External Feedback

Labelling effective CAF users

Most quality management tools have recognition schemes to evaluate assessments that have taken place in an organisation. The CAF up to now did not have such a system. Within the CAF expert group a number of volunteers - Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Slovenia, EFQM and the CAF Resource Centre in EIPA - have crossed the Rubicon and paved the road for the implementation of CAF External Feedback.

The goals of this feedback procedure are as follows:

Support the quality of the CAF implementation and its impact on the organisation.
Find out if the organisation is installing TQM values as the result of the CAF application.
Support and renew enthusiasm in the organisation for continuous improvement.
Promote peer review and bench learning.
Reward organisations that have started the journey towards continuous improvement to achieve excellence in an effective way, without judging their obtained level of excellence.
Facilitate the participation of CAF users in the EFQM Levels of Excellence.

The external feedback will be carried out by Feedback actors - peers and experts in TQM – who will come to the organisation and gather evidence on how the institution has prepared, implemented and followed up the CAF self assessment process.

This assessment will be structured in a three-pillar system:

The process of self-assessment: have the different steps of applying the CAF been implemented effectively;
The process of improvement actions: did the organisation start up successfully improvement actions;
The TQM maturity of the organisation: built around the 8 Principles of Excellence (EFQM), putting the actions/ steps into a broader scope and looking at the impact on the organisation

After going through this process the organisation will or will not receive the label of “Effective CAF User”. This label however will be limited in time.

The procedure has been launched at the end of 2009. EIPA will offer training for potential CAF Feedback Actors in March and April 2010.

Find out more:

Powerpoint Presentations EN - FR - NL - DE

The Training Programme

A common European quality management instrument for the public sector

developed by the public sector.

The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a result of the co-operation among the EU Ministers responsible for Public Administration. A pilot version was presented in May 2000 and revised versions were launched in 2002 and 2006. A CAF Resource Centre (CAF RC) was created at the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Maastricht following the decision of the Directors General in charge of public service. It works in close cooperation with the network of CAF national correspondents.

The CAF is an easy-to-use, free tool to assist public-sector organisations across Europe in using quality management techniques to improve their performance. The CAF is a total quality management (TQM) tool which is inspired by the major Total Quality models in general, and by the Excellence Model of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) in particular. It is especially designed for public-sector organisations, taking into account their characteristics.

The model is based on the premise that excellent results in organisational performance, citizens/customers, people and society are achieved through leadership driving strategy and planning, people, partnerships, resources and processes. It looks at the organisation from different angles at the same time; a holistic approach to organisation performance analysis.

Structure

The CAF has four main purposes:

To introduce public administrations to the principles of TQM and gradually guide them, through the use and understanding of self-assessment, from the current “Plan-Do” sequence of activities to a full fledged “Plan-Do-Check-Act (PCDA)” cycle;
To facilitate the self-assessment of a public organisation in order to arrive at a diagnosis and improvement actions;
To act as a bridge across the various models used in quality management;
To facilitate bench learning between public-sector organisations.

Highly appreciated in the CAF implementation is the involvement of staff. CAF is a joint project for management and staff and very often CAF is the first occasion in which management and staff meet to discuss the state of affairs of the organisation and the options for the future in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

The use of CAF in Europe

Over the past 10 years, nearly 2000 public sector organisations all over Europe have used the model and the number of CAF Users is still growing.

In 2009, the CAF External Feedback has been created to further support organisations in using the CAF most effectively in their future quality management journey. This procedure carried out by peers and experts in TQM aims at providing external feedback on the introduction of total quality management with the help of CAF, not only relating to the self-assessment process, but also regarding the path organisations have chosen to attain excellence in the long run.

This website provides all the available information at European level. We invite you to discover it and to contact us if you need further information.

Patrick Staes (BE) Seconded National Expert Fields of Specialisation: Public management; quality in the public sector; Common Assessment Framework (CAF); consulting services.	Nick Thijs (BE) Lecturer Fields of Specialisation: Public management reform; comparative public administration; public sector quality management; quality models and techniques (Common Assessment Framework – CAF); consultancy services.
Lena Heidler (DE) Research Assistant Fields of Specialisation: Quality Management with a special focus on the Common Assessment Framework (CAF).	Ann Stoffels (BE) Programme Organiser

Quality Development in the Field of Justice Patrick Staes and Nick Thijs Published: 2008	CAF - Movie Caf Resource Centre Published: 2007
CAF - pour un service public de qualité Editors: Elisabeth Dearing, Patrick Staes, Thomas Prorok Published: 2006	CAF works - better service for the citizens by using CAF Editors: Elisabeth Dearing, Patrick Staes, Thomas Prorok Published: 2006
CAF - wirkt – mehr Service und Leistungsqualität für alle Editors: Elisabeth Dearing, Patrick Staes, Thomas Prorok Published: 2006	Quality Management Tools in CEE Candidate Countries: Current Practice, Needs and Expectations Christian Engel Published: 2003

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In fulfilling its core mission to provide relevant and high quality services to develop the capacities of public officials dealing with EU affairs, EIPA works along three lines: Learning & Development, Consultancy and Research.