The Quality Workplace

Quality and people

Elements of quality workplaces
Teams
Workforce satisfaction
Team working
 People, Quality’s secret to success
“There’s no secret Toyota Quality Machine out there. The quality machine is
the workforce -- the team members on the paint line, the suppliers, the
engineers -- everybody who has a hand in production here takes the
attitude that we’re making world-class vehicles.”

• The human resource is the only one that competitors cannot copy, and the
only one that can synergize—that is, produce output whose value is greater
than the sum of its parts.
• Employee satisfaction has a strong correlation to customer satisfaction.
 Human Resource Paradigms
“We will win and you will lose. You cannot do anything because your failure is an internal
disease. Your companies are based on Taylor’s principles. Worse your heads are Taylorised
too. You firmly believe that sound management means that executives on the one side and
workers on the other, on the one side men who think and on the other side men who only
work.” Konosuke Matsushita, 1998.

Old Thinking New Thinking

People are part of the process People design and improve processes
Process requires external control Workers who run the process control it
Managers have command and control Managers must obtain commitment of
over what people do workers
 Differences
Traditional Workplaces
People are passive contributors, with little autonomy,
Role of people doing what they are told and nothing more.
Managers oversee departments or functions or
Management
collections of individuals, they are independent.
systems
Control is achieved by pre-established inflexible
Control responsive patterns laid down in the book of rules and
procedures.
Performance appraisal, recognition, and reward systems
Reward systems place people in an internally competitive environment.
Quality-based Workplaces
People take joy and pride through learning and
accomplishment, and enhance the capability of the enterprise to
succeed
Managers oversee interdependent systems and processes and
exercise managerial leadership through participative
management.
Control results from shared values and beliefs, as well as
knowledge of mission, purpose, and customer requirements.
Reward systems recognize individual as well as team
contributions and reinforce cooperation.

Maintain the status quo – the organization’s formula for To provide the leadership for continual improvement and
Management’s role
success by preventing change. innovation in processes and systems, products, and services.
The adversarial relationship between workers and The workers become a partner and a stakeholder in the success
Workforce relations
management is inevitable. of the enterprise
Hierarchical “chimney” organization structures Formal and informal mechanisms encourage and facilitate
Teamwork promote competition, conflict, and adversarial relations teamwork and team development across the entire enterprise
between functions
Motivation is achieved by aversive control. Managers provide leadership and are viewed as process
Motivation
managers rather than functional specialists
 Key elements of Quality Workplaces
WATCH: Quality Workplace - Ferguson Plarre Bakery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-XrQUFEOJ4
• Jikoda
• Providing machines and operators the ability to detect when an abnormal condition has occurred (Andon)
and immediately stop work.
• This enables operations to build in quality at each process and to separate workers and their machines for
more efficient work.
• Visual Management
• The placement in plain view of all tools, parts, production activities, and indicators of
production system performance, so the status of the system can be understood at a
glance by everyone involved e.g.:
• Andon – error signals
• Kanban – inventory signals
• Dashboards – performance measures
• 5S – workplace organisation and order

Worker engagement and team-working

Team leadership
Training
 Visual Management
• The placement in plain view of all tools, parts, production activities, and
indicators of production system performance, so the status of the system
can be understood at a glance by everyone involved.
WATCH: Quality Workplace – Visual Management https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0FCrp28wbM

Andon Kanban Dashboard

A visual management tool A signalling device that gives A one-page
that highlights the status of authorization and measurement tool
operations and whenever an instructions to produce or comprising the critical
abnormality occurs (stop- use production or items – few process and
the-process). commonly used in inventory competition measures
management.
 Group Work
• Re-watch the video;
• How many “visual management” techniques can you identify?
• What training about visual work do the people identify as important?
Visual Management display
Direction signs Display boards Safety signs or warning
Information signs Shadow boards Workplace culture
Location signs Parts labels Work or process charts
Arrows Work stations Productivity charts or lists

• The people discussed the idea of training workers to have ideas and
translate them quickly into visual management tools to improve quality
and productivity. Communicating the idea is an important skill.
 5S
• Five related terms, beginning with an ‘S’, describing in Japanese and English
workplace practices supportive of visual control and work.
WATCH: The 5S Methodology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU7c2USbnoo

