Management Commitment - Changing the Mindset of Resistant Upper Management

[SimplyMarvelous]

I have worked in QA and quality improvement now for several years with some level of success. Mostly the success has been at the manufacturing process level working with engineers, employees, machines, materials, methods, etc.,

In the last few years, I ran up on a challenge at the management level. In my last couple of positions, after being there a few years, there was a management personnel change, and the new person came in and crushed the improvement and acheivement obtained because they considered cost reductions and efficiency to be higher priority.

Does anyone have any success stories where you have successfully changed the mindset of resistant upper management? What steps did you take and what are the pitfalls to avoid?

[Yew Jin]

I have no successful experience to share. Even few years working, still at the quality engineer post in a company. But I am keeping improve myself and recently managed to get CQE, CQM and a Master.

But I would like to share my opinion,
I believed when we are at the top management level, we are speaking in term of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ no other term.

What is the ROI, BCR or may be some financial term to be used in the conversation. We are not interested anymore the detail things on how to implementation. But we are more focus on market trend, what is the vision or dream that drive the company towards, what is the EBIT on every quarter.......

Difference level in position at a company has their own task and reponsibility...... when there is any conflict, we must resolve them by having alternative.

That's why when we have the strategy planning we must involve all level of the employees.

Changing a people mindset is tough! It is better we always have as much as alternative to support the vision of a company.

[Wes Bucey]

Originally Posted by Yew Jin

I have no successful experience to share. Even few years working, still at the quality engineer post in a company. But I am keeping improve myself and recently managed to get CQE, CQM and a Master.

But I would like to share my opinion,
I believed when we are at the top management level, we are speaking in term of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ no other term.

What is the ROI, BCR or may be some financial term to be used in the conversation. We are not interested anymore the detail things on how to implementation. But we are more focus on market trend, what is the vision or dream that drive the company towards, what is the EBIT on every quarter.......

Difference level in position at a company has their own task and reponsibility...... when there is any conflict, we must resolve them by having alternative.

That's why when we have the strategy planning we must involve all level of the employees.

Changing a people mindset is tough! It is better we always have as much as alternative to support the vision of a company.

Yew Jin is essentially affirming the recent ASQ program "making the case for Quality" which can be found here: http://www.asq.org/economic-case/
There are some articles non-ASQ members can download and references to other sources of information.

The task of a "Change Manager" is part science, part art, and a large part of Voodoo in being able to get inside a boss's head to find out what answer to the question in his mind ("What's in it for me?") will best motivate him to subscribe to and implement the Quality initiatives you have in mind.

Frankly, the problem you have encountered is not really with the new top manager brought in, but with the investors and Board of Directors who hired him. THEIR mindset is the one that really counts in a situation where the top job is a revolving door.

[Randy]

1st welcome and hopefully you get some help...

Let me ask you some questions......Who is responsible for the success or lack thereof of the organization, you or the management? If it's you, fix it,if it ain't use your inplace methods of internal communication and give management something relevant to them,not you.

If they are acting in line with their authority and responsibility what are you going to do do, say something like, "You can't do this, because..." ?

What have you done with your improvements to increase profitability and can you show or demonstrate those improvements in a format that is understandable and meaningful to management? Fancy charts and graphs don't cut it because if you can't put it to dollars and cents the information can become just another "Gee whiz but what's it mean to me?"

Your stated success's look nice, but where have they made a dime? That is what will get their interest.

What you tell them has to be relevant to them. Good luck.

[Jimmy the Brit]

Originally Posted by Randy

What have you done with your improvements to increase profitability and can you show or demonstrate those improvements in a format that is understandable and meaningful to management? Fancy charts and graphs don't cut it because if you can't put it to dollars and cents the information can become just another "Gee whiz but what's it mean to me?"

Your stated success's look nice, but where have they made a dime? That is what will get their interest.

What you tell them has to be relevant to them. Good luck.

Absolutely, Randy - We have to speak the language of management and that language is finance.

The best option open to you is to look into setting up a Cost of Quality system. Don't go nuts and start with the Time and Attendance method (very complex - similar to Activity Based Costing), just look at your exisitng quality metrics and try to calculate a cost/benefit associated with improvements. For example a customer complaint costs: $ management time, $ lost goodwill, $ remediation/replacement costs etc...

Using this tool you can show management that a 20% reduction in complaints would confer a benefit to the organisation of $$$. If you can do this for all your quality metrics, suddenly you are speaking the same language. This is usually harder for avoidable costs - for example if you pass an inspection with no findings you have not incurred costs of $$.

There is a lot of literature out there about Cost of Quality, but a good place to start is with Juran's Quality Handbook. Happy to give you more references if you are interested.

It can be very effective and really doesn't have to be complicated.

JtB

[Randy]

Originally Posted by Jimmy the Brit

Absolutely, Randy - We have to speak the language of management and that language is finance.

JtB

A Brit after my heart!

[AndyJP]

You stated that you have acheived success in improvemnets on the shop floor. These would of resulted in lower scrap rates I take it thus a saving. That is unless you have only added hidden cost by using containment.

As said before look at the cost of quality. If your top managment are bean counters then you may want to change how you play the game and look at what you can save them and quantify all the costs both hidden and in their face and use this to justify what you want to do.

Face it most managment teams are like small childeren give them sweets, cost beifits, and they are happy. Give the friut, less rejects, and the hate it. At the end of it just give them the sweets but lace them with vitamins and you will will and be seen as a team player.

To that chuck in some managmnet buzz words and you will have them eating out of your hands. Trust me been there, seen it, done it and got the tee shirts