Terms of Business
Policy Statements
Quality Management Framework
Last updated: 02 November 2023
Download as PDFObjectives of the Policy Statement
At JVR we are driven by the pursuit of clean business, professional conduct, ethical behaviour, transparency, product and service excellence, compliance, and operational efficiency. Our human resources, professional activities, and administrative processes are diligently managed to ensure consistent high-quality products, services, and business interaction with clients, business partners, and stakeholders.
To achieve this objective, JVR is vested in maintaining an effective quality management discipline, where high standards are set, continuously monitored, and improved, and client satisfaction and other business metrics are used as feedback regarding the achievement of such standards.
This JVR Policy Statement adopts the ISO 9001:2015 standard as its framework, given that it is internationally recognised as specifying- and providing guidelines for excellence in quality management.
Essential Elements of ISO 9001:2015
ISO 9001:20151 is a widely recognised and internationally respected standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS) for organisations to demonstrate their ability to consistently provide products and services that meet or exceed customer and regulatory requirements.
The ISO 9001:2015 standard is based on seven quality management principles applied to consistently deliver quality services and products, ensure customer centricity, and to promote organisational performance and improvement.
The principles are:
Customer focus
Leadership
Engagement of people
Process approach
Improvement
Evidence-based decision-making
Relationship management
JVR Quality Objectives
The JVR Quality Management Framework gives attention to the methods, measurements/metrics, and continuous improvement practices implemented to achieve the following objectives for the JVR Africa Group of Companies:
To ensure that the quality of the JVR products, services, and general output is a primary commitment of all who work at JVR, but very specifically the responsibility of leadership.
To employ the best talent - people who are able and committed to do business in a professional, competent, reliable, and ethical manner.
To source, develop, and provide scientifically sound and high-quality products and services, and to implement modern and reliable methods for delivery of such products and services to our clients.
To ensure compliance to legislation, regulations, contractual and other agreements, professional standards, and nationally and internationally accepted best practice with regards to the work done by JVR.
To establish clear and consistent business processes, structures, roles, responsibilities, and associated accountability whilst also allowing for agile and innovative problem solving.
To ensure a continuous flow- and management of business metrics indicating and objectively measuring the success of JVR in achieving our formulated quality standards.
To always be open to feedback and learning as to where our quality and standards can be further enhanced.
To understand that consistency and congruency in our quality standards can be directly correlated with client trust and satisfaction as is regularly measured.
The JVR Quality Method Statement
The quality methods and processes established within JVR are described using the seven quality management principles defined in ISO 9001:2015. These are:
Customer Focus
At JVR, we recognise that without clients, we would not have a business. The JVR values include being committed to our clients’ success and we do this by working as partners with them. We listen carefully to ensure a thorough understanding of their unique context and needs before crafting professional solutions. Our goal is to find scientifically sound, yet bespoke solutions for their “jobs to be done” and support their delivery- and measurement of the effectiveness and efficiency with which their goals are achieved.
The following initiatives are central to JVR’s drive to establish high-quality client relationships and it forms part of the performance criteria and metrics against which our success is measured:
Managing and continuously optimising client relations and their satisfaction with the JVR products and services is a core strategic drive and central to organisational objectives and metrics.
We are available to provide information, communication, guidance, and support to our clients during office hours. Proactively, we also remain in regular contact with our clients ensuring a clear and continuous understanding of their needs, their challenges, and the opportunities they may have.
Our understanding of clients’ needs, and their levels of satisfaction is obtained by qualified and experienced staff who do regular client interest and feedback surveys, who analyse documentation such as training feedback forms, workshop feedback forms, assessment feedback forms, management- and candidate feedback forms, and who are able to draw metrics from internal client management resources.
We manage client relationships through continuous and efficient data management systems and protocols, also enabling us to provide clients with real-time data regarding deliverables against SLA (Service Level Agreement) standards and requirements.
