How to show the value of quality department to highest boss ?

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wonderfulong2006

Hi,all
I am working in quality deparment for 1 years,which I had 3 years working experience in quality management before joining in my current company.We are a large logitics servicer provider.We've obtained ISO &OHSAS certification few years ago.
Now,my new boss who is not Quality professional, ask me to give him some convinced reports or plans which will show the value of Quality department to our highest boss.To be frank, quality management system is quite weak in such service fields.Firstly,our quality department only focus on to push department heads to provide documents or records for external audits.We seldom have more energy and time on how to really improve operation quality,which our boss will be loved to see and esasier to see.Our operation quality is not satisfied in the view of our highest boss.

Secondly,most of operation department heads seldom value our quality system.They do think it only causes a lot of paper working.The quality system is just for auditor not for themselves.They don't actively update or develop documentary SOP or WI.They are used to coach their opersters by saying ,not issuing and explaining SOP to operators!The most important is that Quality department is without saying power in operation.So my boss want to make our deparment much more weighted and powerful.

Does anyone in service quality managment could give me some useful and practical suggestion?
 
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pldey42

Re: How to show the valule of quality department to highest boss ?

If the quality department is only for auditors then, yes, nobody in the company will value it. But I think you know that.

If the quality department has no power, nobody is likely to give it to you. Even if the new quality plan says, "Give us power" the CEO won't do that, because there is no history that justifies it and the deartment heads will object.

So, you have to take power, or recognise and use the power you have. And build a quality management system that everyone sees as valuable.

If ISO 9001 certification is of value to the company, external audits can give you some power. It woul be best to use that to drive processes and procedures that work, not just documents that everyone writes and nobody uses. But I think this is a very bad way of building a good quality department.

Better is to make numbers your power. I would suggest this as a plan: identify the key performance numbers your customers measure (on time delivery, defect rates, fix response time, etc) and offer to measure, analyse and report them to all department heads as a service: save them the effort. The CEO should like this because it's a useful service whose value is obvious, the reporting will be consistent across the company ,and it will be independent and therefore likely to be accurate.

From the measurements of your services derive measurements of process that will help you improve performance. For example, most departments would like to see measurements of the errors other departments make in order to reduce them!

Use all these measurements to identify real opportunities to improve. Teach everyone to write procedures that help them work effectively. Instead of being in some sense bossed around by auditors, make the auditors provide a useful service to you by identifying procedures that are useful but not followed: ask them especially to focus on the areas where one team hands work to another, because that is often where the problems that frustrate department heads lie: the department heads can't fix such problems because that requires working together and in many organisations that doesn't happen because of poor upper management.

To summarise: take power by offering a measurements collection, analysis and reporting service; add value by using the measurements to identify areas to improve processes; demonstrate value by building a quality management system that helps department heads do their work.

Hope this helps,
Patrick
 

Coury Ferguson

Moderator here to help
Trusted Information Resource
Re: How to show the valule of quality department to highest boss ?

Patrick, well said.

I think when you get the data be sure to include the "Quality" data from your Customers and present it in the right forum. Most customers will rate their Supplier's on the Quality and Delivery. If your new boss does not understand what quality means then put in such a way as: Quality is the perception of the Customer of the product/service that they receive and it meets their requirements/perception. Also throw in my favorite saying: Without the Customer, we have no business!
 
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pldey42

Re: How to show the valule of quality department to highest boss ?

Good point, Coury. The most powerful quality organisations in my experience are the ones that own data on customer satisfaction and can get it in front of senior managers.

Patrick
 

Jen Kirley

Quality and Auditing Expert
Leader
Admin
Re: How to show the valule of quality department to highest boss ?

Welcome to the Cove, wonderfullong2006! :bigwave:

Quality is considered an enforcement function among many people. Move away from that into a function that helps the organization do things well and you will have more support. Expect this to take time, expect a change of opinion to happen little by little.

As has been well said, learn to describe the efforts made as a whole organization (with quality department people just being a support group) in terms managers understand. Market share can't happen without customer satisfaction, controlling costs or both--quality functions help with that but you need to show how you are helping. Reducing expensive waste and scrap means more than a stronger profit--it means people can direct their attention to things like developing new products and services. What I mean is, you may need to appeal to emotions as well as logic.

Moving the audit function away from compliance mode and into a support for problem solving might help. When we hand out corrective actions like a teacher assigns school projects, of course recipients will feel like they are being simply policed or supervised. My point is that the beginning of the migration away from quality as enforcement toward quality as support is an attitude that starts with the quality department itself. Ask youself, "How can I bring more value, and how can I measure it so everyone, including myself, can see if the effort is working?"

Your question is a big subject. I hope this helps!
 

Steve Prevette

Deming Disciple
Leader
Super Moderator
A speaker at the American Society for Safety Engineers conference brought up a good point about cost of safety which could be applied to cost of quality. Look at the impact on profits.

Let's say you have a 10 million dollar annual revenue. Let's also say you find a cost savings through quality and elimination of rework of $100,000. Small change compared to the revenue, right?

But - if you look at the profit figures the ratio changes. Let's say the company had 9.5 million dollars in costs, leaving a $500,000 profit on the 10 million dollar revenue. A cost savings of $100,000 now becomes a 20% increase in profit!
 
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sal881vw

Being ISO & OHSAS certified may have been the result of customer/s request, or company goal, well done, whichever it was the intent was that it should add value to the companies revenues. If that is not happening and without ISO & OHSAS certification the company has a better bottom line, then out goes the certification, but I hardly think that this is the case.
Some convincing indicators are,
• Customer satisfaction….customer complaints cost money, not just the replaced item but much more the companies image. A satisfied customer is one who buys the second time
• Less waste…..control downtime, scrap materials etc. Is this not money down the drain.
• Motivate operators to improve the process.

I’m certain that you can find the right ones for your boss to be convinced.

In a nutshell the on going campaign is not just getting the certificate or recertification but that the systems and methods used are improving the company’s bottom line. After all, metaphorically speaking, if the ship sinks we all go down with it, I will be surprised that your work colleagues would like that.
 

Sambasi

Involved - Posts
Now,my new boss who is not Quality professional, ask me to give him some convinced reports or plans which will show the value of Quality department to our highest boss

Measuring the value of quality department is a problem in many industries.
It is similar to measuring the value of the role of any individual in an organization.

Make the boss realise what happens to the organization without quality department.Show him the problems that would have surfaced without your department.If you know the cost of one problem,which would have come up without your department, use it to your advantage.

Find out why he wants a value of your area.Is it for down-sizing?
 
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