We often ask our clients and their staff "What is quality?" The answers are usually all the same; they tell us about products fit for purpose, good quality services and happy customers etc. While these things are all a reflection of quality, we believe that quality is a culture or set of beliefs which must be adopted and be "Front of mind" for all staff before you have a quality organisation. Ask your staff "What do you hope to achieve when you come to work, what is your goal?" We believe there is only one answer which truly reflects a quality culture and that is "To make this organisation great." Imaging how exciting it would be if all of your staff had this philosophy in mind as they performed each task. This is not impossible to achieve, however it takes a determined and committed effort by management along with a fair amount of staff education and your staff will never adopt this philosophy if you treat them badly. The most important tool for supporting a quality philosophy in any organisation is a robust quality management system.

In other words:

if your staff are managed in such a way as to make them feel valued, engaged and empowered,
you provide them with a good understanding of what quality is about through good quality education,
you demonstrate that you are committed to and support the quality philosophy and them and
you implement a robust cost-efficient quality management system

you will have an organisation where:

your staff are valued and engaged and work hard to make your organisation great,
your products and services will improve in quality
your organisation will become more efficient and cost effective as the amount of rework, waste, staff absenteeism and customer complaints reduce dramatically saving considerable costs.