Being professionally qualified and part of an international network of reputable practitioners provide our clients with assurance that working with JVR ensures coherence and alignment between national and international professional standards and best practice
Using modern, high-quality, best practice, locally validated and normed, and proven scientific evidence when selecting, proposing, applying, or creating solutions for the product-, learning- and consulting solution needs of our clients.
Eliciting and appreciating client feedback as opportunities for learning and ensuring that relevant actions are taken by JVR.
In addition to having three decades of experience in doing business, we regard our consistent investment in ensuring compliance as an assurance to clients that it is safe to do business with JVR.
Aiming to exceed client expectations, we also support our clients to identify their sources’ data and support their use and analysis of such to support problem solving and decision-making.
Our Leadership
The JVR Group of companies share strategic goals and values. This ensures alignment and efficiency across the Group, whilst at the same time allowing for the speciality and uniqueness of each company in best serving their clients’ needs.
JVR leadership ensures quality management in the following ways:
Only employees with the required qualification, experience, personal integrity, and excellent management and leadership skills are considered, nominated, and retained in senior positions. In this process leadership pipelines are established to ensure learning and continuity
A wide range of HR, IT, and Board policies are signed, also by all in leadership to ensure compliance, setting an example, and enforcing such governance. Well-formulated disciplinary procedures are in place to ensure immediate consequences should unacceptable business practices and inadequate quality control arise.
Regular evaluation of the JVR leadership is done through client- and staff feedback as well as work performance metrics.
Annual strategic goals, also translated into clear, yet challenging operational goals are used to guide the focus of individual employees, the JVR work teams, the organisation, and the Group. Systems are in place to ensure that the output of the teams provide objective metrics and comply to the JVR quality standards.
The JVR quality standards include all aspects of the business including best practice management and compliance to financial, client, risk, processes, contracts and documentation, innovation, scientific research, IT and data management, product distribution and enhancement, as well as information and knowledge dissemination and publication.
The JVR quality standards are published as policies and discussed in a variety of scrum- and professional meetings. The policies and discussions are available to all employees. The purpose is to prioritise competence, integrity, and commitment to the quality of work done within- and outside JVR. This is regarded as essential to maintain trust and the reputation of each company in the Group.
The health of the corporate culture is of particular importance to ensure the ongoing well-being of employees and contractors and supports their ability to ensure continuous high-quality work.
Our Engagement of Employees
JVR strives to maximise value for our clients by employing and continuously developing knowledgeable, empowered, and engaged employees at all levels of our business. This is done by applying the following principles:
Employing people with excellent skills, abilities, experience, and a positive and problem-solving attitude.
Continuously providing articles, literature, and other forms of information to all employees. There are also scrums, discussions, workshops, and even international certification events available to appropriately qualified employees. Additional opportunities are created for employees to also share their own knowledge, experience, and insight with colleagues.
Talent development is a priority in JVR. Managers work very closely to their teams ensuring mentoring, coaching, or general guidance where required.
A regular process of ‘Performance Management’ ensures that attention is given to the achievement of job-specific targets, how it relates to the strategic objectives of the organisation and Group, as well as a ‘Personal Development Plan’ for each employee.
Accessibility to- and discussion of the wide range of JVR Policies and the JVR Employee Handbook supports clarity on how “things are done” at JVR.
A centralised SharePoint site provides access to all the relevant basic-, but also well-being information that may be required by any existing or new employees.
The onboarding program for new employees provide an overview and contact details regarding all activities and leadership at JVR.
It is expected of all JVR employees to work extremely hard, but clear boundaries are established and enforced to ensure their ongoing well-being. The JVR culture is purposefully one that values open discussion, also in terms of potential problems and constraints regarding wellness and the well-being of individuals or teams.
Given the professional nature of the work JVR do, our client centricity will at times require agility, problem solving, innovation, and collaboration. The quality of such work is guided by the parameters set by the JVR Policies, Standard Operation Procedures, Business and Financial metrics and best practice, as well as our clearly formulated Terms of Business and professional standards.
