THNC - A Quality-Empowerment Company

Updated on October 5, 2011

How do we lead THNC into becoming a Quality-Empowerment company? To start with these concepts is logical, and it seems simple yet unbelievably difficult at the same time! All of the existing information is focused on helping people introduce these concepts into organizations which have previously used other methodologies.

Our task is to avoid the failues and go directly to excellent techniques. We will begin in the middle - so to speak - training our employees and expecting them to use these systems.

The objective is to combine the quality management philosophy of W. Edwards Deming with the Zapp! Empowerment of William C. Byham. Stated simply, our goal is to use Byham empowerment to implement Deming quality management. You probably have noticed common elements in both systems. And it may be true that full dedication and implementation of either system may help THNC become a world-class organization.

Since both management systems are well-established, THNC may be able to discover basic components for a successful startup from existing organizations. Our first attempts will be to approach The Deming Institute and Development Dimensions International (DDI) to see if both organizations will provide help and make suggestions.

There may also be information available elsewhere to help new organizations. The challenge for THNC is to avoid the pitfalls of bad management practices and begin with full implementation of both systems. Purity may be compromised, because even young employees will carry into our organization some residue from previous employment and from exposure to information sources and other people who have worked in quantity management environments -- not Zapp! and not quality management.

Whatever else we learn from the Institute and DDI, they will certainly remind us that implementation of Zapp! and quality management is ongoing. Every day and every new situation are opportunities to apply again these concepts.

Wood Badge training includes many ideas about empowering young leaders to share their leadership opportunities with others. THNC will include these methods, too. Although not age-specific, the challenge is to replace poor, nonproductive habits with better ones and "grow" better leaders.

This section will expand as practices are learned. "Stay Tuned" for what we can learn from others about Quality-Empowerment startups.

This description is taken from THNC's Employee Handbook, version 2.1, pages 46-48. The EStR technique is intended to empower all employees to participate in continual improvement of THNC. One aspect of THNC's hiring process is to introduce prospective employees to EStR, Zapp! and quality management - to be sure they will be comfortable with the responsibilities inherent to our work environment.

The acronym that we use for THNC's Ethical Standard Round Tables is EStR which might remind you of the Biblical character Esther. Here is a short commentary about Esther:

The story of Esther, from the Book of Esther in the Old Testament, illustrates the spirit of Jewish nationalism. It is a patriotic rather than a religious story, and contains an account of the origin of the Feast of Purim, which celebrates Esther's saving the Persian Jews during the days of the Persian king Xerxes. The author of the Book of Esther evidently drew upon his imagination for the details of the story since no evidence exists among Persian records of a Jewish maiden (Esther) becoming a queen in a Persian court. However, historical accuracy was not the purpose of the story, which illustrates the antagonism between foreign nations and the Jews. This antagonism is exemplified in the stories concerning Mordecai and Haman, and especially in the plot that Haman forms in order to have the Jews massacred. Esther's decision to risk her own life to save her people is the noblest point of the story. (Originally taken from a Cliff Notes webpage, now summarized on Wikipedia, Old Testament summaries and commentaries at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Esther)

Similar to the courage exhibited by Esther, reforming and maintaining our Ethical Standard is the personal responsibility of every employee and volunteer. Here are a few thoughts on how this responsibility will affect you:

1. We use a "round table" meeting concept. You'll find this idea used in literature by the knights of King Arthur (Round Table); it's also used in Mensa to signify that its members are all equal. This means that every knight and every Mensan sitting at their respective tables (whatever its actual, physical shape) had/has equality. Since there is no head of the table, it means that no person is automatically in charge.
2. You will be asked to join the round table on a regular basis. There will not be enough chairs to seat every employee and volunteer at every meeting. We hope you consider participation in our Ethical Standard Round-tables (EStR) to be both an honor and a responsibility of your position at THNC.
3. Meetings will be held at regular intervals, between three weeks and two months apart. The goal is to keep meetings short, the conversation lively, and participation enjoyable.
4. Each meeting of EStR will not be lead by the most senior THNC manager present. Instead, you or one of your THNC associates will be asked to lead the meeting as described below.
5. Meeting leadership is a developed skill and requires self-confidence and organization. After you have attended several EStR meetings, you will be encouraged to volunteer for these roles. Meeting leaders will be chosen from all who have volunteered and at the discretion of management.
6. Rules of order (such as Robert's) will be followed. An agenda or possibly just a list of items to be considered will be prepared for each meeting.
7. It is important that the sequence of EStR meetings have continuity both of form and of content with the previous one, this one, and the next one to be scheduled. The following method will help achieve this: Each meeting will have two leaders - an alternate and a primary. Leaders serve first in the alternate role for three consecutive meetings to gain an understanding of the EStR meeting process. This prepares alternates to serve later as primary leaders. Should the primary leader not be able to attend, the alternate will assume the primary leader's duties.
8. Let's assume that you have accepted the invitation to be the alternate EStR leader for an upcoming sequence of three meetings. Since you have already attended several EStR meetings, you know how the meetings are begun, ended, and managed. Your job now is to prepare yourself for the role of primary EStR leader. At your first meeting, you will be the alternate to the assistant leader. At the second, you will be the alternate to the primary leader. At the third, you will act as alternate counsel or advisor to others who are serving in their first or second weeks as alternate or primary meeting leaders.
9. Follwing the completion of their three meeting sequence of duties, alternates will be qualified and asked to serve as primary leader. This gives each leader a series of meetings to observe the methods used and ways to keep the momentum of the meeting. This will also be helpful in avoiding situations where meetings bog down over stalemated discussions.
10. If you cannot fulfill your duty at any of these meetings, you and management will find a qualified associate to stand in your place. This refers to others who have completed the training you are now taking.
11. Every meeting will hold discussions of topics and attempt to produce recommendations to be submitted to the board of directors for their consideration. At the discretion of the board, a task force or a standing committee may be created for reviewing EStR recommendations.
12. Every EStR meeting will be known to everyone. It will be shared and the same as if all employees were actually there. Comments, approvals, and rejections of the board will also form a feedback loop with the ongoing series of EStR meetings.
13. Each section of THNC will have special needs and may produce different types of contributed ideas to EStR meetings. Creating and maintaining an Ethical Standard relies on empowering all THNC associates to provide the kind of products and services they would like to encounter if they were members.
14. Creating an ongoing conversation at EStR meetings will not be easy and will take a lot of attention, training, and practice. It is important that you and every other employee and volunteer recognize the gravity and significance of the discussions at each EStR meeting.