Cleanliness and order Separate needed from

resulting from regular unneeded items—tools,
performance parts & materials—and
of the first three Ss. Standardise discard the unneeded.
Sort
(Seiketsu) (Sieri)

Discipline, to Sustain
perform the (Shitsuke)
first four Ss.
Shine Straighten
(Sieso) (Sieton)
Neatly arrange what is
Clean and wash. left—a place for
everything and everything
in its place.
 High Performance Work Systems
“Systematically pursue ever higher levels of overall organizational and human
performance”

Work and Job Design Flexibility Teamwork and Cooperation

Innovation
Health and safety Knowledge and skill Empowerment
sharing
Organizational
Training and Education alignment Employee Involvement
Customer focus

Compensation and Rapid response Suggestion systems

recognition
 The Team

A small number of people with complementary

skills who are committed to a common purpose,
set of performance goals, and approach for
which they hold themselves mutually
accountable.

WATCH: PORSCHE RACING TEAM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnoM6yPsBqs

 Teamwork
• Team members need the skills of cooperation, communication, and
group decision making.
• Teamwork helps to break down barriers within organisation, line and
staff functions.
• Teamwork allows for improve problems solving and team participation
can bring employee empowerment, satisfaction and to have access to
new skills and training opportunities.
• Teams should encourage free flowing participation and interaction
between its members and other teams
 Functions of Teams
Identify
Implement problems Select
solutions problem
Identify
Develop Collect
follow-up data
plan Solve Analyze
Focus
Pick best attention
solution Find
Develop causes
solutions
 Team Types
Team Type Characteristics
Leadership Steering committee or quality councils - where functional mangers coordinate
activities across the company providing direction and focus
Natural work Perform whole jobs from start to finish
Self-managing A group of highly trained employees who complete well defined work
controlling their own decisions
Virtual Team members in different locations communicate, exchange roles and
leaders to achieve tasks through online and electronic communications
Problem-solving Meet to solve problems and disband

Project Have a specific mission and length of time - underpin Six Sigma workplaces
Quality Circles Teams of workers and supervisors that meet regularly to correct production
and quality issues.
 Team development

• Building and developing successful teams requires solid

management support and good planning.
• Self-managed teams, in particular are challenging because of the
level of empowerment that they require.
• Teams develop in a predicable pattern and life cycle that enables
planning for team management and optimization
• Understanding what makes successful teams can help remove
obstacles to effective team development and smooth the
transitioning process.
 Team Development Processes
Stage 4
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3
Self Direction /
Team Formation Team Building Empowerment
High performance

Amount of Empowerment at Team Level

 Plan team tasks
 Develop team communication
 Define measures
 Develop team milestones
 Improve quality, cost, and
cycle time
 Schedule and hold team
meetings
 Attack larger problems
 Review team measures
 Control inventory
 Schedule team training
 Perform equipment maintenance
 Manage team performance
 Continually improve quality, cost and cycle
time
 Identify own jobs
 Perform to team budget; track
costs and take accountability
 Select team members

Directs Team –
Builds Trust
 Identify goals, Coaches Team – Shares
outcomes, timelines Information
 Provide direction  Involve team in problem
 Lead in solving solving Supports team –
problems, making  Control team budget Creates Autonomy
decisions  Provide support  Help in problem solving
 Control budget and some scheduling  Work with team to define  Share budget responsibility Delegates Authority –
 Give frequent performance and how  Ask team to lead in solving Provides Support
follow up measured problems  Support multiple teams

Transition from Manager to Leader

SHORT CASE: TEAM WORKING AT THE GOLDEN PLAZA HOTEL

 Feedback
1. Teams need planning, member selection and an environment of
support as the team develops.
2. The hotel is at stage 1. It must overcome past problems and
perceptions, so it must develop communication and clear goals.
Sandra needs to take a leading management role to fix the problems
that have occurred and set them right, she will needs to provide
strong initial support until members develop more confidence.
3. Sandra will need to identify team members and their capabilities. She
will need to co-ordinate the team’s resources and training for the
team’s members. She may begin to identify those suitable for
leadership roles
 Teamwork challenges

