Statement of Service
Monitoring and Evaluating your Policy
MONITORING
Following the adoption of your Equal Opportunities Policy, including Codes of Practice and or Guidelines, there is a need to monitor the implementation of the Policy.
- How well is it working?
- Is it achieving full implementation?
- What do you need to monitor?
- How should we do it?
The principal areas for monitoring will focus on:
PEOPLE
This will enable an assessment of which groups may be under-represented and in which area, the development of actions to meet such situations and to provide for further monitoring to gauge the success of the actions. It should focus on:-
- the collation of statistical data on the characteristics of employees, applicants, service users, the local community.
- committee members, members, volunteers etc.
PROCEDURES
This will provide for an assessment of any direct or in-direct discriminatory effects and should focus on:-
- the organisational procedures such as advertising, selection, appraisal, deployment of volunteers.
- Any specific equal opportunity initiatives such as disability awareness training. Are they working? Can the benefits be assessed?
EVALUATION
Whilst monitoring is a continuous process, there is a need also to undertake periodic evaluation to assess whether the objectives of the Policy are being met, the effects of the changes and proposals to meet those areas where full and effective implementation has yet to be achieved.
When planning your evaluation, take into account:-
- evaluation is a collaborative process in which all players have an opportunity to voice and contribute to the process.
- that the evaluation process should adhere to its stated objectives and not be side-tracked into considering other objectives part-way through the process.
- the capacity of your organisation and other constraints. Or is more valuable to achieve effective evaluation in limited areas that poor quality evaluation of a large number of issues.
- evaluation should provide clear information on which to base any developments or proposals for change.
The statistical data collated during the monitoring process will provide much of the information required to undertake a measured evaluation of the success of the Policy, both generally and in relation to specific actions.
Additionally however, it may be necessary to utilise questionnaires and or interviews. These are usually directed at either recipients of services or at people in the organisation who are implementing the Policy. The choice of questionnaire or interview will depend on how much qualitative information is required and what is reasonable or realistic, given resources and constraints.
The evaluation, together with recommendations, should then be presented to your management committee for their consideration and agreement as appropriate.
June 8, 2007
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