step to establish a robust methodology that accommodates the many and varied service structures within its growing cadre of participant universities.
Join us. All are welcome.
The survey contains four evaluation questions, including a grid of 7 statements, about each service a staff member has had personal experience of in the preceding year. The resulting report on the findings enables university leaders and managers to identify areas of strength and where improvements might be needed to ensure high standards across all professional services.
These common evaluation questions enable the comparison and benchmarking of services both within and between participating institutions.
PSQS Implementation: Overview
CONSULT
Each university works with the Contractor to agree timings, content, customisations and other specifics prior to running the survey.
Commercial terms are between each university and the Contractor. See the Resources section of this website for the Contactor's proposal, including costs, deliverables and terms.
DESIGN
The wording of the four evaluation questions is identical across all institutions to facilitate benchmarking. There are 5-6 initial questions that are customised for each institution. For example questions based on lists of departments and service units.
Staff can experience the PSQS as an entirely internal management tool using the institution logo and standard colours. The set of service units, their names and descriptions are all specific to each institution.
DEPLOY
All university staff are surveyed across all levels and all functions - both academic and administrative - over a period of between four and six weeks, typically between the end of April through to mid-June. The exact timing and duration is up to each university, as are the internal communications promoting its take up and utilisation.
See the Participant guide section of this website for advice on how to manage the administration of the survey.
SURVEY
Staff are asked to assess the services they contacted on a direct, personal basis and not as a representative or on behalf of a team or unit.
Upon opening the survey, each respondent is asked some questions about which department they are based in before selecting those services with which they have had direct contact in the previous year. Each service unit is displayed under department/area headings with a brief description of the service provided to help respondents identify the correct service provider.
Respondents are then asked the standard evaluation questions for each service unit they have contacted. These questions are optional allowing staff to choose the services they most wish to evaluate.
REPORT
Each university's data set is available to download very soon after the survey closes. Typically this data is merged into existing management information systems for internal dissemination. Other optional analysis and report options are supplied within 1-3 weeks of the survey closing.
For the benchmark reports each institution must specify how each of their service units can be mapped into a number of generic benchmark areas to enable comparisons between institutions. Nottingham University co-ordinate the specification of these benchmark areas and provide advice on how a particular institution's service units can be allocated to the generic benchmark areas.
Benchmark reports are supplied once all institutions have completed their data collection.
SECURE
The security and privacy of data is paramount. Data in motion is protected by end-to-end HTTPS. Data at rest is fully encrypted on UK based servers. All PSQS survey assets are ISO27001:2013 certified by UKAS, and have been since 2014. The Contractor is registered with the ICO and is fully GDPR compliant.
Testimonials
“...SDA's fully managed service enabled all of (our) service requirements to be seamlessly integrated into the delivery plan...each delivered to time and cost.”
Civil Contingencies Secretariat, Cabinet Office
“We like working with (them) because we know that the team will really get into the details of our project, read it carefully, give us good advice and script it perfectly.”
Ipsos MediaCT
“I realise that our needs were very demanding at times, but you and your colleagues responded magnificently with a high degree of professionalism and technical ability.”
Jon Thompson, Director General of Corporate Services Directorate, DCSF
“All services have been major high-profile initiatives for Ofsted, which have delivered core business services in areas where timeliness, accuracy and responsiveness have been paramount.”
Anthony Boucher, Chief Statistician, Ofsted