When an organization embarks on the path of quality management, motivated by having a system that orders its activities according to satisfying its customers, it begins a curious journey.
The managers are surely convinced that it is a strategically correct decision, and that it will lead them to a successful conclusion. But along the way… some difficulties appear.
I have seen and experienced these processes in the first person, and I notice that there is a common denominator. The systems end up installed, and many times certified after much effort, but the most important problem that must be dealt with then is the resistance of the personnel to accept and apply those systems.
Does this happen in your organization? Are the employees at odds with the quality system?
The way of quality management
Suppose Miguel is a senior manager of company XYZ. In recent years, competition has increased, it has become more aggressive and customers, more demanding. Miguel is convinced that they must drastically increase the quality of their service to survive in the medium and long term. Decide, then, to face the Quality Management project.
He appoints Alicia as the leader of this project, appointing her Quality Manager, and they hire a consultant to guide them through the process of certifying an international quality standard. This is the seal that they want to show their customers, and the one that will allow them to have a system to satisfy them every day, and improve the service in a continuous and unlimited way.
They begin the path of developing this system, based on certifying the standard. It is an arduous path, it costs more at first, until the staff understand what they are doing, and are willing to collaborate timidly. The process involves management, who must sit down with the consultant to make the statements of policies, objectives, statements, etc.
After several months of hard work, they are ready for a first audit. They prepare with a lot of nerves and anxiety. The auditor goes through the installed system, makes his observations, and undertakes to modify and correct it based on his suggestions.
Some more instances happen, until… finally! The certification audit has been passed! Great celebration, toast, celebration… They have reached the goal!
The goal of quality has changed its focus
However, something seems to be missing. It is the staff that provides the service every day. What happened to them? They have barely cooperated with the process, but feel that they now have more work, thanks to the system. Before each one carried out their work as they saw fit. Now, they have to follow procedures that someone has written and had them sign. Have your activities been plastered? They do not feel comfortable with this situation, although they know that they have no choice but to accept it, because there is no going back.
But what was Miguel's goal, for which he started this whole project? Facing the competition and recovering its market, improving the service they provide to their customers, guaranteeing high quality.
The certificate looks like a picture on the wall, but does it reflect a real change that customers can perceive in the service they receive? The system promises to give this result in the long term, however, the enmity of the employees with it seems to be a problem that, if they do not solve it, will make it impossible for them to achieve it.
It seems that the initial focus has moved. In recent months they have worked much more for the auditors than for the clients.
How to redirect the course, and achieve the initial objective of providing quality services that satisfy customers, gaining ground from the competition? This is what we will see in the second part of this article.
In order to improve customer service, we can embark on a project that begins with that goal, but ends up satisfying only the auditor. To get back on track, you must reconcile your employees with the system. In this article, the keys to achieve it.
We have seen how, in order to improve customer service, and regain ground lost in the hands of the competition, we can embark on a project that begins with that goal, but loses focus on the customer and focuses only on satisfy the auditor.
Although this situation is quite common, you should not resign yourself to it for this reason. It is possible to face a process to redirect the course, and achieve an impact on customer satisfaction, but for this you must reconcile your employees with the system.
What problems does the enmity between employees and the quality system bring?
Having a quality system on the one hand, and employees who look at it with suspicion on the other, is a problem that you must solve if you want that system to serve you to satisfy your customers, and not just to display a certificate on the walls of your offices or in your advertising.
That seal is useless if when your customers receive the service they are just as dissatisfied as before you did this arduous work that resulted in your certificate.
When your employees are at odds with the system, the following problems appear:
- They look at the system as something that robs them of time and energy, and not as a tool that can help them. They comply with the system requirements (fill out forms, send data, prepare indicators) only by obligation, without the corresponding seriousness, resulting in Information that is not reliable, because it is flawed in its origin. They are not committed to the system, and therefore you will never receive contributions or suggestions to improve it. They carry out their activities in parallel with the system, duplicating tasks, which increases their workload and overwhelms them, fueling the vicious cycle of their enmity with the system.
How to nip these problems in the bud and reconcile employees with the quality system?
It is understandable that, in the process of building the system and achieving the desired certification, you do not have time to involve all the staff as you should. So you assign a person who will dedicate himself fully to these tasks, and will ensure that the process comes to an end.
But, without realizing it, you have delegated all responsibility for quality management to that person (or that department). This fact conveys an implicit message to the rest of the organization that quality management is not their problem; for that there are specialists.
This assumption is the one that you must break in order to involve all your people in your project of managing quality, and in this way make sure that quality finally reaches the customer (the objective that had been lost from focus).
Engaging staff: a slow but safe process
The process of involving staff in the system is slower than building that system in the hands of specialists, but it is the only thing that will guarantee the result you are looking for: that quality is lived, and not only proclaimed.
How to start this process?
The invitation to staff to participate in the system must be made explicit. You have to take the time to convey the direction, join them and assure them that they will be the protagonists.
Then you must follow a consistent message and actions that demonstrate it. If they are the protagonists, they must be trained to take that system into their hands. The specialist must move into a facilitator role, and will not always have the last word. It will simply put the knowledge and tools in the hands of the staff so that each one, in each team, can analyze their tasks and propose changes that improve the result based on the satisfaction of the internal or external client.
A key element in this process is the value that is given to the error. Guaranteeing staff that they will not be punished if they make mistakes in their intention to improve is the key that will open the possibilities of participation. Because fear of punishment can make all good attempts fail.
Finally, what will make this process a sure success is to understand that it is a path that implies maturing individually and as an organization, and these processes are slow.
The key: persevere with the initial message, learn from mistakes, start over with decision but with humility, and trust that this transformation is what will lead the organization to improve day by day, with the energy of all its people, who lend service and are in contact with customers whom they want to satisfy and retain.
The result will be to have living systems, which are practiced and serve each employee to achieve excellent performance in front of each client. In this way, the system will have produced the fruits for which it was created, and will no longer be a sterile and annoying structure.
