“I wish Quality was easy; unfortunately
it is a hot and sweaty job!” Dr.
Noriaki Kano of the Science University of Tokyo often made this statement to
emphasize that performance improvement is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work
and dedication to excellence. Are the results of this extra effort worth it? An
objective evaluation from three perspectives is useful to document the value of
efforts expended versus results. Keep in mind that we are not talking about
“quick fixes” but sustainable, long-term results.
Customer Perspective
The efforts are probably not worthwhile if they are not apparent to the
customers. Surveys, focus groups, and face-to-face meetings can be used to
measure reliability, performance, timeliness, value, defect levels, complaint
resolution, etc. Additional internal data can be collected on retention of
customers, gains/losses of customers, warranty costs, service costs, and number
of complaints.
Workforce Perspective
Trade, industry, or local data can be accessed to compare to data from
your organization to measure workforce perspective. Factors to be considered
are turnover, safety, absenteeism, employee satisfaction, grievances, and
organizational and personal learning.
Business Perspective
Key financial measurements such as return on investment (ROI), return on
assets (ROA), revenue, profit and loss, cash flow, and growth are important and
easy to measure but are not the only important measurements. Collection times,
write-offs, budget tracking, societal responsibilities, meeting key objectives,
and compliance with environment, legal, and government requirements are also
important to measure.
Because change is gradual, benefits of performance improvement efforts
are not truly appreciated unless objective evaluation measures are in place.
Armed with this data, organizations can evaluate their achievements. If the
return on investment in time and effort are deemed worthwhile, they can
re-dedicate themselves to continue their journey to performance excellence and
advance to the next level.
No task is quite so “hot and sweaty” when you can see beneficial
results.
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