Intellect |Blog |Healthy Workplace Culture |Quality and Productivity
Blog: Interneer blog
As we have discussed elsewhere, building a positive workplace culture is a long-term commitment. It requires constant care and nurturing to ensure that people from the top of the organization to the front lines are speaking and acting in alignment with the company’s core values. We often like to look at workplace culture from different angles, as it can shed new light on the challenge of developing and nurturing a positive culture of quality.
Here are three key factors that we see contributing to that winning spirit:
1- Make Work Meaningful
People naturally want to find purpose and meaning in the activities they perform everyday. They want to know that what they do matters. I recently spoke to a sales representative for a small advertising company that caters to small business clients. Challenged by what she had once referred to as “the daily grind”, this sales rep decided to reframe her work experience around the service she was providing to the small business owners with whom she interacted every day. She began to focus on the value that she was providing to those clients, and on the ways she was contributing to the fulfillment of their aspirations in life. She began to connect with them on a deeper level. She began to see that the work she did was important.
That shift in thinking led to a completely different attitude about her job. She no longer thought of it as “the daily grind”. Perhaps just as importantly, it led to vastly improved sales performance. When she discovered the meaning behind her daily work activities, she found inspiration. She stepped up her game and delivered excellence.
Perhaps more than any other role in the company, quality managers and customer service teams have an opportunity to help employees understand the connection between their day-to-day work and the value that work generates in the lives of customers and other stakeholders. Quality programs are about delivering value. They are about excellence, and the pursuit of continuous improvement. It may not always be easy to convey that; but when employees are able to see the value in what they do, it sparks a spirit of enthusiasm that tends to spread throughout an organization.
2- See Opportunities Instead of Problems
All too often, we hear of organizations where finger-pointing is the norm and problems are frequently swept under the rug. That’s not a pleasant environment in which to work. Instead of addressing real issues, it keeps people focused on avoiding blame and maintaining positive appearances.
A healthy culture of quality, in contrast, encourages discovery. To be sure, problems exist in all workplaces; but the way an organization confronts those problems makes all the difference. Great athletes don’t dwell on their losses, — they learn from them. They reflect and analyze. They always continue to ask “What could I have done differently?” and “How can I do better?”
Great companies, likewise, are focused on continuous improvement. They have a persistent desire to be better. Effective quality programs are integral to that process. A healthy culture of quality encourages questions, it invites suggestions, and it welcomes feedback.
3- Use the Right Tools
Putting that philosophy into practice requires intentional planning and a well-considered supporting structure. QMS provides that framework for continuous improvement, — but in order to be effective, quality programs must work the way people work. QMS should not add friction to work processes. On the contrary, quality management tools should make people more productive. They should conform to the company, the process, and the user.
At Intellect, we’ve built extreme configurability into all of our tools. With QMS 4.0, we offer a core set of applications for quality management that can easily be tailored to work the way you do. They don’t require custom code or specialized IT skills. The Intellect Platform takes that flexibility even further, enabling our customers to design custom applications around a simple but powerful platform.
When you make it easy for people within your company to work with QMS, and when you provide tools and processes the contribute to workplace excellence, your team will embrace quality.
If your organization is striving to strengthen your culture of quality, Intellect can help. Contact us today to learn more.
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