The Service Excellence FrameworkA strategy for service delivery at ACU.

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Excellent service delivery is critical to the success of any organisation – universities included. Students, staff and stakeholders recognise and appreciate outstanding service, and will share their experiences with family, friends, and colleagues.

Building service excellence is a journey. It takes time and tools, and is worth doing well. A strong service culture leads to greater efficiency, student and staff satisfaction, and a competitive advantage.

Improving the service experience and providing excellent service delivery is a responsibility we all share. It requires our commitment, positive attitude and engagement.

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The framework is our strategy for guiding the best possible service delivery at ACU, today and into the future. It is designed to improve our many services, from smarter management of university space, to purchasing equipment and services.

The Service Excellence Framework

KEY OBJECTIVES

Ensure services are consistent and aligned with our Identity and Mission.

Implement an improved service model across ACU.

Design services that meet the needs of our organisation and are shaped by the service experience.

Collaborate to ensure services are delivered effectively and efficiently.

Define professional services, roles and responsibilities. Measure service delivery against agreed standards.

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OPEN TO DIALOGUETo build a strong service culture, we must be committed to working together. We need to be open to change when we find better ways to deliver services.

UNDERSTAND QUALITYDelivering a good service experience not only requires good customer service, but also quality systems, structures and processes.

ASPIRE TO DELIVER THE BEST SERVICESTo improve the standard of service, we need to identify who is responsible for what. Embedded service delivery measures will enable insightful reporting and ongoing improvements.

FOCUS ON THE USER EXPERIENCEDelivering good services requires an understanding of the service experience. We need to design services that are informed by the service user’s needs and experiences.

Key featuresSERVICE EXCELLENCE FRAMEWORK

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SERVICE CATALOGUEA catalogue listing all professional services within the University, and nominating a Service Lead for each category.

COLLABORATION FOR SERVICE EXCELLENCEA focus on working together to design services which meet organisational needs, and are shaped by feedback.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTA commitment to capturing feedback and metrics and taking the necessary steps to drive continuous improvement.

SERVICE DELIVERY MODELA model to guide the provision, alignment and priorities of ACU’s professional services.

The componentsSERVICE EXCELLENCE FRAMEWORK

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The Service Catalogue is a list of all professional services delivered across ACU.

An important role in the Service Excellence Framework is the Service Lead. The Service Catalogue lists the nominated Service Leads for each category. They are responsible for leading a collaborative process across the University and ensuring that all services in a particular category are aligned with ACU strategy and national programs. They are also responsible for measuring performance against agreed service standards.

Service catalogue

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Collaboration for service excellenceTo achieve service excellence we need to work together. The focus of the Service Excellence Framework is strong collaboration. We want to deliver the highest quality services - where and when they are needed. And we’re collecting ongoing feedback to inform continuous improvement.

SERVICE LEADS• Define the ACU service and how it is delivered (what, where, when,

who) in collaboration with service stakeholders• Measure service performance

SERVICE PROVIDERS• Service specialist• Ensure services are aligned to the service delivery model• Resolve service issues• Collaborate to implement improvements

SERVICE RECIPIENTS• Students, staff, business units, external stakeholders• Identify potential service improvements• Provide feedback to Service Providers and Service Leads

SERVICE STAKEHOLDERS

We are continuously reviewing our services to identify and implement improvements. Service excellence doesn’t just happen, it is a responsibility we all share and requires our commitment, positive attitude and action.

We also recognise that our services involve processes. Changing processes requires skills and tools to effect changes, and ACU has adopted Lean as a service improvement methodology. Lean has a focus on eliminating activities in processes that don’t add value for Service Recipients. It also empowers people by giving them the experience of collaboratively identifying problems and leading solutions.

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SERVICE DELIVERY

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Service excellence is an organisational goal within the ACU Strategic Plan 2015-2020. This means we’re aiming to deliver an excellent service experience for our staff and students, which supports the broader goal of achieving excellence in education and research.

Our model is expressed through four dimensions that underpin excellent service delivery. The four dimensions - People and Culture, Policies and Processes, Solutions and Systems, and Measurement and Performance - are aligned with ACU’s Identity and Mission, as well as local and national needs. Fundamental to our model is an improved way of working that aims to deliver impact through empathy, with a focus on being accessible, accountable, collaborative and appropriate for the needs of our people and our University.

Our service delivery model

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Strengthen capability – increase staff knowledge and skills to pursue service excellence.

Recognise and reward – acknowledge service excellence through formal and informal means.

Focus on the service user – foster a service culture focused and informed by the service experience.

Collaborate – partner across services to provide an integrated and excellent service experience.

Focus on feedback – use data analytics to understand and improve the service experience.Benchmark – compare data from across the sector to inform internal standards.Improve services – measure service performance against agreed service standards and make ongoing adjustments.Report and monitor – capture meaningful metrics to understand the service experience, demand, delivery and quality.

Enhance service management – implement solutions and systems that are fit for purpose, easy to access and use.

Integrate for connectivity – deliver integrated solutions and infrastructure to enable seamless connectivity and

information access.Support service delivery – ensure solutions support the

provision of efficient, consistent and high-quality services that are customer focused.

Meet business needs – understand business needs to deliver systems that provide the best and most

sustainable solution.

Understand process frameworks – build knowledge of legislation, policies and frameworks.Document what we do – be transparent about service delivery and the steps involved in processes.Co-create improvements – engage Service Providers and Service Recipients in mapping, simplifying and re-designing new or existing processes.Work smarter – transform inefficient or manual business processes through automation and digitization.

People and culture

Measurement and performance

Solutions and systems

Policies and processes

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Service excellence in actionACU is introducing Service Central as a key initiative to bring to life all four dimensions of our service delivery model.

WHAT IS SERVICE CENTRAL?Service Central is an initiative that will transform the way services are delivered to staff. Service Central will be a single location to facilitate easier and faster access to a range of services and information. It will support an integrated service management approach to improve the way staff experience services delivered by ACU‘s Corporate Services.

KEY BENEFITS OF SERVICE CENTRAL• Ability to access a variety of Corporate

Services through one single location• User-friendly system for accessing

information and requesting services or assistance

• An online portal which can be accessed anywhere, at any time and on any device

• Access to a searchable knowledgebase enabling greater self-service functionality, including accessing services directly and finding answers to questions

• Greater visibility of service requests and their progress in real-time

• Improved satisfaction through a service experience that will be seamless, speedy, simple and consistent

• Reporting, analytics and staff insights to measure service performance and inform service improvements

Service Central will include the services for staff provided by HR, IT, Properties and Facilities, Finance, Marketing and External Relations, Student Administration, Planning and Strategic Management, General Counsel and Governance.

By aligning our service delivery with the four dimensions of our service delivery model - People and Culture, Policies and Processes, Solutions and Systems, and Measurement and Performance - Service Central will enable ACU to deliver excellent service today and into the future.

Service Central

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TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

All ACU employees serve the diverse needs of students, staff, and the University. Each of us has a role to play. If you think something can be improved, or done differently, we’d love to hear from you.You can discuss your ideas with colleagues or a supervisor, forward your suggestions to serviceimprovement@acu.edu.au, or visit Service Excellence online.

www.acu.edu.au/service_excellence

Disclaimer (March 2018): Information correct at time of printing. The University reserves the right to amend, cancel or otherwise modify the content without notice.