Masonry Magazine February 1995 Page. 11
How can we get the results we want with the resources we have?
How can we get the results we want with the resources we have? And how can we motivate our major resource—our employees—to make our company more profitable? We spend big money on salaries but very little time on helping our employees maximizing their potential and our profits. We are wasting time, losing money, and frustrating people. How can we change this?
One answer (and we think the best) is to use the principles of the Quality Process to Implement Quality Team Building at your company. Traditionally, owners and managers have held their businesses close to their chests. They know how to run their business their way—they've done it that way ever since they've been in business—and it's hard for them to let go.
How many of us use the "My way or the highway" philosophy of management? And we wonder why our employees aren't motivated. We practice mushroom management—we keep our employees in the dark and occasionally feed them garbage. This doesn't sound like it should work and it doesn't.
For those of you who have attended one of MCAA's Quality Institutes (co-sponsored with NCMA), you know that the Quality Process provides you with an excellent opportunity to: Increase customer satisfaction and loyalty; Improve the operating efficiency of your company; Increase your profitability; and Make your business life more enjoyable.
But you can't get these benefits without a price. And the price you pay is change. In order to have the Quality Process work for you, you must change. One of the biggest changes you will have to make to gain the benefits of Quality is recognizing the importance of involving your employees in the success of your company. This will not be easy—but the rewards are worth the effort.
If you do decide to implement the Quality Process and adopt a Quality Team-Building approach to management, you will be asked to look at your employees in an entirely new light: First, you must see your employees as your internal customers. Your internal customers provide you with your connection to your external customers. Without the internal customers you wouldn't have external customers.
Next, you must see your employees as a source of increased profitability. Your employees represent one of your biggest costs and can substantially affect your profitability. Your external customers are responsible for your gross revenue—but your internal customers are responsible for profit. In our Quality training, we promise improved profitability—not by raising prices, but by increasing external customer satisfaction and internal customer efficiency.
You must see your employees as valuable assets of your company. And, like any other asset, this asset must be cared for and nurtured. The Quality Process calls for you to sub-
Quality Team Building
How many of us use the "My way or the highway" philosophy of management -- and then wonder why our employees aren't motivated? We Practice mushroom management by keeping our employees in the dark and occasionally feeding them garbage.
By ALFRED R. ROACH JR. Callahan/Roach & Associates
MASONRY JANUARY/FEBRUARY, 1995 11