Culture can be defined in many ways, it is:
– a set of shared beliefs, attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an organization;
– the way employees actually behave, think and believe – “the way we do things around here”;
– the personality of an organization;
– a “walk the talk”.
A Quality Culture is a culture throughout the organization that continually views quality as a primary goal. It is the pattern—the emotional scenery—of human habits, beliefs, commitments, awareness, and behavior concerning quality. (Juran)
That ‘emotional scenery‘ is the new topic ASQ CEO Paul Borawski proposed to discuss this month in his blog. He asked: When you’re in a culture of quality, how does it feel? How do you feel?
In order to answer those questions and more, I thought it would be really interesting doing an interview to one person who has more than 20 years of experience working in different cultures; he is Christian Paulsen, a Senior Lean Six Sigma Consultant who helps companies optimize performance.and adds value to organizations by driving continuous process improvements and bottom line cost savings. He authors Lean Leadership and is a regular contributor to the Consumer Goods blog.
INTERVIEW
Q1: Organization name and position.
A1: Incito Consulting Group, Senior Lean Six Sigma Consultant. I worked in several food manufacturing plants in a variety of leadership roles for over 20 years before moving into consulting.
Q2: Is the organization you work for working on a Quality Culture? If yes, how does the organization build a Quality Culture?
Q3: What do you do to maintain, strengthen and keep improving the Quality Culture?
Q4: What attitudes support the success of a culture of quality?
Q5. What are the feelings you associate with a culture of quality? How do you feel working in a Quality Culture?
Q6: Creating a positive culture is an important factor in building loyalty and retaining key personnel. What does the organization you work for do to keep their employees committed to the company, and to the quality culture?
A6: A key principle of Lean is to treat people with respect. You need everyone’s commitment and support to create and sustain a Quality Culture. You need them to improve the process. You need them to do the right things because they believe it. You need them to make a difference. This won’t happen without that 3rd Shift Operator that makes a critical Quality decision while you are home in bed. I have never met anyone who truly felt respected, thought they made a difference at work, and believed they were working in a Quality Culture that was not loyal. You can guess what happens to someone’s loyalty if they feel disrespected, don’t believe they can make a difference, or don’t believe they work in a Quality Culture. There may still be some loyalty but they are hanging on for other reasons and there may not be as much as you would like.
Q7: If you need to hire personal, what are the attributes do you look for in the people you hire in order to figure it out if those applicants will fit perfectly into your organization and contribute to the quality culture goals?
A7: I like to look for people who can demonstrate their dedication producing Quality products in their past experience.
Q8: Do you use any metric to measure your quality culture, like complaint rates? If yes, what impact does it have on the organizations Quality Culture?
Q9: Pros and cons, if exists, of working in a quality culture. Final words- thoughts.
A9: We have already discussed a lot of the positives. I think that most people agree that a Quality Culture is best for the long-term health of their business. Have you even met anyone who wanted less for his or her money? The down side is that it isn’t easy. Everyone would be doing it if it were. The hard part is sticking with it for the long haul. Do the right things for the right reasons over the long haul and you will have a Quality Culture.
CONCLUSION
No organization is without culture. No one perfect culture exists. But having a quality culture focused on exceed customer expectations, with role model leaders committed to quality and empowered employees, you can achieve the “right” culture for your organization. But, do not forget that the key point to stay in business is to keep improving!
St. Jerome said: “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best.”
Are you working on a Quality Culture? Share your “feelings” with us!
2 Comments
Jimena Calfa · November 30, 2012 at 6:19 am
Zaheer Ahmed from ASQ Community
"Just went thru this article and liked it….Thanx Calfa"
Jimena Calfa · December 2, 2012 at 7:03 am
Diwan Singh from ASQ Community:
"Unfortunately, companies that focus on short-term savings often do more harm than good" . i think this is the biggest learning i got it thanks"
Comments are closed.