Human Resources and Quality Management
Product and service quality as well as productivity have been recognized by executive managers as the major issues that influence the success of a business organization (Bowen & Lawyer, 1992). Improvement of technical systems is a prime focus of quality management initiatives. A focus on information technology, products and processes in most cases lead to positive changes in quality. The product’s value is principally dictated by both the employee input and technology.
United States’ companies are global leaders in technology and, therefore, factors associated with poor quality of product development often stem from issues surrounding employee input, a major factor in attainment of zero variance in quality. These may comprise ineffectiveness in use of technology, negative attitudes and poor inter-personnel interactions or communication. In this regard, employee participation management is highly valued in quality management than the technology-based computer tracking systems of quality. Human resource management can influence revenue and quality outcomes through training, rewards and discretion (Batt & Moynihan, 2006).
The significance of human resources in quality management is based on the concept of zero-variance which is basically the design of processes in focus of preventive rather than corrective approaches to quality management (Samuel & Suganthi, 2004). Attaining a zero variance in product or service quality is not an instant result. Rather, it takes time of continuous positive changes to quality processes. Therefore, a good quality management approach should improve process control, reduce costs, lower wastage, promote training, facilitate participation, improve staff motivation and improve market performance (Oakland, 2003).
In a survey dubbed “Gallup” done by the American Society for Quality Control, findings cited by the 615 chief executive officers, study participants, placed issues related to employee performance as the top factors affecting quality outcome of a product. Changes in employee motivational methods, organizational culture, employee education, process control, and increased expenditure on capital ranked top five scoring 85,82,74,53 and 45 percentages in the same order of list Bowen & Lawyer, 1992).
The Baldridge Quality Award, US’s most prestigious award managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), uses human resource development as one of the criteria for assessment of organizational quality standards (Oakland, 2003). It is an important component of the assessment tool considering that it carries a weight of one hundred and fifty points out of the total 1000. The Baldridge Award, as relates to human resources, examines the quality of processes in which organizations have placed on utilization of employee potential, participation, personal and organizational development, and leadership development. The focus of Baldridge is zero variance in quality management practices. The human resource management, therefore, should be restructured to reflect the principles of total quality management so that HR practices must always facilitate zero-variance in total organizational quality.
However, there are suggestions that human resource management may not be the best department to be entrusted with quality management responsibility. Philip Crosby, a quality control expert, made an observation that human resource departments are unconsciously tied-up in its traditional regulatory role within an organization (Bowen & Lawyer, 1992). Crosby compared human resource department together with the purchasing departments with robots acting unconscious of its internal processes. It is a case of a doctor trying to treat himself or herself. He particularly singled out the executive managers running the HR departments as the stumbling blocks. Perhaps, this observation may explain the reason why many organizations have not entrusted the human resources department with the lead role in quality management. Instead new management units are formed to manage quality control issues.
There are additional reasons that have been observed to disqualify the human resource department from handling total organizational quality management. First, the human resource functions are highly specialized and different from other functions of the organization. Therefore, human resource executives and support personnel may not be able to add value to functions in other specialized departments. In addition, human resource executives in many organizations do not report to the CEO and as such do not attend most of meetings.
Although this is changing in some institutions, it is a trend that makes the HR department unable to perceive the organization’s general competitive advantage. Personnel serving in the department may perceive extension of their duty as a threat to their traditional role (Pudelko & Harzing, 2009). In many institutions, the human resource management is highly semi-autonomous with well defined authority and responsibilities. From this perspective, it may be impossible introduce participative approach, an important component of quality control, into the department.
The third reason is that the HR personnel often perceive themselves as powerless and have low self esteem as regards the enormous responsibility to manage the overall organizational quality (Bowen & Lawyer, 1992). They feel unable or unqualified to take up leadership role on what is perceived as an important corporate issue. In reality they are correct and executive company managers may feel that it is not right and safe to entirely leave quality management issues to the HR department.
In view of the discussed research findings and statements of perception made by various quality management experts, an integrated system that incorporates the human resource department should be developed. Necessary adjustments must be made within the human resource department in order to align it with the total quality management system of an organization. Programs in both the quality and human resource management must not be independent but instead synchronized. The principal focal points should be participation by employees and total quality management.
In conclusion, human resource development and management provides a crucial opportunity for creating systems that guarantees sustained quality control and management. This potential can be harnessed if the department responsible for the management of human resources strives to achieve quality standards in its own internal processes. This can be done through incorporation of the quality control procedures and principles into human resource management processes. The approach can be extended to the entire organization through the design of processes or practices that are focused on total quality. In order to realize total quality in human resource, response strategies must influence practices in recruitment, training, reward system and other practices under the control of the HR department.
References
Batt, R. & Moynihan, L. M. (2006). “Human Resource Management, Service Quality, and
Economic Performance in Call Centers”. Working Paper, CAHRS 06(01). New York:
Cornell University
Bowen, D. & Lawyer, E. (1992). “Total Quality-Oriented Human Resource Management”. Los
Angeles, CA: Center for Effective Management
Oakland, J. S. (2003). “Total Quality Management (3rd ed.)”Burlington, MA: Butterworth-
Heinemann
Pudelko, M. & Harzing, A. W. (2009). “Japanese Human Resource Management”. London:
Routledge
Samuel, A. & Suganthi, L. (2004). “Total Quality Management”. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall
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