NigelJennings.com

Nigel Jennings is the principal of the consultancy with 38 years' senior management experience in government and private sector commerce.  The consultancy can call upon additional resources and expert industry advisory services as required.  The consultancy capabilities are outlined below.

Business Services Strategy

The provision of effective internal business services is vital to the success of every enterprise that employs more than a small handful of people.

Depending on the scale and nature of the business, internal shared services may include:

• Information Systems/Information Technology
• Human Resources
• Facilities Management
• Finance
• Purchasing
• Fleet Management

Internal services represent the provision of "a business within a business" and need to be planned, organised and managed with the same rigour that is applied to the core business operation.  Recognising the importance of an internal user as a valued customer should never be under-estimated.

Nigel Jennings Consulting will help you to evaluate the best choices for your business including in-sourcing and outsourcing options, performance management and ongoing review.  Where outsourcing is involved, we can advise on all aspects of tendering and contract-let coupled with internal management control processes and supplier performance reporting.

Business Process Review

There is unlikely to be a business enterprise that does not lose money somewhere because resources are wasted by inefficient process design.  The practical goal for most businesses is to minimise these losses and keep processes under control.

By bringing an experienced, independent and unbiased eye to your business, Nigel Jennings Consulting will help to determine whether your business strategy and objectives are being efficiently and effectively serviced by your internal processes and workflow.  In many cases we can also compare the performance of key areas of your business against industry benchmarks, although we are at pains to emphasise that benchmarks should only be used as a guide because no two businesses are exactly the same.

Quality Assurance Compliance

All leading business seek to demonstrate their commitment to quality outputs, whether they be in services or manufacturing, by achieving accreditation under internationally-recognised quality assurance standards.  In addition, many businesses operate within regulated industries and have their own niche set of standards or codes of practice to which they must comply.  Public companies are subject to statutory inspections of their key business processes, particularly within the realm of financial management and IT controls.  Many businesses go further and seek to meet voluntary codes of business excellence.

In practice, although the goal is to achieve accreditation, the most valuable activity is the accreditation process itself.  If approached positively and proactively, this activity necessarily instils a quality culture and discipline within the organisation.  The effort does not stop after achieving the accreditation.  All quality standards programmes entail regular inspections, audits and reviews in order to maintain the accreditation and the business will be expected to strive for "continuous improvement".  Standards accreditation inspectors will invariably make some observations that require your further attention within a given time-frame.

If you are approaching quality standards accreditation for the first time, Nigel Jennings Consulting will help you to develop a change programme within your organisation and advise on the specialist resources and in-company training required.   In addition, we will help you to design and implement a regular audit compliance review regime to ensure you stay on top of the quality standards by tracking responses to outstanding audit observations and pre-empting future observations.

Performance Management

Although many UK companies are focussed on their external performance, Nigel Jennings Consulting specialises in the development of in-company performance management regimes, particularly in the field of internal shared services highlighted above.

We recommend an approach that utilises a portfolio of performance metrics, in keeping with the philosophy of the "Balanced Business Scorecard".  Taking the provision of shared services as an example, we would typically recommend a minimum performance management regime comprising:

• Service Level Agreement achievement - monthly or quarterly reviews
• End user satisfaction - measured using quantitative customer satisfaction methodologies - monthly, six-monthly or continuous surveys
• External comparisons - benchmarking and peer relationships with other organisations - every 1-2 years

Nigel Jennings Consulting will help you to develop a performance management strategy and a change programme to engage the support of existing in-sourced and outsourced service providers, managers and employees.

Contact Us

Email: NigelJennings@phantom43.demon.co.uk

Phone: +44 (0)7775 701631

Nigel Jennings Consulting is based in Kent with easy access to London and transport links to other parts of the UK