I know many companies claim the same, but for us we take it seriously. We make a conscious effort through surveys, interviews, customer journey sessions, our networks, governance and expert committees, Task Forces, and what we hear on the GMP+ Helpdesk. The discussions we have with companies, Certification Bodies, Registered Consultants, and experts are invaluable, and are still leading to change.
User-friendly
Let me give you an example:
Our GMP+ certified companies told us that they found our Feed Support Products and GMP+ Monitoring database difficult to use. With a task as important as feed safety, something like that should not get in the way. And so, we have started the ‘Discovery project’, which in partnership with our stakeholders will make these systems more user-friendly, accessible, and give our community more control over their data. Soon we will start improving our website and portal as well. In this optimisation process we are actively involving our customers and relations by testing and validating their user experience.
The essence of this project, like much of our work, is to involve our stakeholders. It’s not about us presenting our ideas in isolation, it is about testing, improving together, and making sure it works for our community.
Building on great ideas
This is only the latest example of how working together with our community we have found pragmatic solutions. The GMP+ Academy is a stand-out example - it was our community that challenged us on knowledge sharing, and we are still expanding the training on offer based on what companies, auditors, and partners tell us.
Another is our Task Forces, bringing together business representatives, consultants, and Certification Bodies from a particular region to give us an insight into region-specific challenges, and together work on practical solutions, explanations, and actions. In 2022, 80 volunteers participated in 5 Task Forces in Italy, Poland, Brazil, Spain, and the Danube region (Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia). Every situation is different, and we want to understand what is really happening in the different regions our community operates in - it makes us, our standards, and our services better.
Continuous improvement
These are just a few examples of how the feedback from our community is improving our services. We want to embed this practice further, so as of this month we have launched a new satisfaction programme - using yearly surveys we will investigate our community’s needs, and measure if the changes we make are adding value and meeting those needs. By doing this together, we hope to find pragmatic solutions.
And this is my ask from you. When you receive a survey from GMP+ International, take a moment to answer it - because we really are listening.