Regular and fair feedback is done on individual, team, and organisational performance with indications on how enhancements can be done. These reviews are supported by substantial evidence of performance based on metrics and data.
Allowing, where appropriate, for a variety of appointments - virtual, in office, contract, or working as affiliates. Working in cross-functional teams across the JVR Africa Group further allows for variety in the nature of work that employees are involved in.
Many professionals employed by and contracted to the JVR Africa Group are registered with their relevant institutes, such as the HPCSA (Health Professional Council of South Africa), SABPP, COMENSA, and more. This ensures ethical, professional, and compliant conduct by all human resources, including the handling and protection of personal- and sensitive information related to psychometric assessment services.
JVR Processes
JVR continuously define, optimise, and create business processes to ensure efficiency, stability, predictability, safety, security, and consistency in output. Process discussions, diagrams, process manuals, and appropriate benchmarks, norms, and metrics are discussed, formulated, established, adopted, and implemented or adapted regularly. The JVR processes allow for transparency, logic, fairness, and pragmatism, but also for change and innovation where required.
The JVR process approach includes the following:
Taking a systems approach to the activities of business entities and the Group. This allows an integrated view of all the systems, how they overlap or impact on each other, and where risks and conflicts may arise.
Seeking efficiency in how the processes are structured, understanding how activities are related, resources are deployed and monitored, where the capabilities- and resource restraints are in the systems.
Confirming the organisational structure of the Group is comparable to the “Teams of Teams” construct, allowing for authority, responsibility, and accountability in both permanent and transient teams driving efficiency and agility but also to priorities and focus, in terms of which work and how the work is done within the broader JVR strategic goals and governance parameters.
Establishing technical (IT) systems and ensuring the adoption thereof by staff in order to manage projects and work with objective data and metrics reports as ongoing business feedback on the effectiveness and efficiency of JVR processes.
Continuously capturing and updating the JVR process manuals, the standard operating procedures, documentation, architecture, and flow diagrams of information, systems, and processes, as well as an integrated business flow analysis.
Establishing a Product Development Life Cycle (PDLC) and Solution Delivery Life Cycle (SDLC), which imply that the sequence, rules, role players (including multiple departments/work units/stakeholders), handover requirements, and collaboration standards are clearly defined for all the required activities that JVR must perform to develop, research and validate, manufacture, sell, and deliver our products and services.
Giving attention to formulating clear, concise, logical, pragmatic, and appropriate individual-, team-, organisational-, and Group objectives measured with metrics that indicate purpose, performance, and alignment.
Continuous Improvement and Innovation
Business continuously evolve as market and market needs change. This is particularly true given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology, employees working virtually, the stress and trauma experienced by many, are but a few of the changes that have happened recently. JVR is continuously adapting to the changed context and creating innovative ways to optimise our products and services, our relationships with national and international partners, and our competitive edge in the market. The primary goal is to make sure that all we do business with know they can trust us to deliver exceptional value. We do so by:
Being highly vigilant regarding scientific research, articles, and trends regarding talent identification/development, technology, business- and pricing models, modern marketing techniques, and product development.
Harnessing the benefits of regular contact and interaction with national and international networks that include industry giants and disrupters in the field.
Employing very bright young minds and allowing them authority in bringing innovative and alternative thinking to the business.
Ensuring that a fine balance is achieved between governance, order, stability, and affordability as well as ongoing improvement and innovation.
Implementing project management and other processes to ensure that improvement and innovative ideas are carefully scoped, planned, monitored, implemented, and continuously measured to evaluate client- and business benefit.
Continuous improvement and optimisation of existing processes and procedures to ensure business effectiveness, efficiency, and compliance to governance and professional standards are valued and reinforced by management.
Across the JVR Group improvement activities and innovations are aligned, measured, and monitored to ensure maximum value for all.
Identifying and project managing all innovation initiatives to ensure the maintenance of standards, client expectations, the careful management of costs, and focus on ROI (Return on Investment), with specific reference to:
Quality assurance of innovation through rigorous testing prior to introducing innovations to market.
