Dear Indra,
HR plays an important role in supporting TQM initiatives. As rightly pointed out by Mr. Ganesh, TQM encompasses Total Employee involvement in the form of 5S housekeeping practices, Employee Suggestion Schemes, Daily Work Management, Quality Circles, Cross-Functional teams, etc.
All these activities involve all levels of employees, and hence HR intervention becomes evident. There is scope for HR to motivate employees and minimize non-value-adding activities in the process. For example, by practicing 5S, the shop is set in order, search time is greatly reduced, and things are kept in respective places and reviewed on an ongoing basis. Monthly audits are conducted to ensure sustenance.
Similarly, Employee Suggestion Schemes bring about great employee involvement as the suggestions can be work-related small improvements categorized as JDI (Just Do It). Here the suggestion of the employee is so simple that it is implemented by the employee himself after consulting his superior. The next category of suggestion is Work-Related Improvements, wherein the suggestion involves more than one department's help. Here the suggestion is analyzed and implemented if found feasible. All these suggestions carry rewards.
The Quality Circle is a team of employees at the shop floor level who try to solve problems identified by them while they review their activities in the form of Daily Work Management. The most frequent problems encountered are chosen by teams and solved using the QC story method. Competitions are conducted internally and also among group companies, and recognitions and rewards are announced.
The Cross-Functional Team generally comprises Middle and Senior Management employees who try to solve problems of strategic importance to the organization.
These initiatives take time to take roots, but once established, you will be surprised that many problems are solved at the lower levels with some support from the higher-level employees.
Regards,
M.V. KANNAN