In accordance with the stated aims of the Board of Directors over the past few years, and their commitment to strategic planning, Passerelles numériques (PN) has set up a series of processes to measure precisely our impact in Cambodia, the Philippines and in Vietnam.
From Paris…
Four HEC Paris students (Neville Baron-Lamathe, Pierre Forges, Xavier Fraysse and Matthieu Montjotin) worked on this mission, along with PN teams, initially in Paris to establish the broad outlines, then in Phnom Penh, to ascertain whether the proposed solutions would really work in the field.
During the course of meetings in Paris, and thanks to analyses by NGOs working in education, a list of indicators was drawn up. They aim to measure the social impact generated by Passerelles numériques at each level of our work. Information therefore needs to be obtained from three different types of player: PN alumni, companies employing interns and the families of graduates.
Xavier stated: “With hindsight, it was the work upstream, in Paris, which was the determining factor. It enabled us to establish the mission’s conceptual framework and to gather the information which proved to be essential once in the field”.
… to Phnom Penh
On June 1st, 2016, the four students took off for Cambodia bearing, in their luggage, the list of indicators for a six-week field mission.
On arrival, the surprises were considerable: the students discovered a country with almost no unemployment, a high turnover amongst employees and where, more generally, the culture, thought processes and work ethic are very different to those in France. The first weeks devoted to research on Cambodia were precious. The HEC students multiplied their appointments in Phnom Penh, thus meeting five different companies, research institutes, NGOs, entrepreneurs and incubators.
An audit of the existing processes measuring the impact was also carried out with the Passerelles numériques teams. The four volunteers were agreeably surprised by their dedication and their openness to all new proposals.
Once this preliminary work had been accomplished, Neville, Pierre, Xavier and Matthieu designed the tools required in order to study the social impact.
To start with, questionnaires for the alumni and companies using new software, “Cognito Forms”, which makes them easier to read and quicker to complete; the questionnaires were tested on numerous occasions by the two target groups.
Then, Excel spreadsheets so that the data collected from the on-line questionnaires could be processed immediately. The four students were careful to develop ready-to-use tools so as to obtain all the results, graphics and analyses measuring the impact with just one “click”; all this with tutorials explaining each of the stages to obtain the indicators.
“We created Excel spreadsheets which were sufficiently sophisticated so that they could analyze the totality of the data immediately and provide the key information” explains Pierre.
Butterfly effect
However, Passerelles numériques is aiming further and is also seeking to measure the secondary effects of its action, the “butterfly effect”, namely from alumni’s families. Another process was therefore set up in collaboration with Thaina and Samkhann from the PN Cambodia selection team. The existing upstream social investigations, an integral part of the selection process, were digitalized so that PNC could aggregate data on the students’ background (family’s average salary, type of accommodation, access to drinking water, electricity, etc.). Downstream social investigations were set up as early as the beginning of July; the four volunteers went to test them in the field in Kandal province, along with Thaina and Samkhann.
“The process of a downstream social survey has allowed PN to measure its social impact on the families of graduates. How much money has been redistributed, its use, the impact on the school enrollment of children, etc. The results are impressive!” says Matthieu.
In mid-July, Neville, Pierre, Xavier and Matthieu delivered a preliminary report on the social impact (with no real data for the time being) in order to demonstrate how to use the indicators in the internal reporting framework, but also for external communications. It was very well received by Passerelles numériques Cambodia and promises compelling results. But we will have to wait until the end of 2016 and distribution of the questionnaires to obtain real results.
Since the aim of the mission was that it should be applied in the three PN centers, the HEC students did their best to adapt their approach to PN Philippines and PN Vietnam. Thanks to the close collaboration between the General Managers and bolstered by their experience in Cambodia, they delivered a series of tools so that PNP and PNV could also carry out a social impact assessment.
Neville Baron-Lamathe: “What struck me most was the meteoric evolution of a student’s life. Going to visit their parents in the countryside who live on $100 to $200 a month, and the next day meeting a PN alumni earning $500 who speaks good English and seems to be happy and confident… It is very moving.”
Passerelles numériques now possesses tools enabling us to assess each year our social impact in the three countries in which we operate. Staff satisfaction measured up to the HEC Paris students’ work. But everyone is waiting impatiently for the first results which will confirm the fulfillment felt by the four students. Encounters with graduates and their families, but also daily life with the students in their lodgings allowed them to perceive clearly the exceptional route they cover in just a few years.
Passerelles numériques’ teams thank Neville, Pierre, Xavier and Matthieu very cordially for their remarkable work and the good times spent together!
First diner with the 1st year students. Neville, Pierre, Matthieu and Xavier stayed in the students boarding house during 6 weeks.