High-tech is in chaos. Something similar is happening in hospitals (health care in general), manufacturing, education and the list goes on. While each has focused on saving money, the financial problems have magnified. What happens to quality in the midst of this? Marvin Weisbord, author of Productive Workplaces, has an interesting perspective. "If you focus on saving money as a way of improving quality, expenses go up and quality goes down. If you focus on your people as a way of improving quality, quality goes up and costs go down.”

There has to be a better way. How leaders manage is far more significant than the work that they do. How a leader builds support for change or direction, how he handles a cutback, how he inspires and how he values his workforce are transparent to the entire population in the organization. His attitude about what is important is the very thing that drives quality. If he doesn't value his people they in turn won't value their work. From the bottom looking up, what people see is that they really are dispensable and therefore not important. Quality work is a result of how they feel about themselves in the context of the organization that they work in. If they perceive themselves to be valued less, they put less effort into the quality of their work.

You already know that quality is critical to customer satisfaction. The result of poor quality in product or service is fewer sales. Fewer sales mean reorganization. Reorganization means layoffs and fewer people managing the day-to-day operations. Consider what you have without your employees – a structure without life – no product, no sales, no profit, no growth and no viable economy. How do we create productive workplaces in the midst of a downturn? How do we turn it around? Where does a leader begin?

Following are a few thoughts that came from one of my mentors, the late W. Edwards Deming, well known for the 14 principles of quality management.

When a leader is bringing about a major, or even moderate change he needs to take into account what Deming calls "Profound Knowledge” – success depends on four things. He needs to understand how his employees think, how they learn, and the system in which they work. There also is a need for a process of measurement. Operational managers across North America adopted the ‘quick fix' method to bring about change and focused on measurement only. With Profound Knowledge in mind I have listed some steps to help leaders maintain high levels of quality in the midst of what seems like chaos.

Pay attention to your people. Find ways to ask them directly about what they are dealing with. Identify their real beliefs. Don't assume you know their situation as a result of speaking with their managers. Let them know when talking with them that you don't have all the answers. They will then be more willing to tell you what's really happening at the front line. Leaders need to know this first-hand to make good decisions about moving the company forward.

Look beyond your organization. Dr. Deming often noted, "Systems can't see themselves. They need people from inside and from outside their system to help them stay focused and in integrity. To help your workforce commit to change, consider using an outside facilitator that doesn't know your political situation. Make sure this person is skilled in managing the people side of change.

Recognize the dependency on quantitative measurement. If you're focusing on numbers alone or discrediting anything without numerical proof you're missing a major piece. Expand measurement to include both quantitative and qualitative measurements. Qualitative measurements are inherent in people's stories about what they believe to be true in their organization. Remember that perception is their reality. If they think you don't care then they are going to give less.

Examine the real costs. People respond according to what is going on inside them – worry, fear, anger and distorted perceptions that result from downsizing. Develop a method of tallying these qualitative items that always impact the bottom line. Go back to the first item so you can take into account the human side of change.

Management's role is to create an environment where quality can flourish. When a piece of equipment breaks there is a plethora of people that appear to correct it. When a team is dealing with turf issues or role responsibilities as a result of downsizing, expansion, takeover or a merger, a similar process is rarely available. In response to employee attitudes and people problems on a team, leaders often react without full awareness of the financial impact on their actions. You have an opportunity here. Shift can happen depending on how you manage it. Take one step at a time with the direction intact. Just do it.

One good idea to get your whole team in the right direction and pass your message clearly to all of them while you socialize and improve your relationships is to make an event with a motivational speaker. If you are looking for a good professional to help you with this, try checking Richard Jadick.

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