Quality and compliance

Overview

Framework:
RQF
Level:
Level 2
Unit No:
H/650/2458
Credits:
3
Guided learning hours:
24 hours

Aim

This unit aims to provide learners with an understanding of quality in businesses, including quality control and quality assurance. It will also equip learners with an understanding of ways performance is measured internally and externally so that quality can be maintained or improved.

Unit Learning Outcomes

1

Understand quality in businesses. 

  • Concept of quality: making sure products are made and services are delivered to an agreed minimum standard or better.
  • Difference between quality control and quality assurance: quality control is a system of maintaining standards in manufactured products or services delivered, by testing a sample of the outputs and measuring those outputs against the required specification or service delivery standard. Quality assurance is the maintenance of a desired level of quality in a service or product, especially by means of attention to every stage of the process of delivery or production.
  • Importance of quality to a business: meets standards and legal requirements; helps businesses improve the reliability, durability and performance of their products and services. This in turn helps make a business stand out amongst its competitors and high quality is likely to lead to greater customer satisfaction and higher revenue due to repeat business and new customers. Impacts reputation of a business.

Assessment Criteria

  • 1.1

    Explain the concept of quality. 

  • 1.2

    Explain the difference between quality control and quality assurance. 

  • 1.3

    Explain the importance of quality to a business, including the production of goods and the provision of services. 

2

Understand how performance is measured internally. 

  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): KPIs are a quantifiable measure of performance over time for a specific objective. Define objectives and then define metrics to track achievement of objectives. Use to inform decision making and improve performance. Examples of KPIs are profit margin, customer satisfaction, client retention rate, revenue per customer, revenue growth.
  • Service Level Agreements (SLAs): SLAs protect business and customers with mutually agreed terms, protocols and metrics that enable everyone to meet standards. Identify contractual SLA metrics. Metrics depend on business’s specific circumstances. Need to prioritise metrics according to relevance. Examples of metrics are service availability, error rates, technical quality, service availability.
  • Businesses will have many other ways of measuring performance internally, specific to their way of operating and their products and services. Examples include equipment utilisation, set up times, work in progress levels, queues, learning and growth focus, staff satisfaction surveys, sales data, complaints, mystery shoppers.

Assessment Criteria

  • 2.1

    Describe how performance is measured internally through Key Performance Indicators.

  • 2.2

    Describe how performance is measured internally through Service Level Agreements.

  • 2.3

    Describe other ways performance can be measured internally.

3

Understand how performance is measured externally.

  • Quality standards: provide requirements, specifications, guidelines, or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes, and services are fit for their purpose. Examples of quality standards are International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), Investors in People (IiP), British Standards.
  • Regulatory bodies and inspections: regulatory approaches, risk-based regulation, desk-based and face to face inspections. Examples of regulatory bodies in the UK are Ofgem, Ofcom, CAA.
  • Customer/client feedback: methods include social media, web analytics, customer surveys, customer feedback cards. Examples of measuring tools are Customer Satisfaction Scores (CSAT), Customer Effort Score (CES), Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Retention Rate, SERVQUAL, churn rate.

Assessment Criteria

  • 3.1

    Describe how performance is measured externally through quality standards. 

  • 3.2

    Describe how performance is measured externally through regulatory bodies and inspections.

  • 3.3

    Describe how performance is measured externally through customer or client.