Using member feedback
As Regional Partnerships Manager for Q, I help people applying to join the community. Over the last two years, the Q team at the Health Foundation, supported by its partner organisations helped over 2000 people to apply.
During this time we received feedback emails, had conversations with new members and were provided with evaluation insight from RAND Europe (the independent evaluator for Q), giving us lots of great information about how to continuously improve the application and joining process.
Below are some of the key themes from the insight gathered and what we’ve done with that information.
You said I missed the deadline to apply but I really want to be a Q member
We did We understand that those who want to join Q are busy making things better on the ground. To make sure everyone has an opportunity to apply, we’ve changed the recruitment process so that people can apply from any part of the UK at any time.
You said Simplify and reduce required time for the recruitment process
We did As we grew more confident that the application process was fit for purpose and the team could handle large volumes of applications, we began to make the process simpler. We still anticipate lots of interest in joining Q, but through standardisation and improved assessment processes, looking ahead applicants will be notified whether or not they have been successful in 4-6 weeks, a significant reduction from the previous timeline of 12 weeks.
You said I’m a new Q member and I missed my welcome event, don’t know what I should do next
We did Last year’s welcome events were a key step in helping new members feel confident to navigate the Q community and what it offers. To help us keep this feeling without needing to host discrete events, we redesigned the joining experience using lateral thinking and MoSCoW exercises. This helped us think in terms of experience, feasibility, priority and resource when brainstorming all the ways we could help new members understand what joining Q really means and what to do next. If you joined in the April 2018 pilot – keep an eye out for our newly designed welcome pack!
What next?
This year, people can apply to join Q from anywhere in the UK, at any time, on a rolling basis. However, we continue to understand the importance of taking time to reflect on and learn from what’s happening, and so for a few weeks over the course of the next year we’ll be pausing recruitment to gather feedback and continue to improve.
We hope that the work done improving the application process so far will help people completing their application to feel more confident, and those joining to better understand how the community can support them.
Q will once again open for applications on 14 June 2018 – please encourage any interested contacts to apply, and join the Q team in welcoming new members to the community!