University of Reading seek to enhance service provision through a benchmarking review for further improvement

Focusing on academic areas, the university commissioned Sitemark to conduct an independent benchmarking review of campus services, in order to understand how their in-house provision is operating, and ascertain whether best practice is being achieved; other main priorities were to demonstrate operational effectiveness and compliance in health and safety.  The Campus Services department wanted to compare all aspects of their service against other university sites to establish whether the productivity being achieved by their teams is comparable, and that their supervisory levels were sufficient.  

SOLUTION  

Sitemark completed a detailed analysis which looked at documentation, policies and procedures, conducted a comprehensive site assessment, and a thorough benchmarking exercise.  On conclusion, the review identified areas where best practice is being achieved, and produced a SMART action plan to direct the university to areas where efficiency improvements could be made to add further value.  

RESULT  

"We received an excellent service from start to finish. Efficient assessment processes and clear reporting has enabled us to move forward on the recommendations to enhance our service. The Sitemark Team are professional and very supportive throughout.  We had confidence in our service provision whilst accepting there is always room for improvement and we welcomed the opportunity for external professional scrutiny: the Sitemark Benchmarking has confirmed our service delivery as well as given us constructive advice for further improvement which we are grateful for."  Lucy Virtue, Campus Services Director  

ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF READING  The University consists of two campuses in Reading: Whiteknights and London Road, with buildings ranging in age from early twentieth century to start of the art construction due to complete in late 2019. The University is home to 19.000 students from over 150 countries.  The University Of Reading Cleaning Services Department is a member of the British Association of Cleaning in Higher Education (BACHE)