The focus for many organizations over the years has been on increasing productivity and performance often at the expense of quality within the workplace.
However, the rise in globalization and new technologies has led to increased awareness in customers and employees.
Organizations are becoming increasingly aware of the need to cultivate a culture that leads to high-quality business practices and products in order to stay competitive. Srinivasan and Kurey conducted a study for the Harvard Business Review in 2014. Their research found that a company with a highly developed culture of quality spends, on average, $350 million less every year fixing mistakes than a company with a poorly developed one.
The culture of an organization, as defined by Charles Rogel (2014), is the values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours that employees share and use on a daily basis in their workplace. Culture will ultimately shape the performance within a work environment.
In this article are 10 steps to ensure that your company builds a culture that is focused on quality.
Let’s get started.
The first step for any business is to establish the current extent to which culture already exists within the organization. This is particularly important for managers and leaders within the company, as it will assist them in determining the steps to take going forward.
Establishing what constitutes an ideal culture of quality is the next step. It’s time to set your team some strong goals and objectives, it’s also useful to map out the behaviours and processes needed to achieve them.
It is also important to consider the prevailing cultural factors of the country in which the business operates and to achieve any universally recognized accreditations that might benefit your business. This might mean making changes within organizational structures, performance metrics, incentives systems, or the distribution of roles and tasks. Often, effective quality management and regulatory compliance systems can assist in making these initial steps as seamless and streamlined as possible.
David and Ricky (2006) state that leaders are those who set the tone of the organization, and define its values and norms.
The belief that quality is important in an organization often trickles down from the top. Creating a culture of quality in the workplace should be initiated and maintained by the managers and leaders within the organization. Managers should be aware of the company’s ideal culture and what behaviours are needed to achieve it. They should themselves behave in this manner, and encourage those working with them to do the same.
It is important to understand that mistakes in the workplace are often a direct result of processes that are not optimal. Mistakes can be important learning experiences that help individuals and organizations improve. Streamlining company processes to mitigate risk reduces anxiety in the workplace and will increase productivity and performance.
It is important to make sure that all individuals working in an organization have access to the company’s strategic goals, as well as all quality-related documents. Ensure that this information is easy to understand and accessible, is a way to guarantee a quality of culture in an organization.
It is becoming increasingly clear that employee well-being in the workplace leads to sustainable high performance in business outcomes. You need to create an environment where individuals are encouraged and empowered to achieve performance goals, whilst feeling personally respected. Additionally, employees are more likely to stay within organizations for longer periods of time when they feel valued and appreciated individually.
Transparency within an organization leads to trust between individuals in the workplace. Creating a culture where the norm is open and honest communication can optimize the performance of employees and management. Ensure that positive quality-related news that highlights relevant achievements is reaching all staff. This could be done by sending out email newsletters, placing posters in strategic areas, or during staff meetings.
Understanding what drives individuals in a company can assist to communicate and encourage high-quality performance more effectively. It is important to recognize that some employees may be inspired by highlighting customer satisfaction to them, whilst others may respond best to messages emphasizing the hassle of producing defect-free goods.
Collaboration, trust, and respect within an organization all ensure that a workplace runs smoothly. Fostering peer engagement can be as simple as organising friendly “quality competitions” that encourage employees to be involved in ideas to improve quality in the workplace.
Research has shown that there is a direct relationship between an organizations culture and empowerment of staff. A culture of quality is one that encourages individuals to apply their own judgements to situations, whilst still providing support and guidance for growth in specific areas. Enabling staff to question processes and strategic values of the company often strengthen the processes themselves. Additionally, it will produce a greater sense of loyalty and responsibility within the employees.
Creating a culture where quality becomes the norm, where conversations focus on ensuring growth and excellence, can increase productivity within an organization and decrease room for errors. Organizations may require different specific actions to achieve a culture of quality dependant on their industry. However, the evidence shows that cultivating this culture results in a significant competitive advantage.