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With the enactment of the new standards for the automotive industry this past spring, the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) has set a deadline of December 31, 2006 for all suppliers to be registered to the new standard. Although it seems to be along way off, a little over four years from now, should you wait until the last minute to move forward? You have the option of which standard to re-register to for the next couple of years, QS 9000 or migrate to the new standard ISO/TS 16949. Regardless of which way you decide to go based on your current resources available, waiting until the middle of 2005 or later will only cost more, as the demand to become registered becomes paramount. Remember the lessons learned with the Y2K debacle. Companies were charging double and even triple the normal hourly rated during the year 1999. If you are not required to move to ISO/TS 16949, remember that ISO 9000:2000 is to be in place and your organization registered by the end of 2003 to the new version.

In the confines of the new standards, several areas can be done in advance. These advance areas can also help to reduce your Worker’s Comp insurance rates and improve retention of staff. With the following previews into these areas, you can start your strategic planning now and be ahead of the game. This will allow for a saner transition that will be easier on your staff. The areas that will be discussed in this article concern sections from "Part 6: Resource management".

As you will notice, the word "shall" is used to qualify the safety area. If you are going to address the safety issue and try to minimize it to the extent possible, you will suddenly find yourself not in compliance with the regulations and laws governing workplace safety. OSHA/MIOSHA or your state-sponsored plan requires that every employer provide a workplace that is safe. The regulations are specific and you must establish those programs such as, Hazcom, "Right-To-Know" Safety Plan, Fire Plan, etc. that apply to your organization. Properly prepared, the documentation for these areas will easily fit into your Quality Management System. The cost reduction in injuries and lost work time expenses should be a major concern to every company. Moreover, a major accident or injury requires you to report it to the OSHA/MIOSHA agencies immediately. This will start an investigation into what happened. You will be seeing OSHA/MIOSHA investigators in your workplace. Violations that they find can result in assessed fines of up to $1000 initially with repeat or willful disregard situations bringing fines per incident up to $10,000. How many of these do you want to see?

When was your current plan last evaluated? Or should we ask do you even have a set of plans that are required under the Safety Regulations? A gap analysis should be completed to find out what needs should be addressed. Our audit system will fit the gap analysis methodology. The time to prepare and plan is now not when the last possible moment arrives. In addition, if you are also looking at ISO 14000 registration, these documents will be ready to fit into this set of standards.

When it comes to motivating employees, many employers automatically think in terms of money. This is the last of the motivation tools to use. If you consider the basis of Maslow’s Theory, money is fine in the case of an entry-level job in many companies but becomes a demotivator very quickly. When the goals are raised it becomes ever harder to attain the goal and very quickly, that elusive money carrot is not attainable. So what should the elements of a good program look like?

Factors such as how many of the employees are married; age group, etc. should be reviewed to see where the staff is in their life plan. A gift program that has multiple pages of quality items that can be selected where the is no price listed or limit on what can be selected in the catalog, can be an excellent way to go. The employee can take it home and the spouse or family could become involved in the selection process. Trips where there is no business requirements involved for the employee and spouse also create a more satisfied employee. These types of programs can actually cost less then throwing money at the program and achieve better and longer sustained performance. Be a bit creative or find a good outside source that can help you to establish these types of programs.

This is the introduction portion of Section 6 of the standards. The area off Safety and Motivation fall under this staring point in the Section. Beyond the two previously discussed areas, there are other major issues that should be reviewed now. This early review will provide you with a smoother transition to the new standards.

As you will see under 6.2.2.2 Training, there is a note that requires careful consideration:

NOTE 1 This applies to all employees having an effect on quality at all levels of the organization.

This is a very broad-based statement and includes departments that previously were not included in the definition of processes. Accounting areas, all of the IT area and others now fall within the confines of the standards.

Some of 6.2.2 issues were in the old QS 9000 system. You were supposed to teach people what their jobs were and make sure that the quality standards were being followed. So now you not only have to determine the core competencies, teach the staff to be able to operate in these competencies, you also must evaluate the person’s performance. This is where the danger areas can start entering your system if you do not take into account the "Laws of the Land".

In reviewing previous QS 9000 job descriptions, the core activities were listed. Little if any information on education, skill levels needed, experience, working conditions, physical requirements and other issues was on the job description. The information did correspond to the standards of the program but, the aspect of "following the laws of the land" were left out. In many cases, these job descriptions caused problems with agencies such as the EEOC and the State Fair Employment Practice Agencies. Now with the process also including evaluations being required, there is even more room for discrimination claims if your program is not consistent and appropriate.

As companies setup this section of the standards, there should be great care taken to implement a system that is fair and equitable. Consistency with the laws is vital.

The organization shall ensure that personnel with product design responsibility are competent to achieve design requirements and are skilled in applicable tools and techniques.

Applicable tools and techniques shall be identified by the organization.

The organizations shall establish and maintain documented procedures for identifying training needs and achieving competence of all personnel performing activities affecting product quality. Personnel performing specific assigned tasks shall be qualified, as required, with particular attention to the satisfaction of customer requirements.

The organization shall provide on-the-job training for personnel in any now or modified job affecting product quality, including contract or agency personnel. Personnel whose work can affect quality shall be informed about the consequences to the customer of nonconformity to quality requirements.

The training areas re-enforce the need for effective and measurable performance evaluation. If you were to consider the now infamous Ford Motor management appraisal instituted by the former President of Ford, the management appraisal most likely would qualify under the ISO standards but, was not compliant with the issues of non-discrimination with age as a factor. Lawsuits prevailed and the appraisal format was thrown out. If a company the size of Ford Motor can make this type of mistake, you must be extremely careful that you do not repeat history. Before implementing any changes involving Section 6 of the standards, you should have an independent gap analysis audits completed by an impartial outside source. Analysis of the Safety program, Motivation areas, Training and Development and the entire human resource system should be completed. This can save you time, money and the prospects of poor morale due to improper implementation of a poorly designed program.

Michael A. Holzschu is the managing principal in the firm of Holzschu, Jordan Schiff & Associates specializing in Human Resource Systems, with a special focus on employee handbooks, job descriptions, performance appraisal systems, training, safety and quality issues. He can be contacted at (248) 476-6907 or by email mholzschu@hjsa.com or through the company website www.hjsa.com. . The company’s client base is primarily small to medium employers from all types of industries located throughout the United States.

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