‘Accidental managers’ aren’t uncommon. Employees who perform well are often rewarded with promotions into line manager roles, project management roles or quality manager roles.
Unfortunately, these promotions don’t always come with adequate training. And although the employee might have the enthusiasm and capability required for the role, they don’t always have the knowledge or experience. They are thrown in at the deep end and left to sink or swim.
The ‘baptism by fire’ approach might seem like a great idea, but when it comes to quality management, it could end up being extremely detrimental to your employee and your business.
What could possibly go wrong?
Having an accidental quality manager isn’t bad but leaving them to figure things out alone is a dangerous strategy.
Quality management isn’t simply about maintaining systems and databases to ensure that data is being recorded accurately. Quality management is understanding how to utilise that data to inform business decisions. It’s about evaluation and continuous improvement.
If your quality manager only has limited knowledge of the tools and resources available and no experience of what best practice looks like, how can they develop effective quality management systems?
And if you don’t have robust systems, you can end up with substandard products and services. Substandard products and services result in higher waste, higher costs, higher complaint rates, and lower customer satisfaction.
Address the knowledge gaps
A successful quality management system ensures consistency in quality, resulting in lower waste, higher customer satisfaction, and increased profits.
But your quality manager cannot successfully take charge of your quality management system if they do not fully understand it.
All the enthusiasm in the world won’t make up for gaps in their knowledge. So if you’ve recently appointed a quality manager with limited experience, then the first step is addressing those gaps.
Identify training and development opportunities that will allow them to thrive in the role and develop a quality management system that benefits your business.
Make quality everybody’s responsibility
You can support your quality manager by making quality everybody’s responsibility. Don’t silo quality management – ensure every team member is focused on delivering quality products and services, regardless of their role.
Encourage a collaborative approach to quality management and make continuous improvement part of your company culture.
Work with your quality manager. Rather than viewing audits as tick-box exercises, view them as an opportunity to improve. Why isn’t this working the way it should? What is preventing success in this area? How can we improve this process so it is still fit for purpose but doesn’t create unnecessary work for our teams?
Understanding ISO frameworks
Regardless of whether an organisation wants ISO certification or not, the ISO frameworks create robust foundations on which to build a world-class business. After all, ISO 9001 is the internationally recognised standard for quality.
The overriding purpose of ISO 9001 is to ensure quality, so it stands to reason that if your business implements the framework, you’ll deliver a more consistent quality of products and services, which leads to:
• Higher customer satisfaction and fewer complaints
• Improved customer acquisition and retention
• Increased customer value
• Better reputation
• Increased profits
Implementing ISO frameworks requires someone to take ownership of the quality management system. But that doesn’t mean only one person in the organisation should understand the methodology.
If you are considering ISO certification, or you have certification and want to retain it, make sure your quality manager understands the methodology, but take time to understand it yourself too.
How the Systems Link can help
Quality isn’t limited to your products and services. Quality should extend to every aspect of your business, including how you support your teams. And that should include the way you support your quality manager.
I can work with your quality manager on an ad-hoc or retained basis to help build their confidence and competence. I’ll help identify their knowledge and skill gaps and put a plan in place to address those.
I can also analyse your quality management systems to identify areas for opportunity and improvement and prepare you for ISO certification or recertification if that’s your goal.
If you’d like to learn more about how I can support you and your teams in implementing effective quality management systems and achieving ISO certification or recertification, get in touch.
