How We Can Help
We help clients to learn lessons from the delivery of projects and programmes by undertaking evaluations, following funder and best practice guidance. Through data analysis, primary research and stakeholder consultation we identify whether objectives and targets have been met, the impact delivered, and what lessons can be learned and used to inform future projects, programmes, and strategies.
The Importance of Excellent Evaluation
Evaluation provides essential insight into whether a project has achieved its objectives and delivered target outputs and outcomes. By assessing what has taken place, why certain outcomes have come about, and what these outcomes mean for the future, evaluation can play an important role in ensuring that finite resources are applied in an efficient way to deliver the greatest possible impact. As well as satisfying the requirements of funders, evaluation can be a valuable exercise in the following ways:
- Delivers improved transparency and accountability.
- Well-timed evaluation can discover problems early, and provide an opportunity to identify and apply project adaptations and enhancements to improve delivery.
- Uncovering unintended consequences, both positive and negative.
- Benefits the project in question, as well as being a tool for enhancing future projects by identifying lessons to be learned. This can help to establish and replicate best practice from project to project.
- Provides additional perspective – participant feedback highlights areas of good and poor performance.
Our Approach
Our approach to evaluation will be tailored to each project’s specific requirements, and will depend on the stage at which evaluation is required. However our work will typically include the following elements:
- Assessment of local, regional, and national strategic policy and strategy context. This can validate and enhance a business plan when carried out during early stages.
- Critical appraisal and validation of business plan logic chains and theory-of-change approach.
- Testing of project operation and design against logic chain and business plan.
- Operation monitoring and analysis of monitoring and participant feedback data.
- Stakeholder engagement by a variety of means, including surveys and in depth one-to-one or group consultations.
- Analysis of impact and value for money
- Recommendations for improvement and enhancement
Following our work on the initial Social Business Wales Programme, Hardisty Jones was appointed to undertake three phases of evaluation of the Social Business Wales New Starts (SBWNS) programme.
Hardisty Jones was originally appointed in 2017 by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) to undertake a formative mid-term evaluation of the GO Wales: Achieve through Work Experience programme, and was appointed in 2021 to undertake an updated evaluation.
Hardisty Jones was appointed by Cwmpas (formerly Wales Co-operative Centre) to provide evaluation services across a three phase process with respect to the Social Business Wales programme.
Following our work on the initial Social Business Wales Programme, Hardisty Jones was appointed to undertake three phases of evaluation of the Social Business Wales New Starts (SBWNS) programme.
Hardisty Jones was originally appointed in 2017 by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) to undertake a formative mid-term evaluation of the GO Wales: Achieve through Work Experience programme, and was appointed in 2021 to undertake an updated evaluation.
