Wes Bucey said:
You may be outnumbered at work, Dawn, but as Sam says here, creating a process to make an action without a real understanding of the cause of the event is just setting the system up to fail.
Overall, I agree. But I also know that here on the Cove, we keep saying it's "our" system and to make it work for "us".
Wes Bucey said:
To do what you suggest (discipline) implies your entire system of recruiting, training and assigning employees to tasks is fundamentally flawed and by disciplining "omissions" without finding and curing the root cause, the bad habit of incorrectly completing a form is reinforced and becomes a "process."
As the Quality professional, your task is to help the "powers that be" learn the benefit of doing things in the most efficient and effective manner possible.
Personally, I don't believe that doing root cause analysis on why Mr. X forgot to sign Line 9 of Form ABC is effective. What I see as being effective, however, is a Preventive Action issued upon the analysis that Mr. X has failed to sign Line 9 of Form ABC
n times this year and to indicate what the impact was/potentially could have been.
Sometimes, it may be a case of Mr. X forgetting and doing a root cause analysis on "forgetting" does not inspire people to believe in the system. In fact, these "exercises in paperwork" cause dissention, groan, eye rolling and an overall disrepect for the system and its processes.
We are to treat problems in a suitable manner. Mr. X didn't sign Line 9. Okay...Mr. X corrects and signs Line 9. Abnormality has been treated.
Analysis of data (annually, semi-annually, quarterly...whatever works for you) discovers that Mr. X was issued a number of abnormalities that exceeds our allowable trigger where he failed to sign Line 9. Trend. Now, we can look at root cause. We have data supporting an adverse trend which Management will most likely wish to correct. They don't want to spend their time doing root cause on what is perceived to be a one-of item.
In theory, yes, root cause on everything. Personally, I'd love it if that were reality. Unfortunately, we have Customer requirements to meet, product to make, employees to keep safe, an environment to protect, suppliers to pay and shareholders to keep happy. We don't have that much time for paperwork, so we develop, implement, maintain (and improve) a system that works for us.
It may not work for everyone. It may not work for Dawn's organization. But it working for us.