• Issues for management and performance of teams occur due

to their variety and organisational settings.
• Team forming should be preceded with a period of investigation
selecting the correct model, analysing capabilities and culture
of the organization.
• Cross functional and intra-organizational environments have
“office politics” and “patch protection” issues to be overcome.
 Teamwork challenges
• Self managing teams provide the greatest challenge through
relinquishment of authority to the team and less hierarchical
control.
• Virtual teams present challenges of team members not knowing
each other, not learning from each others non verbal cues and
work standards.
• Quality based teams such as quality circles and problem solving
teams rely on a positive organizational culture and how
management uses them to support quality principles in the
organization.
 Workforce Satisfaction

“Organizations are learning that to

first satisfy the customer, they must
first satisfy the workforce”.
 Empowerment
Freely
• Empowerment is: shared
information

“Giving people the Few

authority to make restrictive “hands-off”
leadership
decisions on what they procedures
Employee
feel is right, have control empowerment
over their work, take
risks, learn from
mistakes and promote
change.” Atmosphere Education,
resources, and
of trust
encouragement
 Satisfaction
Workers feel they can do
Engagemen the best everyday
Involveme
t .
People believe their nt
opinions count
.
Motivatio They sense that they and
n
their fellow workers are
committed to quality,
and can make a direct
connection to their work
and company’s mission.
Employee Satisfaction

These together contribute to employee satisfaction, by attending to the psychological

aspects of work resulting in:
• reduced staff turnover,
• reduced absenteeism,
• lower costs & less waste
 Engagement
• Workplaces with high levels of Less
adversarial
workforce engagement are mentalities

“characterized by high performance

work environments in which people are
+ quality
+ leadership
motivated to do their utmost for the and
skills
productivity
benefit of customers and for the success Employee
of the organization”. engagement

• Occurs where workers needs are met by

developing pride and joy in their work.
• Organizations that are characterized by + problem
Improves
solving &
morale
high performing work environments creativity

have meaningful work, direction,

accountability and trust.
WATCH EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN GE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzAUJcgp2Cc
 Involvement
• An activity where employees are engaged in work related decisions.
• Range from sharing information, providing suggestions, and self directed operations,
such as setting goals, decisions, solving problems and cross-functional teams.
• Worker involvement before quality frameworks lacked the links to customers and top
management leadership, as an organization matures the levels of employee
involvement change.

Level of Involvement Actions Outcomes

Low Information sharing Managers decide Conformance
Dialogue Asking for input Acceptance
Special Problem solving One problem at a time Contribution
Intragroup Problem Solving Groups meet weekly Commitment
Intergroup Problem solving Cross functional groups Cooperation
Focused problem solving Deeper group work and specialist teams Concentration
Limited self direction Permanent teams Accountability
High Total self direction Facilitated self management Ownership
 Motivation
• Motivation is an individual’s response to a felt need.
• Employees that are given tasks on the basis of Motivation
factors
keeping their jobs are being motivated by fear. (improve satisfaction)
• Motivating organizations are those that use
coaching and facilitation rather than using Recognition,
command and control techniques. Advancement,
• Herzberg considered there were two parts (factors) Achievement
to employee satisfaction;
• Maintenance factors that reduce worker Maintenance factors:
dissatisfaction and (reduce dissatisfaction)
• Motivation factors are less tangible but important for safe environment, comfort, and job
workplace engagement. security and workplace supervision

WATCH GE WATER HEATER FACTORY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbZ7tALf3BU

 Designing High Performance Work Systems
• Work design - • Job design -
how employees are responsibilities and
organized in formal tasks assigned to
and informal units. individuals

• Employees need interesting work, recognition, feeling in, security and,

higher pay.
• Managers frequently believe higher pay is #1.
• Interest can be introduced by variety of tasks, multi skilling and
feedback for improvement.
Improving Work Design
Hackman/Oldham Model for Job Design

SHORT CASE: THE MBA CANDIDATE

Feedback
 Team success
• Use of
• Balanced scientific
• Improvement participation . approach (data
Beneficial • Clear driven)
Clarity of plans Established
• Clearly defined team • Well defined
team goals communication ground
roles
behaviors • Established decision
rules
ground rules procedures

