<p>An optimist would say that the nice thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from.&nbsp; TQM, ISO-9000, Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement, Malcolm Baldrige &nbsp;.... ad infinitum or nauseum depending on your point of view.</p> <p>If you have a six sigma quality product that nobody wants to buy - is that a quality product?&nbsp; The classical tree falling in the forest and does it make a sound if nobody hears it.&nbsp; Point I am trying to make is that you can massage your business processes all you want but if you don't consider your customer base up front it won't make one iota of difference.&nbsp; Jerry Seinfeld said "Look to the cookie!"&nbsp; Translate that to look to the customer.&nbsp; My business model looks to the customer first and then to delivery of the product or service to the customer.</p> <p>I am including a paraphrasing of a portion of an article I wrote about the Ritz Carlton about a sense of quality that this business has attained over the years.</p> <p>Ever step into a place of business and sense something different about it?&nbsp; At first it's difficult to put a finger on it, but it's there ... it can be felt.</p> <p>What we have experienced, to borrow a concept from quantum physics, is an organizationally developed customer service energy field. Our receptors are activated when stepping into such a field where the energy levels are high.&nbsp; This energy field is not something that just materializes.&nbsp; The field exists as a result of the employee's activities being structured so that behaviors oriented towards service happen when their individual energy fields interact with their customer service field.</p> <p>From the moment you pull up to the entrance, the Ritz experience begins.</p> <p>A lofty but attainable goal for any business.&nbsp; How do they do it?&nbsp; It begins with the employee selection criteria where the guideline could be described as "Hire the Attitude" then "Train the Skills".&nbsp; The mission and vision are burned into the employees from day one and as you can imagine they are all quality oriented and customer centric.&nbsp; "The Ritz-Carlton's 20 Gold Standards communicate the value system that the culture is to adopt in going about their daily business activities.&nbsp; The Credo sets the goals while the Gold Standards enable the goals to be put into action." &nbsp;&nbsp;If you are an employee and are walking by a kitchen (sometimes there can be 4 or more kitchens in a facility) and you have a few moments, you are expected to pitch in by setting up trays for room service delivery based on visual charts of tray layouts posted above the utensils and trays.&nbsp; If a customer complains to you about something, you own that complaint and have to resolve the situation based on your level of empowerment.</p> <p>The customer is the point of action (POA) and where the quality has to be focused.&nbsp; You can change your dance routines all you want but if it doesn't provide a quality boost to the customer then maybe you should reconsider it being part of the proposed plan.</p> 2008-09-19T14:04:45Z -17.7746 371 1700 true 6 17530 pudding-on-the-ritz-a-comp-ed-dessert 2 2008-09-19T14:38:50Z 2008-09-19T14:38:50Z

Someone once wrote a book about not knowing how to describe quality but that they would know it if they saw it.

0 2009-02-24T09:46:05Z