The services, unlike the products, have characteristics that make the verification or inspection process difficult before the client is in contact with them. Among these characteristics are:
- Simultaneity: Services are generally consumed at the same time they are produced. Inseparability: Services cannot be separated from their production source.
Basically, these two characteristics are the ones that cause difficulties for the establishment of an inspection system in services, fundamentally because it is almost impossible to avoid, in the event of non-conformities with the service, that the client finds out about their presence and thereby affect customer satisfaction and consequently the image of the service.
The aforementioned produces a higher level of complexity in the quality management of services, however, actions can be carried out that lead to a reduction in the risk previously mentioned, dividing the service into each of the elements that converge and treat to establish for each of them the control mechanisms that are feasible. The elements that converge in services are:
- The Client, the Service Provider, the Objects included in the service, the premises where the service is provided, the Equipment and Furniture.
On the other hand, in establishing an inspection system, the following parameters must be established.
- Characteristics to evaluate. How to evaluate (attribute, or variables). How much to evaluate, sample size. When to evaluate. Where to record information.
Therefore, in the design of a service provision process, it would suffice to establish the design parameters for each of the elements that concur in the provision of a service, and this is what is intended to be described below:
The objects that are included in the service: can be produced in the entity or acquired by it. The evaluated characteristics will always be a function of the level of influence that this has on the quality of the product and the final quality of the service, as well as the frequency with which they exhibit non-conformities, to the extent that they are, the lesser their transcendental will be. check. In the event of being acquired, it was convenient to inspect them at the time of arrival, either by applying a 100% inspection or a statistically based sampling plan, if the storage conditions of these in the entity are ideal, it will be sufficient with the Entry inspection otherwise it would be beneficial to carry out another inspection before offering it to the customer.Entry inspections may not be carried out in the case of fully tested suppliers. The characteristics to be verified in these products can be both variables and attributes, if they are required instruments for verification such as (weights, tapes, etc.) and if they are attributes they will be checked through the use of sense organs such as sight and smell, so it will require a great experience from the evaluating staff.therefore, it will require a great experience from the evaluating staff.therefore, it will require a great experience from the evaluating staff.
In the event that the products are produced in the unit, control must be exercised in the manufacturing process, using criteria for selecting the characteristics to be verified, similar to those established for products purchased from third parties. Performing the control closest to the place where the characteristic is generated, using small sample sizes or 100% if they are small volumes or very important characteristics, the sample size and the frequency with which the verification is carried out will also be a function of the predominant factor in the generation of the characteristic, if it is the time or the equipment that produces it, periodic inspections will be carried out at smaller intervals and as close as possible to the time of variation of the characteristic,If they are the quality of the components when they arrive, if it were the worker, it would be done randomly.
Whenever products with non-conforming characteristics are detected, whether they are input from the entity or produced in it, the product must be separated, guaranteeing its non-use, registering it, as well as proceeding to study the causes of non-conformities to avoid the fact is repeated.
The premises for the provision of the service: those characteristics that vary most frequently, such as cleaning and order, must be evaluated; in general, this evaluation is carried out visually in 100% of its existence before starting the provision. of the service and then keep a frequent check on them depending on the possibilities of variation of the characteristics over time. In the case of more stable characteristics over time such as comfort, 100% of the premises should be considered in the quality audit processes that must be carried out at least once every 6 months, registering the non-conformities detected and proceeding to take actions that allow its correction.
The Equipment and Furniture: they will be periodically verified according to their operating conditions and their reliability characteristics, as their existence always results from a relatively small volume, checks will be carried out at 100% of these, these, as well as the products, must be evaluated in moment of its acquisition, and before starting to provide a service, checking its operation either by means of the results they produce or by measurement devices such as thermometers, consumption meters.
In all cases of carrying out verifications, the negative aspects found must be recorded, since these will be the data that will later be used to know where improvement programs should be undertaken and to demonstrate to senior management the need to initiate these.
The information: It is always vitally important within the services, since it includes what is offered to the client (menu card, programs, hours of service provision, etc.) if this is not totally true, it will cause levels of nonconformity very high in customers. Similar or worse consequences to the previous ones occur when the needs and desires of the clients are misinterpreted and quality standards are established that serve as a guide for the provision of the service but that do not coincide with the expectations of the clients: for everything previously described it is clear the need to keep under control the information of the service, for this reason the veracity, accuracy and timeliness of the information should always be verified.The information that changes daily, such as the menu card, must be checked daily before starting the service and making the corresponding corrections. In the case of quality standards, they will also be checked during semi-annual quality audits, working on their correction as soon as their non-conformity is detected.
