Action Planning: A Quality Improvement Project Essay

Action Plan Introduction

Fostering quality improvement and promoting the notion of unceasing innovation and improvement in the organizational setting has always been a challenge for most companies. Apart from the difficulties in incorporating innovative technology into the existing SCM and changing its infrastructure accordingly to ensure that innovative solutions will lead to improvements and not further impediments, a change in employee behaviors and attitudes is needed. Therefore, the process of quality improvement should be aligned with a change in the corporate philosophy and the promotion of organizational values defined by the need for unceasing enhancement of performance and continuous learning (Servera-Francés & Piqueras-Tomás, 2019). By focusing on the promotion of relevant values along with opportunities for professional development and appropriate control tools, an organization will be able to implement an action plan for quality improvement effectively.

This action plan will be geared toward creating the environment and the leadership approach that will cause the performance rates in staff members to rise. Specifically, the plan will aim at introducing the quality management framework that will set the pace for incremental improvement in the company, therefore, altering its philosophy and inspiring employees to join the process of unceasing skill development (Goestjahjanti et al., 2020). It is expected that, apart from leading to a rise in performance quality rates, the proposed action plan will also provide the basis for staff members to accept the option of self-directed learning (Caruso, 2018; Wheelen et al., 2014). As a result, the program is expected to adders not only the current issue of quality improvement but also a vital part of the human resource management (HRM) framework, namely, the focus on talent management and employee development.

Program Objective

The main goal of the program in question is to promote further quality improvement and minimize the number of defects occurring in the course of the production process. Specifically, standards for quality management during the production process will be outlined and made available to all team members so that they can familiarize themselves with the new rules (Wheelen et al., 2014). Additionally, the program will aim at introducing the concept of unceasing positive change as the main tenet of the corporate philosophy and an indispensable part of the contemporary business setting.

Thus, employees will be prepared for the change in the direction of the company’s development, and therefore, will be less reluctant to accept the described alterations in the performance management process (Vos & Rupert, 2018). At the same time, it would be a glaring mistake to assume that employees will display no resistance to change whatsoever. On the contrary, as a manager and a team leader, one should expect a significant rise in the levels of discontent among staff members due to the increase in responsibilities and demands (Hussain et al., 2018). Given the fact that the company contracts remote staff members, which suggests less tight control over their organizational behaviors, the issue with staff resistance to change and their failure to accept the offered organizational values becomes highly relevant.

In this regard, a change in the personal leadership approach will be a welcome addition to the overall action plan framework. Specifically, by introducing a personal example of ethical decision-making, quality management, and compliance with the newly established principles, one will be able to build the grounds for a significant shift in employees’ behaviors and attitudes (Peng et al., 2021). Therefore, changes in the personal approach toward task management and the related concerns should be regarded as the objective of utmost importance, along with the introduction of an improvement-oriented corporate philosophy.

Program Activities

The key program activities will include ten core training frameworks in which all staff members will have to participate in order to build the much-needed skillset. Specifically, the program activities will include the tasks geared at promoting innovation-based decision-making, promotion of independence and self-reliance in quality management during the production process, and active communication to avoid possible misunderstandings and delays. Specifically, the following steps will be taken:

1. Developing appropriate technology-related skills
2. Building attention and the related skills for noticing defects
3. Introducing effective communication tools
4. Researching and promoting collaboration-oriented conflict management strategies
5. Incorporating the Six Sigma quality management model;
6. Encouraging self-reflection in staff members to boot the extent of quality in their performance;
7. Developing a system for regular audits, checks, and tests of the product quality;
8. Fostering the principles of self-directed and self-managed learning in team members;
9. Promoting cross-disciplinary dialogue;
10. Emphasizing the role of discussions and reflection on the performance outcomes.

It is expected that the proposed approach will guide team members and a leader toward an improved performance due to the shift in values, perspectives, and priorities. Specifically, with the reinforcement of the concepts of incremental innovation and continuous self-directed and self-managed learning, staff members will be able to make a conscious choice of continuing their professional development and recognize the significance of increasing their professional value (Morris, 2019). Moreover, the proposed change to the target organizational context will imply that the principles of effective collaboration and, therefore, more accurate and careful management of data will be introduced into the target setting (Wheelen et al., 2014). The specified change will be supported particularly strongly by the Six Sigma framework, which implies locking an organization in a continuous cycle of performance improvement, therefore, setting the pace and premise for the introduction of incremental innovation as the fundamental element of the corporate philosophy. Implying the possibility of two scenarios, namely, the promotion of change in perspective alone (“define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control” (DMAIC)) and the integration of broader product diversity (“Define, Measure, Analyze, design, Verify” (DMADV)), Six Sigma offers a strong and effective framework for developing resilience to change and shifting the corporate perspective toward an innovation-oriented outlook (Kartika et al., 2020). Therefore, the use of the Six Sigma tool should be regarded as a critical step in promoting change in the target setting as a part of the action plan.

Additionally, the focus on communication will require integrating several innovative communication tools for more effective data management. Namely, to improve the quality and consistency of the interdisciplinary dialogue within the team, tools such as intranet software, 24/7 chats, and software such as Skype and Zoom will be utilized to provide opportunities for keeping the dialogue running (Waititu, 2020). Thus, the communication process will reflect the key changes within the company, allowing to keep all participants updated and ensuring that all departments function cohesively.

Action Steps

In order to implement the changes described above, a series of crucial steps will have to be taken. Specifically, it will be necessary to reevaluate the corporate vision and mission so that they can reflect the new principles of innovation, cost-efficiency, and effective resource management. In conjunction with the specified changes, an analysis of the financial performance will be carried out to ensure that the available resources are sufficient and are carefully distributed within the organization and the team to support the change.

The second step will involve the development and introduction of the quality improvement model. Based on the Six Sigma approach mentioned above, the quality improvement framework will represent a cycle in which innovation as the organizational policy and the principle of the team’s functioning will be perpetuated (Park et al., 2020). The next stage of the action plan will involve changing the philosophy to that one of incremental innovation and constant improvement supported by a combination of Transformational and Situational Leadership (Kovach, 2018). At the specified stage, the process of meeting the needs of staff members will be monitored carefully to ensure that resistance to change is managed and that satisfaction rates are kept at the needed level.

The fourth step will imply selecting key change agents and inspiring them to motivate others. Finally, the fifth step will require developing a quality control tool that will allow monitoring the target environment and ensuring that the key goals are met and that the new quality standards are followed precisely (Hole et al., 2018). For this purpose, the use of reports and trend analysis must be considered.

With the help of the proposed changes, a significant improvement in the quality of the products offered by the company is expected. Namely, the change under analysis is believed to produce a shift in employees’ perception of the idea of innovation and the importance of upgrading their skills. Furthermore, the staff members are expected to acquire a sense of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as the direct effect of the enhancement of corporate ethics and values.

References

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