INCREASED WORKPLACE QUALITY AND ITS EFFECTS ON PRODUCTIVITY

Alex Merkel

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

Quality Management MGMT 533

Abstract

In the dynamic and ever-evolving trends in today's marketplace, there exist major demands for the overall improvement of quality workplace development, which inherently is directly proportional to the level of productivity, personnel retention, and improved appropriation of personnel in an organization. In this report, two major points of discussion will be addressed: 1. "Why would [or does] improved quality workplace conditions reflect increased productivity?" and 2. "What are cost-effective ways to boost quality through the efforts of human resources?" Additionally, this report will provide an analysis of culminated major improvement methods of quality-based workplace standards, regarding safety/security, employee retention, wellness programs, and strengthened team cohesiveness.

Introduction With the ever-evolving trends in today's business involvements and dealings, the prolonged issue of maintaining higher standards of quality in the workplace is certainly real and imminent. By time-tested standards representing unparalleled quality among human resource development initiatives in organizations, the focus has always been to mirror such quality with that of increasingly enhanced productivity. Notwithstanding, the central focal point of ensuring such quality standards are met and/ or exceeded is in the responsibility and requirements of each and every member of an organization to embrace. Such method of applying integrated quality in the workplace environment is increasingly boosted through proactive employee empowerment, advocating self-worth and morale. Realistically, quality standards are the fundamental building blocks to which an organization's strategic, vision, and mission statements are all collectively integrated. By fulfilling tailored needs of customers, as well as the employees, the organization could then be set in a position to boost quality without compromising its reputation, or incurring major profit losses due to lagging infrastructure and human resources. Several key points of interest to understand where an organization stands and how it can improve include, but are not limited to: 1. An organization must assess and quantify (survey) its current workplace climate, compared to previous trends, 2. Such organization analyzes information collected to then see how it must be more appealing to boost employee retention, by raising salaries and offering incentives economically, and 3. An organization should then match levels of inputs as compared to outputs and vice versa. In other words, the quality of service and product design the customer so desires, is representive of internal quality-attributed efforts by an organization's employees and suppliers.

Perception of Quality In most circumstances, quality is only defined by the level of standardization that is typical of an organization in a particular area, or focused on a particular demographic. However, there are two universal applications of a business model that never could falter in delivering 'higher' quality, and not necessarily a baseline of quality in the workplace, particularly through human resources. The first representation of how quality is improved naturally, and not perceived through discretion, is the ability for an organization to continuously add simplicity and create workspaces with clean, modernized facilities and equipment. This concept is especially important to note, as the intrinsic attributes of simplicity can and will further enhance more streamlined operations and almost flawless integration of all forms of an organization, not just related to human resource developments. The translative effect of simplicity equates to cleaner, more organized workspaces, which thereby clears or eliminates unnecessary clutter; and in turn, improves