Our Commitment To You

What is OCTY?

Our Commitment to You (OCTY) is the ‘golden thread’ that weaves through everything we do here at Aston University. The commitment includes four statements of intent that outline the beneficiary and customer experience we strive to deliver:

Listening to you

We listen to you and take action to deliver the best experience by:

• Actively listening when in conversation
• Asking for your feedback to understand how to improve your service experience
• Responding to your feedback by sharing expectations of if and when we can meet your needs
• Putting ourselves in your shoes and seeing the situation from your perspective
• Acting in your best interests by putting you at the heart of what we do

Meeting your needs

We keep things simple in order to deliver the right outcomes for you by:

• Explaining information clearly
• Getting the basics right, from your first interaction with us through to your last and beyond
• Keeping you informed along the way and doing what we say we will do
• Challenging our policies and processes, and exploring innovative ways to improve the service we provide to you

Taking responsibility

We take responsibility for our actions and manage your expectations by:

• Working with our colleagues across the University to find the best outcome for you first time round
• Using our initiative when problems arise, making appropriate decisions and providing the right solutions for you
• Apologising sincerely when we are wrong
• Being honest and inclusive, treating you fairly and with respect
• Challenging ourselves so we can continue to deliver on our promises

Easy and Welcoming

We make it easy and engaging when you interact with us by:

• Making you feel welcome and getting to know you
• Showing genuine interest in you and being fully engaged as we interact
• Empathising and acknowledging challenges you may be facing, making it easy for you to interact with us by removing barriers that are in the way of meeting your service needs
• Always being professional with you and creating a positive lasting impression so you look forward to interacting with us

 
OCTY provides a consistent approach and a common language across the university when interacting with others and is shared internally and externally so people can see our pledge and know what to expect when they interact with us.

We are working with departments and teams to look at how we can improve or enhance the services we provide to our beneficiaries and each other. This could be through steamlining processes, improving access to services, developing new courses or communicating more effectively with students.

To learn more visit our Solve page for a comprehensive set of OCTY resources or speak with your OD BP.

NEW! Organisational Development Business Partner, Rebecca Kent, was interviewed in the Spring 2022 issue of Aston's Platform magazine, discussing the principles of OCTY and how it is being embedded in teams across the University. Read here.