• Teams require leadership and management at various levels from the

senior executives, to team leaders, to the team members.
• The organization has a responsibility to provide an work environment
that supports team goals and provides safe and healthy conditions,
with suitable work practices to reduce injury and harm.
SHORT CASE: TEAM PROCESSES AT LANDMARK DINING
 Team work and Six Sigma
• Project teams are a vital part of Six Sigma due to the interdisciplinary nature
of the projects.
• They are comprised of key roles who each provide different levels of
knowledge and expertise in guiding a Six Sigma project.
• Champions – Senior level mangers who lead, set and defend projects securing
resources and select the team members.
• Master black belts – Six Sigma experts who are focussed on SS projects
permanently, expert in SS tools, methods and technical skills.
• Black belts – fully trained SS experts with more than 160 hours of training lead and
direct project operations, use SS tools, DMAIC, and can be team leaders.
• Green belts – Functional employees who are trained in SS techniques, work on SS
projects part time or for their site or production expertise.
• Other team members – from various functions that link to the SS project
 Six Sigma team positions
Position Responsibility Definition
Champion Advocate The person initiating a concept or idea for change or improvement
Sponsor Backer : Risk The person who supports a team’s plans, activities and outcomes
Taker
Team Leader Change agent: Person who selects the team members, responsible for team outcomes, is
Head of group trusted, has authority in and for the team, an active team member,
communicator and prepares and records team meeting and progress
Facilitator Trainer / Coach : Observes and monitors team processes, provides helpful intervention, provides
Adviser balance and health to the team, provides conflict management and resolution

Timekeeper Monitor To watch the use of allocated time, keep team members to schedule
Scribe Note taker Records and distributes the critical data of meetings
Team member Participant : Selected to work together for the teams goal, in an environment of mutual
subject expert respect, sharing of expertise, cooperation and support
 Key Skills
• Team leaders and members have to practice the skills required for productive team work
at every meeting and while performing their roles.
• Conflict management and leadership if exerted successfully will reduce disharmony and
keep work on schedule. Negotiation is a key skills to secure resources and allow
timeframes to be met.
Team Leaders Team members in meetings
Conflict management and resolution skills Use agendas
Team management Have a facilitator
Leadership skills Take minutes
Decision making Draft next agenda
Communication Evaluate the meeting
Negotiation Total commitment (100 Mile rule)
Cross-cultural training
 Engagement in process excellence
• People are key to process excellence and project success.
• Team members need to know how to do as much as what to do.
• Compared to the technical skills, the soft skills – those that involve
people – such as project management and team facilitation are more
difficult to teach and learn.
• This includes understanding the roles of shared visions and peoples
behavior and to take a process view of work and performance.
• These skills need knowledge and practice – the idea of study, learn and
psychology as part of Deming's view of quality.

SHORTCASE: YOU WANT US TO WORK WITH MARKETING???

 Assessing Workforce Engagement, Satisfaction and
Effectiveness
• Measures of employee engagement and satisfaction allow companies to predict
customer satisfaction, identify issues that have the greatest impact on business
performance, and provide a foundation for improvement.
• Uses hard data – team numbers, rates of growth, & of employees involved,
implementation time, # of suggestions responded to - and
• Soft measures such as, perceptions of team work, engagement satisfaction, and
empowerment.
– Satisfaction criteria may include:
• Quality of work-life, teamwork, communications, training, leadership, compensation, benefits, internal
suppliers and customers view and perceptions
– Effectiveness criteria may include:
• Team and individual behaviors; cost, quality, and productivity improvements; employee turnover;
suggestions; training effectiveness
• Data is gathered by surveys, focus groups and informal walk-arounds. These methods
allow the “voice of the employee” be heard, with results used for job design and
retention as well as improvement and planning activities.
 Summary
• The role of HR is important for in the quality environment of a high
performing company.
• Quality workplace practices challenge many traditional or Taylorist work
practices
• In quality workplaces collaboration, team work, and learning are key
elements of HR and performance strategies.
• These include practices such as empowerment, engagement, involvement
and motivation.
• High performance work systems use a number of practices to achieve
Flexibility, Innovation, Knowledge and skill sharing, Organizational alignment
and Customer focus.
 Summary
• Job enlargement, enrichment and rotation are strategies to improve job
design.
• System design takes into account task significance, variety, autonomy and
feedback, contributing to higher motivation, satisfaction and effectiveness
e.g. Hackman/Oldham Model for Job Design
• A focus on training, recognition and reward is also important.
• Performance appraisal becomes effectiveness based, with measurable
criteria and connections to customers, suppliers and behaviors.
• Improved data collection techniques provide appraisal data using surveys,
focus groups and “walking around” to gather the “voice of the employee”.