As evidenced, all the elements valued so far can be checked, at least once before starting the service and any deviation corrected, thereby avoiding affecting customer satisfaction and the image of the entity, then it is only enough to maintain periodic control over these.
The service provider: it is the only one that cannot be fully controlled before starting the service, however, if there are a series of measures that considerably reduce the risk of non-compliance. The characteristics of the service staff can be assessed according to different classification criteria, among which are:
The most usual criteria in the classification of personnel characteristics are the following
- Appearance
Personal • Correct use of the uniform
- Neatness in dressingHygiene HabitsStyleShaving and PeelingHairstyle, painted nails and clean objects in the pocketsGearsPortageAgeProfessionalism • Technical KnowledgeReaction abilityInformative KnowledgeCreativityTechnical SkillLodomatic DomainMotivationFriendlinessGeneral Kindness • Kindness
The characteristics of the human factor can be classified according to other criteria:
1- According to Training needs
- Innate: they are the one that the individual is born with, or that depend on the moment of this birth such as age. Formable: those that can be acquired through a process of training or training.
2- According to the predominant Factor
- Psychological are linked to the evolutionary and cognitive sphere of the individual, that is, those that depend on the functioning of the nervous system. Physical are those that can be evaluated at first sight for having a bodily character.
3- According to its persistence over time
- Variables: they are presented in time in different ways, for example the treatment of people, their creativity. Constants: they tend to show stability over time, such as appearance, knowledge.
These classification criteria allow the design of different strategies for quality control introduced by the service provider. For example, through the personnel selection process, it is determined whether or not they possess certain innate characteristics that are not formable at a certain height of life, such as presence, likewise it can be determined what personnel they need and can be trained to provide a Quality service. It is also possible to evaluate what constant characteristics the personnel have and, depending on them, decide the selection.
Once the personnel has been selected, the skills and knowledge not present but necessary to provide a quality service must be trained.
The work systems according to the degree of facilities that they offer together with the stimulation systems must allow the staff to hold and maintain throughout the working day an adequate psychological state for the provision of the service. It is necessary that the personnel work in comfortable conditions to reduce fatigue, that they possess the necessary means for the fulfillment of their functions and that they have adequate incentives and values to offer a quality service.
Once all these strategies have been established, you must proceed to implement daily control systems before starting the service to verify the hygiene and presence of the staff as well as their state of mind and do everything possible to prevent them from working with any of the required requirements altered. If any nonconformity is found, work should be done to eliminate it, record it, study its causes and take the necessary actions to ensure that it is not repeated.
Under these conditions, it only remains to maintain a good leadership system that allows constant interaction with workers, detection and correction of any nonconformity during the provision of the service. It is recommended that the staff be in a state of self-control so that they are capable of providing quality service on their own and correct any deviation that occurs in the event that there is no correspondence with quality standards. For workers to consider themselves in a state of self-control, three basic principles must be met, these are:
- The worker must know what he has to do, for this quality standards and adequate training are needed.
- The worker must know what he is doing, for this they are fed back in their own interaction with customers or they are informed of the results of customer satisfaction surveys or any opinions they may give.
- They must have the means to correct their behavior whenever they detect deviations.
Once the service is provided, there is still a good performance evaluation system to validate compliance with quality standards.
There are numerous evaluation methods and each one presents its advantages and disadvantages, and there is no ideal or universal method applicable to all people, all positions, all companies and all situations. The choice of one or the other will depend on many aspects:
- Type of position considered. Aspects or characteristics to be measured. Existing Business Culture. Objectives to be achieved. Various conjunctural elements that must always be taken into consideration.
The most used methods or techniques:
- Tasks related to the provision of the service (number of benefits and customer satisfaction, complaints or claims received)) Tasks not related to the provision.
Some of the more direct and simple measures are also applicable to non-production related jobs, such as:
- Absenteeism: Number of days or hours that the employee failed to work.Accidents: Number of accidents caused by the employee.Wage: Progress in salary achieved.Asenses: Rate of progress and promotion at work.
The client: it is obviously not possible to inspect the client, but rather to satisfy him, perhaps the only parameter by which to exercise some control over the client is to ensure that the client is not offered more than what can be offered with the objective of not creating expectations higher than those that are possible to satisfy.
However, the client offers the possibility of closing the cycle and having a general idea of the quality of the service, only with a retroactive nature, through the results of the studies of their satisfaction according to which the causes of non-conformity can be known, It also provides feedback with its complaints and claims, although in no way the absence of these should be considered synonymous with quality.
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