Cultivating a Quality Culture: QMS Series Part 4 of 4

What Does it Mean to Have a Quality Culture?

Is it even possible to achieve a genuine quality culture within your business? While it may seem achievable to ensure all levels of a business are quality driven, there are incredible benefits for employees and customers when it comes to instilling and cultivating a quality culture.

August 10, 2023

What is a Quality Culture?

For HBI, a quality culture is the collaboration of all employees, exemplifying a working behavior and belief that no matter which department or area of expertise one is in, you continuously aspire to be your best. Simply put, it’s when your team prioritizes quality. Regardless of your employee position or workplace responsibilities, quality permeates the organization, and you are constantly exerting yourself to do all you can to “give it your all.”

Why Does a Quality Culture Matter?

Fostering an organization’s quality culture provides all employees strength and empowerment. Feeling valued and connected to a business enables employees to deliver customers a quality experience, services, and products. Employees within an organization that have a sense of belonging are much more apt to stick around. Retention of employees that feel appreciated is much higher and allows for consistency within an organization.

Of course, delivering quality products to customers is very important; however, so is operational efficiency and employee excellence. Striving to improve as an employee and implementing best practices to cultivate a quality culture will invite your team to grow as trends evolve.

Be a Quality Leader

Successful leadership and organization are at the core of any robust and thriving business. The definitive structure of a business, along with explicit guidelines, processes, and procedures for operating, is the best way to start. Providing employees with opportunities to be successful and flourish establishes a foundation of quality within your system and simultaneously encourages these quality practices to become habits, supporting business quality initiatives.

As the saying goes, “Practice what you preach.” Set the expectation and model the expected quality performance. Be a proactive leader of quality. Identify the vision of quality, communicate desired behaviors and practices, and lead by example.

Identifying “Quality” Responsibilities

Implementing a quality culture starts with communication. How can employees understand their expectations if they don’t know what they’re responsible for? Conveying quality expectations within each department, outlining specific responsibilities for those positions, and offering examples of how they can achieve results will encourage the transition towards a quality culture. Offer suggestions, collaborate with your employees, and set clear goals and objectives towards attaining quality within their department.

Establishing a community of quality advocates and understanding that quality is the priority is a challenging task, but it is certainly achievable.

Becoming a Quality Advocate

While it may not happen overnight, becoming a quality advocate takes time and effort. As you build a quality-focused business, employees naturally learn to explore various avenues that genuinely support a quality culture. By establishing clear expectations and setting the ‘quality tone,’ your business will learn how to increase the repeatability of quality behaviors, processes, and procedures, essentially taking ownership of their responsibilities and prioritizing quality.

How Can HB International Help Your Business Culture?

HB International’s team works through cross-functional collaboration with our customers and suppliers. Our team believes that cultivating a quality culture directly reflects our internal operations. With our robust quality procedures and quality-centered team, we cater our services to suit the needs of each unique customer.

In delivering safe, reliable, and functioning products to your customers, our priority as a Global Sourcing Agency is to ensure that your product communicates your quality culture.

Let us know how we can help!