Internal impact studies to mitigate the potential impact of new client innovations on internal processes and systems.
The JVR Africa Group values the incremental innovation that comes with continuously improving our unique products and service solutions to our clients. An essential part of innovation is how digital transformation is embraced, allowing for speed of delivery, the capturing of ongoing data, providing unique client solutions, and the ability to apply the JVR solutions nationally and internationally.
Continuous improvement on the governance measures and protocols, compliance requirements, and improvement initiatives identified through risk management also forms part of this ISO 9001:2015 principle.
Evidence-based Decision-making
JVR relies heavily on a scientific and objective method of making decisions, doing business, and driving product development. Studying literature and collecting objective and verified data for business intelligence and product enhancement, doing research and validations, trends analysis, ROI, performance management, and evidence-based decision-making are essential to how business is done by JVR.
Evidence-based decision-making and the data required to do so, is a particularly important strategic priority for the JVR Group. In this regard the following principles are applied:
Expertise amongst JVR employees includes specialists in areas such as the behavioural sciences, research and data science, finance, business analysis, technology, marketing, project management, client service, and corporate risk analysis. Within all these speciality areas, key indicators of the organisation’s performance are continuously evaluated and used by leadership and management for evidence-based decision-making.
Significant attention is given to verification of data and compliance to legislation regarding the management and use of it.
Methods used to process data are scientifically proven as is the interpretation of data. Such work is done by appropriately qualified, experienced, and competent JVR employees.
Scientific research done by JVR is regularly presented on at scientific conferences, published in academic journals, and formulated in technical reports/manuals.
Data used for business intelligence is scrutinised for accuracy and trends by the business and financial experts. These trends are used to verify the value of business campaigns, marketing, or client services initiatives, sales, and innovations. The objective insight gained from the data and metrics are used to enhance decision-making and insight into market realities and client needs.
Data analysis is done with scientific rigour but also remains dependent on the pragmatic value obtained.
JVR Business- and Board Reports to directors, shareholders, national and international business partners, and other stakeholders rely heavily on the available and verified business and scientific data generated annually.
Performance management of JVR employees, particularly in a virtual working environment is reliant on objective and evidence-based information collected over a specified period.
Relationship Management
Note: This is also referred to as the Control of External Processes
Relationship management of partners, suppliers, and a variety of stakeholders is core to the work we do, the advice we provide, the products we use, and the services we deliver as the JVR Group of Companies. Ensuring trusted and ethical relationships are essential to the sustainability of the various JVR businesses.
The work JVR do with partners, suppliers, and stakeholders are most often done by establishing contractual agreements in addition to regular contact sessions to ensure optimal communication, transparency, and commitment.
The control, service, and quality management of external service providers are additionally also governed by a variety of HR-, Governance-, and Board Policies. Some examples include:
Contracts and Agreements Policy.
International Business Partners Policy.
A range of POPIA Policies and the JVR Declaration in this regard.
A business engagement plan ensures that JVR establishes and grows relationships to drive strategic priorities and business growth. Principles managed in this plan include:
Identifying and selecting only those suppliers that provide high-quality and scientifically sound products and services, and that are widely acknowledged and respected for adhering to industry- and best practice standards but are also proven to be cost-effective.
Alignment with the JVR values and the JVR client centricity that requires value to be created in our products and services to our clients.
Agreeing with the value placed on ongoing research, collection- and analysis of data as well as technological sophistication, safety, and efficiency.
Understanding and also ascribing to doing ethical business and complying to legislation.
Monitoring- and managing contractual compliance and service level agreements with objective and verified data to ensure that the expected service levels are consistently maintained.
To acknowledge and recognise the collaboration efforts of partners, providers, and stakeholders in the JVR innovation and developmental initiatives.
Using appropriately qualified JVR employees with the right experience, certification, professional registration, knowledge, and resources when doing work with partners and stakeholders or the products and services provided by suppliers. The performance of such expert professionals is continuously reviewed in line with the agreed deliverables and expectations.
