Quality in the third sector
September 2007
The Portuguese third sector held a conference in June 2007 to exchange
experiences with two key European initiatives: the way Spanish NGOs have
developed a home-grown quality standard to suit their size and value-led nature,
and the way the British government enthusiastically supports social enterprise.
The international conference entitled As Relações do Estado com o Terceiro
Sector na Qualificação das Respostas Sociais (Relations between the State and
the third sector in the qualification of social services), was hosted in Castelo
de Vide, a historic town in the area of Norte Alentejo, close to Portugal's
border with Spain. The event followed on from a transnational conference of the RISS (Réseaux pour l'Initiative Sociale et Solidaire) partnership. Entitled
Excellence in Solidarity, this brought together the partners from ES2 (Excelência
na Solidariedade) in Portugal, Incipit Sociale (Incubatore d'Impresa per
Iniziative Territoriali nel Sociale) in Basilicata, Italy and RAFT (Réseau
d'Accueil Familiale Temporaire) in the French Indian Ocean island of Réunion.
The partners discussed the integrated model ES2 has developed for the delivery
of home help services, as well as local networks, equal opportunities and
empowerment.
Quality speakers: Alberto Melo, Patricia Bezunartea, Isidro Rodriguez
Hernández and Steve Wallace
The event on quality was organised by the EQUAL national thematic network on
'Quality in the Third Sector', co-ordinated by Professor Alberto Melo of the
University of the Algarve. Its aims were to promote support structures within
the third sector and to work out recommendations for a framework for effective
partnership between the public administration and the third sector. The
network, which involves six EQUAL development partnerships, first met in April
2006 and its six member development partnerships have since taken it in turn to
host meetings. This allows the members to get to know local projects as well as
debating common issues.
Turnaround on quality
Quality has become an issue in Portugal within the second phase of EQUAL,
particularly since the Institute for Social Solidarity (ISS) has published
regulations for operating nurseries, homecare, after-school activities and
similar services, which it is introducing step by step. This represents both a
threat and an opportunity for third sector organisations. On this issue, the
thematic network has brought about a profound change in attitudes: a
predominantly paternalistic mindset has given way to one that sees the value of
the participative nature of third sector organisations. The network served to
enable participants to define a concept of quality that is appropriate for the
social economy, and takes the dimension of participation and empowerment into
account.
Values – processes – services
Isidro Rodriguez Hernández from the Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) in
Madrid said that NGOs have two principal assets – professionalism and values.
The main guarantee of an organisation's survival is to continually do things
better. In practical terms, improving quality has to be approached at a
realistic pace that the organisation can afford over the medium term. The FSG,
with 600 employees, is working to a seven-year horizon. Though it is a top-down
process, it progressively involves the whole organisation. The process begins by
defining the organisation's values, and moves on to define processes for project
management, strategic and annual planning, accounting, human resource
management, innovation, information systems, health and safety. Thirdly it
concerns quality in the delivery of services.
His colleague Patricia Bezunartea, responsible for certifying NGOs, presented
the experience of certification among NGOs in Spain. In her view, the essential
'quality' of third sector organisations – that which distinguishes their
performance – is the fact that they pursue objectives for the good of the
community, and have respect for rights. Thus they have a social conscience and
are transparent, effective and deliver good quality. But the absence of a profit
motive is no excuse for sloppy management – good quality is the way of putting
the user at the centre of the organisation – and it is also a lever to achieve
necessary change.
In Spain, the national Council of Social Action NGOs has set up a working group
on quality, which has developed a quality strategy, a quality network and
quality standard specific to the sector. Its philosophy is that a culture of
quality must be based on values. Quality is expressed in three dimensions: in
relations with the users, in the organisational system, and in accountability to
society generally.
The quality standard is designed to avoid the difficulties encountered in using
existing standards such as those sponsored by the ISO (International Standards
Organisation) and the EFQM (the European Foundation for Quality Management) –
notably their complexity and expense, but also the values they embody. The
standard is available online at www.ongconcalidad.org. Seven NGOs are using it,
and it won the Princess Cristina Prize in 2003. To promote its use, ROCC – Red
ONG con Calidad (Network of Quality NGOs) was set up in 2005. A separate
institute – ICONG or the Instituto para la Calidad en el Tercer Sector – is in
the process of being established to certify quality and train quality auditors.
Government support for social enterprise
The third presentation was by Steve Wallace, Deputy Director of the Third Sector
Support Team within the Office of the Third Sector, part of the UK Cabinet
Office. He presented the way the British government views the social enterprise
sector and the contributions it makes.
There are estimated to be some 55,000 social enterprises in the UK, that is
about 5% of enterprises with employees. They turn over €40 bn and make a €12 bn
contribution to GDP. Social enterprises are notable for opening up new markets
(such as fair trade), raising ethical standards, improving services and
spreading the idea of enterprise broadly throughout society. The Social
Enterprise Unit was created in 2001 after a short but productive consultation
exercise. This decided on a very broad definition of what a 'social enterprise'
is, based on the criteria of social goals and non-profit distribution. During
its six-year life the Unit has researched the nature of the sector, raised its
profile, opened up better access to finance, supported the sector's own voice in
the form of the Social Enterprise Coalition, and created a new optional legal
form, the Community Interest Company (CIC), which over 1,000 organisations have
already adopted.
The new government intends to go on supporting the growth of the sector, by
raising its profile, (for instance by appointing 20 'ambassadors'), improving
the advice, information and training available, and incentivising investors
interested in a blended social and financial return.
Quality is an opportunity
A panel discussion examined the results and their implications for policy and
practice. It brought together Fernanda Rodrigues, co-ordinator of the national
action plan for social inclusion, Ana Vale of the EQUAL management unit, José
Ferreira Neto of the Union of Mutualities, Carlos Andrade of the Union of
Misericordias and Isabel Monteira of the national confederation of solidarity
institutions.
One issue raised in debate was what indicators of success should be used. Can
objective measures be found, or is asking users how satisfied they are the best
way? This is a complex area, as a culture of measurement is lacking, and there
are a lot of intangible factors that need to be measured. In addition to which,
it is very difficult to measure the improvements in the quality of users' lives
that involvement in social enterprises can bring, particularly as they often
find it hard to answer questionnaires. In the end, it seems that quality
certification is not so much a threat as an opportunity that allows the third
sector to make the best of the competitive advantage that its value base and
participative style lend it.
The conference is to be followed up by the production of a strategy document on
qualification in the third sector, and work on quality is likely to be carried
forward in the final, mainstreaming stage of EQUAL.
The conference has strengthened the hand of the third sector in Portugal in
creating its own process of continuous quality improvement and in formulating
proposals to government for the development of the sector. The British example
shows that social enterprises can succeed and win contracts in a competitive
environment – the secret is to offer added value. The Spanish example shows how
the third sector can take in hand the process of improving its own quality so
that it can compete in this way.
The second version of the ONG con Calidad quality standard can be downloaded
from: www.ongconcalidad.org/segundaversion.doc
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