Personnel Unaware of the Quality Policy

[BradM]

Roxanne, thanks for the pot stirring. Getting near Halloween, we need to keep the witches brew from caking up on the bottom.

Just like everything else-do what you say, say what you do. The quality policy should be the rudder for the ship, management's commitment of why we're messing with the whole quality thing in the first place. Otherwise, it becomes a distraction, and a waste.

To me, it's just like Statistics. They are tools, that when used correctly, can become quite valuable. But poorly understood and applied, can cause more harm than good.

 

[Joe Cruse]

What's even scarier is the idea that some sort of formal policy is considered necessary in order for customers to be kept happy. It's like having a policy that insures that the employees understand the need to keep breathing.

Amen, Jim.

I will still occasionally ask line employees if they know where the QP is posted (at all card clocks), but much more rarely now. Since I started our process approach in auditing, we now ask the employees (line and supervisors) how they think their everyday job affects the customer (internal and external) and the company. This question really lets me know if the employee has any inkling of understanding of our qms and what quality really means for the customer.

 

[Jim Wynne]

Amen, Jim.

I will still occasionally ask line employees if they know where the QP is posted (at all card clocks), but much more rarely now. Since I started our process approach in auditing, we now ask the employees (line and supervisors) how they think their everyday job affects the customer (internal and external) and the company. This question really lets me know if the employee has any inkling of understanding of our qms and what quality really means for the customer.

On a slightly but related note, I think that in most companies, not enough is done to make sure that operators understand the relationship between their work and the customer's application, even when the customer is internal, but especially for external customers. It makes a lot of difference if operators (and others) can actually see how the parts they're making function in the customer's product, and how nonconformance can affect the final assembly. In something like metal stamping, where there's often no intuitive way to understand what an odd-shaped part actually does, it can make a world of difference for the operators to see an example of the final assembly and how their work can affect it.

 

[Madfox]

Is it verification of the QP being "communicated and understood" if an employee points to a sign. (Heck, I don't understand half of the QP's I read!)

Hit the ball where no one's standing...5.5.3! If the QP isn't generally known (or cared about), odds are QMS effectiveness data isn't communicated. (IMNSHO, that has greater relevance.)

Madfox
("No officer, I didn't know how fast I was going...that's your job.")

 

[wilsonmm]

I haven't read all of the responses in the thread, but here is what we do.

Our total organization is spread out in over 100 buildings spread out over 4 counties. I make a bulletin board type poster with the company policy and objectives printed on an eye-catching background. These are posted in every facility, and re-designed now and then to overcome people getting used to seeing it.

We are also toying with the notion of printing the policy and objectives onto a small card each employee can keep in their wallet for quick reference. That way, every employee knows where to go to find it if they stumble under the questions of an auditor.

Our auditors have been kind in allowing a LOT of stumbling in the past . . . thank goodness!