Roles, Responsibilities, and Authorities
The roles, responsibilities, and measures to manage quality in JVR include the following:
No | Category | Measures and Protocols |
|---|---|---|
1. | Board of Directors | Delegation of Authority. The delegation of authority is governed by the Board of Directors and executed accordingly. Monitoring actions are in place to ensure compliance to this delegation. |
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| Governance Framework. The JVR governance framework consists of the following elements that are frequently reviewed to guide and enforce the required processes and people controls for the protection of personal and sensitive information:
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2. | Policies | Policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are established and maintained for the following content areas:
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3. | Processes | Process Manuals and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) describe the activities and tasks as well as the roles and responsibilities for the execution of these processes. |
4. | Accountability Framework | Included in the Board of Directors Pack and a policy within the corporate governance cluster, to instil a culture of accountability that ensures:
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5. | Job Descriptions | All employees have clearly defined job descriptions to ensure roles and responsibilities are contracted in line with the policies and processes of JVR. These job descriptions are translated into performance scorecards to ensure accountability to deliver on JVR’s quality standards. |
6. | Strategic Operations Reviews | The strategic operations review committee consists of the managers from all departments to ensure that operations are aligned and to oversee quality of execution throughout the company. |
7. | Executive Committee | The purpose of the JVR Group Exco is to ensure that the JVR directors are aware of-, and comply to their duties of ensuring good governance, ethical leadership, and compliance and recommended business practices as is detailed and described by both the King 1V Code and the Companies Act No 71 of 2008. |
Measures and Protocols
The JVR Africa Group has introduced a variety of measures and protocols to comply with the standards for a quality management system:
Quality Management Discipline
Much value in the JVR culture is placed on high standards, “best of breed”, and excellence. This is reinforced by ensuring that quality management principles are integrated on all employee levels into the job description, team roles and responsibilities, as well as the processes and operations used. Evaluation and measurement of the achievement form part of the performance management process and the metrics used for fair and objective evaluation of individual-, team-, organisational-, and Group performance regarding the achievement of quality standards.
All the elements required for ensuring the delivery of quality outcomes are accessible and clearly communicated to employees.
Specific requests or additional client requirements for quality management procedures shall only be accommodated if they are equal or superior to those of the quality management practices of JVR.
Review and Continuous Improvement
Management and leadership take responsibility for both ensuring and modelling quality management within JVR. They also, in addition to the responsibility taken by each individual employee ensure quality in their service, and ensure adherence to the JVR values, policies, process manuals, and SOPs. Continuous review and improvement are considered and implemented where the quality and consistency in product and service delivery to clients, service providers and other stakeholders can be improved.
Data, metrics, measurement, and feedback are used with regular control checks in each team/department to ensure compliance with the JVR regulatory framework to identify remedial action and continuous improvement initiatives.
The elements of the JVR governance framework are reviewed on an annual basis and refined to ensure relevancy and efficiency.
Governance, Management Roles, and Accountabilities
Dedicated responsibilities and governance prescripts are established in the JVR Africa Group to focus on the implementation of the Quality Management System (QMS). These include the directors and departmental managers and team leaders who are responsible for the management of quality in JVR, based on the framework for the Quality Management System.
Overall accountability remains with the Group CEO and Managing Directors who are responsible for ensuring that the QMS meets the requirements of the strategic business objectives. The departmental managers and team leaders shall ensure execution and compliance with the QMS and that appropriate systems are in place to monitor compliance with the QMS policy and SOPs.
Status and Approval
This policy statement signifies the interpretation and application of ISO 9001:2015 for the JVR Africa Group and is duly authorised by:
The highest authority in the JVR Africa Group: The CEO of the JVR Africa Group.
Sanctioned by the Managing Directors of the companies within the JVR Africa Group.
Endorsed by the Boards of Directors of the companies in the Group.
The policy statement is available to, and implemented by our Management, Employees, Clients, and other Business Stakeholders.
