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"I quickly narrowed down my choices of software to Keypoint, with its integrated questionnaire design, scanning and analysis capability. It has become a vital tool in our organisation."

Rachel Kaya, Quality and Improvement Technician , Connexions Tees Valley

Overview of Connexions Tees Valley

Connexions Tees Valley offers information, advice and guidance to all young people from the age of 13-19 to help and support them to meet their needs and goals. Connexions Tees Valley was formed in September 2002 and is one of 47 statutory local Connexions Partnerships in England. Their services to young people include: Learning, Education, Careers, Housing, Drugs, Health, Money, Relationships, Sport and Leisure. This public service brings together people and organisations such as Local Education Authorities and Social Services Departments, Drug Action Teams, Youth and Community Organisations and Learning and Skills Councils to help young people make the best possible life choices.

Problem Needing Addressing

Historically, client feedback has largely been qualitative data. Focus groups or one-to-one interviews for instance, were being used to gather responses to a variety of subjects. These subjects ranged from issues facing young people in the Tees Valley such as Positive Activities for Young People through to post course evaluation in Further Education and Training. However, qualitative data of this kind is difficult to analyse, compare, and draw concise conclusions from. Furthermore, the Quality and Improvement Team wanted to improve their handling of Compliments and Complaints, since the methods of data collection were in need of an update. In the past they used Excel to generate analysis and reports, but this proved a very laborious process since responses had to be counted by hand.

Why Keypoint?

Connexions Tees Valley reviewed several evaluation software packages. Keypoint, in contrast to the other packages, was user-friendly, easy to understand and very affordable. The team were very impressed with the demonstration package they initially received, as well as the fact that training courses were available.

The Keypoint paper, web, email and scanning module was the perfect solution for on-going client feedback issues and Connexions Tees Valley now use this which is quick and accurate, saving considerable time and money. Furthermore, Keypoint offered quick analysis and topline results wizards that helped produce summary reports in a few simple steps, rather than trying to analyse data and create reports using a spreadsheet or word processor.

How Has Keypoint Helped Address the Problem?

Using Keypoint has enabled the team to thoroughly assess subjects such as the quality of service provided to young people, and will soon be addressing current views on compliments and complaints through the use of the web and email module. Purchasing this software has allowed the team to create and distribute high impact surveys via the internet and email, in turn reaching a wider target audience. Using Keypoint’s built-in-styles has enabled staff to produce a consistent and professional survey design. The whole layout and design gives it a professional appearance and makes it much easier to fill in, in turn increasing response rates.

Connexions Tees Valley relied heavily on Excel spreadsheets for data analysis. However, this software was unsuitable and made the whole process very slow. Keypoint has overcome these difficulties. Purchasing the scanning module has allowed responses to be processed quickly and accurately. Rachel Kaya, Quality and Improvement Technician says, “It is a fantastic piece of survey software - it does everything for you!”

More and more staff at Connexions Tees Valley are becoming aware of Keypoint and the Quality and Improvement Team are receiving requests from various departments to produce evaluation forms. Incorporating Keypoint into the Quality and Improvement team’s daily work has proved to be of great benefit. It gives all staff an opportunity to identify what is working well in their area and what improvements need to be made. Once the improvements have been put in place another Keypoint evaluation survey can be distributed to see if the standards have been raised. Connexions view this as a continuous improvement tool: it is an excellent way to measure and flag key issues.

Major Successes Resulting from Keypoint

Customer Satisfaction Surveys have been introduced, monitoring clients’ comments, compliments and complaints. Compliments are important to Connexions Tees Valley because they help the company know when they do things right. Therefore, whenever expectations are exceeded, clients can easily log a compliment via the internet. This is also the case with complaints. Even though the company strives constantly to provide best-of-class services, it can happen that a client experience is unsatisfactory, in which case it is right that they register a complaint. This feedback provides the team with useful statistical information about how many people feel or think a certain way about a particular issue or service Connexions Tees Valley provides. Keypoint has therefore helped the department gain a better understanding of clients’ views of Connexions and the services it provides, in turn helping the team to set targets to improve where necessary.

KeyPoint has also helped Connexions Tees Valley to prepare for a recent Inspection. Evaluation forms were issued to clients, feedback was analysed and the outcomes presented to the Inspectors.

Plans for Keypoint in the Future

Later in the year Connexion Tees Valley will be revamping their website and intend to feature Keypoint surveys online. The Quality and Improvement team hope installing the surveys will significantly improve the quality and quantity of the responses received, therefore making the feedback more meaningful to Connexions. Connexions are very pleased with Keypoint and use it on a daily basis, so they will most definitely be using Keypoint in the future.