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by Kenneth Heymann
IN READING THROUGH the various articles written in the last several months about quality
management (QM), most seem to be driven by a focus on one of three components of the QM process:
(1) the importance of establishing and using standards, (2) the need for quality teams
or circles, and (3) the value of empowering employees. While most of the articles address
the process an organization must go through in implementing one of those approaches to overcome
resistance, ensure organizational support, or maximize the value of the process, this tendency
to focus on one particular method often fails to help organizations for which a particular path
may not be viable or where circumstances may require addressing a different weakness. More important,
no single method, standing alone, truly provides an appropriate solution for all organizations looking
to develop a QM system.
What's lacking, then, is an effective and comprehensible model that delineates the
key issues in developing a quality-assurance process — that is, a model that enables
each organization to tailor the process to its unique circumstances and serves
as a guideline for future action.
Unlike past approaches to quality management, the hospitality industry can no longer look
to manufacturing firms for guidance. The approaches that make sense for an organization where the
product is tangible and can be inventoried do not always translate into the service environment.
Over time, I have developed a QM model for hospitality enterprises, the foundation
of which is grounded in the following tenets:
- Guest expectations will continue to rise and successful hotel companies will drive
these rising expectations;
- Today's organizations have to develop a positive, adaptive culture that is the foundation
of continuous improvement; and
- Large-scale change requires a comprehensive, well-disciplined approach that managers
can understand and use in today's complex environment. Creating and maintaining
organization-wide effectiveness requires an integrated approach involving the ten key
components listed below. While improving any single component may lead to better performance,
a comprehensive organizational transformation requires action on all ten.
- Establish a culture of quality,
- Develop a team orientation,
- Develop leadership skills,
- Develop customer-driven policies and procedures,
- Set standards,
- Develop human resources,
- Plan for quality,
- Build systems to measure achievement,
- Evaluate performance to improve performance, and
- Build reward and recognition systems.
The first three elements make up the informal components of an organizational response to
quality management. They address the basic aspects of how people work together to accomplish
their goals and objectives. The remaining seven deal with the organization's systems and procedures
used in day-to-day operations.
The model presented here has been developed over several years through work with clients, conversations
with associates, and readings from various journals and books.
While the model is presented sequentially,
organizations choose to address their particular shortcomings in a fashion that best suits their needs.
Establish a Culture of Quality
Driven by leadership's vision, an organization needs to create a positive, innovative environment that
promotes continuous improvement. Culture depends on how the organization's image is described by top
management; how the organization
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is known to its guests, employees, and others; what makes the people in
the organization feel successful; and what it feels like to work for the organization. Culture is determined by operating philosophy and is evident in daily behavior. In an effective QM
culture, everyone is treated with respect—everyone is encouraged to contribute and is recognized for his or
her individual contribution. The classic hierarchical structure is flattened (though not entirely eliminated)
to reduce the layers between upper management and line employees.
Creating a culture of quality is not, however, an overnight adjustment. One cannot simply implement an
open-door policy, set up employee committees, or send a memo telling everyone to change. Change requires that
managers rethink their roles and their behavior. Managers who pay lip service to the notion that one should
praise in public and criticize in private should not publicly berate employees
they believe have performed inadequately just because unusual circumstances, they think, allow them to behave this way. (An exception would be if there is a clear, direct danger posed by the behavior.)
Managers have to learn to look at systems and structures that create problems and work to solve those problems. They have to learn to provide innovative solutions to persistent problems. They have to work at sharing their expertise and recognize that employees are interested participants in their own labor. Managers need to remember that, in most cases they, too, were once line employees with new ideas and valuable input.
The first step in developing a culture of quality is to formulate a clear vision statement and to communicate that to the people working at a property (or for an organization). An effective and meaningful vision statement can be developed in a day or less. The process involves bringing together key executives, at the property or corporate level, and asking them to articulate the guiding principles by which they want to do business. In developing vision statements, two primary outcomes are sought:
- Upper management comes to grips with the essential concerns of the groups that have a stake in the organization (company or property staff, the surrounding community, stockholders, and other interested parties) to determine how best to serve them; and
- Participants discover the essential common values that bind them to the organization
The vision statement should be reviewed with all levels of employees, posted where appropriate, and referred to as decisions are made. Those in an organization must then learn how to critique and test it against the values articulated in that vision on a regular basis.
When a property with which I worked developed a plan to raise average rate and, ultimately, gain a fifth star and diamond, one of its first steps was to develop a vision statement. That statement was then discussed with all managers and employees and is regularly referred to as decisions are discussed and more-detailed plans made.
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