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Having
examined the implementation of quality control and quality assurance
and the effect of the technical aspects of practice management some
practices may turn their attentions to the wider implications of Total
Quality Management.
As with many
aspirational concepts, TQM has been widely misunderstood, not least
because there are a considerable number of differing opinions on how
to define it. Writing in Total Quality Management in 1993, John Oakland
described it as "a comprehensive approach to improving competitiveness,
effectiveness and flexibility through planning, organising and understanding
each individual at each level." This sums it up very neatly.
One of the
key concepts within TQM is the idea of the "internal customer". For
industrial or commercial organisations selling products rather than
services, the customer / supplier culture is already deeply entrenched.
It takes no great stretch of imagination to extend the concept to the
internal management of their companies. For professional firms, whose
products are their range of professional services, it is more of a quantum
leap. However, taking this alternative view of the internal structure
of the practice will help to foster a quality culture where employees
can take greater responsibility for improvement in their individual
areas, thus helping to raise standards throughout the firm.
Because there
is no prescriptive standard for TQM similar to the ISO 9000 series,
the onus lies fairly and squarely with the partners and senior management
to create an individual blue-print for a quality improvement strategy
that is relevant to their firm.
In a profession
that has traditionally viewed the prospect of radical changes to its
culture and management methods with considerable concern the problem
is not so much accepting the need for change but knowing how to go about
it. Every expert will doubtless have a different answer to this question
but I believe that there are a number of basic elements that need to
be addressed at the outset.
- Often, the logical
place to start is with an objective look at the quality of the
office decor and conditions. Is it a pleasant place in which to
work and meet clients? Or is it dingy and depressing. Of course,
not everyone can afford acres of marble and an atrium straight
out of Kew Gardens, but we have all seen offices so scruffy and
unkempt as to affect even the most diligent and conscientious
of workers.
Even more importantly,
the condition of the offices provides an impression of the firm
to visiting clients. If that is negative, their immediate judgement
of its professional competence will also be negative. Cheerful
colours, carpets unpatterned by coffee stains and the odd pot
plant will go a long way towards creating a pleasant atmosphere
in which to work and welcome clients.
Attention should
be focused on the quality of both internal and external communications.
This covers everything, from the way in which clients are dealt
with at every level within the firm to the necessity for regular
communication between the internal departments and the partners.
For many clients, most
of their contact with the firm will be via the telephone. Are
calls always answered politely and transferred quickly? Are queries
dealt with promptly and efficiently? If the person they need to
speak to is not going to be available for some time, does someone
call them back to let them know when they will be contacted? It
is these small courtesies, as much as the calibre of the advice
given or technical work undertaken, on which the client will base
his perception of the firm's quality.
- But it is not
only the clients who should be made to feel important. Every employee
shares, to a greater or lesser extent, responsibility for the
quality of the work undertaken by the practice.
To build a quality
culture, they must take responsibility for the continuous improvement
of the processes of the business. Roles need to be clearly defined
and staff empowered both to identify problems and to devise and
implement creative solutions within the remit of their job descriptions.
The idea of "employee
empowerment" will, I suspect, cause many partners who may not
have come across the expression before to experience a frisson
of alarm, but it simply means allowing people to take responsibility
for their actions.
Applying TQM procedures
will quickly identify those people who are capable of taking on
greater responsibilities, allowing partners and senior staff to
delegate routine tasks and concentrate on more profitable work.
- Real employee
empowerment will also require a commitment to providing the training
necessary to ensure every individual has the opportunity to realise
his or her full potential. For the vast majority of accountancy
firms, training begins and ends with professional staff, qualified
or unqualified (ie. those whose time input and activities are
chargeable to the client). It largely ignores the non-fee-earning
support staff whose value to the practice could be considerably
enhanced through vocational training.
- Implementing
TQM properly requires a great deal of time and effort, not simply
in devising and putting into practice a strategy for continuous
improvement, but also in monitoring the various procedures so
that achievements are quantifiable. The majority of industrial
and commercial companies that have embraced TQM employ a quality
manager to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of their programme.
For all but the very largest accountancy firms this is not practicable.
The easiest solution is formally to appoint one of the partners
to control the process. This is not to say that everyone else
can then relax and leave their colleague to do all the work. As
we have seen, TQM requires a high level of commitment from everyone.
Without that, even the most enthusiastic and pro-active quality
manager will have little success.
An article
of this nature can really only identify the main elements within the
TQM philosophy, but for those who are convinced of its relevance to
the modern accountancy practice and who want to apply its principles
to their own firms, help is available.
The English
ICA has produced Practice Management Aims - a publication available
free to all members and which is in great demand. However, it is disappointing
that, despite an expressed commitment to improving quality standards
within the profession, TQM does not feature in their current Accountancy
Courses programme as it has in previous years. And, at the moment, those
firms that wish to take TQM seriously as a vital tool in practice management
will need assistance from other sources. Further information and a wide
range of publications are available from the Institute of Quality Assurance
and the British Standards Institution, both based in London.
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