Without doubt, success of a company is greatly influenced by the quality management methods and systems that are in practice. A culture of quality can be a key factor for success, as is evidently true. Yet this culture is a goal that’s elusive to achieve. Apparently the dramatic increase and enhancement in quality management systems has resulted in greater productivity and cost reduction., but not really changed worker behaviour.

There’s no dramatic change in the workforce involved in this transformation. Instead we appear to be drifting away from the culture of quality. So, quality management professionals who are expected to deliver, against great expectations, are under pressure, as although the incidence of errors has decreased, the likelihood of errors are increasing is significant.

So how do you go about building a strong culture of quality? This only happens when every employee adheres to a core set of values and beliefs that translate into practice and results.

Measure The Present Culture

As it is important to understand the dimension of the problem, we need to evaluate, measure or define it and also asses the level of the culture presently in the organisation. It could be found positive or negative, which means immediate action is needed. Tools like an employee survey are useful. Others include focus groups, interviews, third party audits, etc.

Leadership Has a Role

Be it the quality wanted in the company, or from the employees, the top leadership has a role and commitment to take initiative and walk the extra mile with the team. Employees expect managers to be role models. Managers, as peers, have to lead by example, be present and active, until employees can work on independently. Personal development and focus on behaviour are crucial to building the culture.

Right Communication

All employees have to care about the quality objectives and same things. Communicating to them is crucial as the message must be delivered clear, unambiguously and consistently. Try story-telling and anecdotes! Properly targeted messages to the audience has great effect in uplifting the quality of culture.

Establish Teams Across The Organisation

Quality management personnel should get the right people together to work out solutions. A cross-functional team not only solves problems, but becomes the source of innovations. They break down barriers and develop synergy to move into the future.

Employee Ownership

Your employees must be given the feeling of ownership (not merely financial) over the organisation and their decisions and their results. Recognise their initiatives and create learning opportunities. All this go to make a strong, effective team and create a culture of quality with champions for the cause.

Aura quality management system is a supportive web-based QMS that can automate operations, integrate with existing systems and is scalable in the long run. For more information, please visit www.auraqualitymanagement.com or simply leave us an enquiry.