Creating a Human Capital Management Quality Management System An FPMI Solutions, Inc. White Paper Stephen A. Moffett President, FPMI Solutions, Inc. FPMI Solutions, Inc. 1033 N. Fairfax Street Alexandria, VA 22314 888.644.3764 www.fpmi.com
Contents Introduction 1 Problem Statement 2 Previous Options 2 The FPMI Solution 2 Implementation 3 Summary 4 2011 Stephen A. Moffett Introduction Centers of Excellence are increasingly common sights in organizations today. They are being created and leveraged by organizations that want to improve performance and propel results to the highest levels. There are HR, Project Management, Customer Service, and even Innovation Centers of Excellence. However, what exactly is a Center of Excellence? A Center of Excellence (CoE) should at least consist of a team of people that promotes collaboration and uses best practices around a specific focus area to continuously improve business results, which includes customer service. Establishing a Federal Human Capital Management CoE begins with designing and implementing a Quality Management System (QMS) that incorporates aspects from: Total Quality Management. Lean Six Sigma. OMB Circular A-123 (Management s Responsibility for Internal Control). In some people s minds, quality is compartmentalized; it is someone else s job. People tend to want to put quality in a box. But as we know, the reality is that quality is everyone s responsibility. It traverses the entire organization. The quality journey begins with clear and viable executive level buy-in. This is much more likely if you can show that quality helps accomplish organizational goals. Without this, projects tend to remain where they started, no matter how good they are. Executive buy-in brings the solution to a new light, ensuring more support for 1
your operations and furthering your goal to bring quality to the forefront of the business. So if you want QMS to gain visibility and adoption, start preparing your elevator pitch. Once this is accomplished, senior level management (reporting to the Chief Human Capital Officer) can assign a team lead. Problem Statement Human Resources operational errors in the posting and filling of jobs, classification, personnel and payroll processing, etc., creates low customer satisfaction ratings and high costs for rework. Most agencies have developed policies and operations guides, but they haven t focused on establishing a QMS culture for their organizations and employees. The Federal Government must have the capacity to plan more strategically, respond expeditiously, and focus on achieving results. Essential to the success of this transformation are the Federal Government s people both employees and contractors. Previous Options Over the last 10 to 15 years, the HCM community took the approach to build all required edits into our HR enterprise systems. This exacted a very high cost. Technology took the lead in the HR transformation not the functional HR personnel placing emphasis on the steps involved, not the thoughts behind those steps. Within the agencies, this created a skill gap in transactional processing. This approach has not improved the quality of HR service delivery models. The FPMI Solution Our solution is to establish Quality Management Systems (QMS), incorporate the best of Lean Six Sigma, and establish controls based upon the approach outlined in OMB Circular A- 123 (Management s Responsibility for Internal Control). An effective QMS focuses on: Systematically developing and communicating customer-focused mission, strategies and action plans. Listening and responding to customers needs and expectations. Empowering employees to continuously improve and increase their satisfaction with their work processes and environment. Gathering and analyzing key performance indicators to improve organizational and process results. An effective QMS will reduce waste and re-work while providing more consistent outcomes. It will also help focus on prevention activities, rather than the inspection or failure activities often driven by the regulatory process. Most government policies are used as reference guides, not operational manuals. We recommend designing and developing a living operational manual for your Human Capital Management Operations, from hire to retire. The ideal Operational Manual is interactive (online), containing links to all policies, laws, and regulations. It establishes measures, defines quality processes, and links to online job aids and reporting requirements. The Operational Manual is the legend to the road map of quality. For every HR 2011 FPMI Solutions, Inc. 2
process, it contains checks and measurements, steps to prevent errors, and detailed workflows. Internal Benefits A QMS improves management efficiency, problem-solving, planning, communication, ability to change, discipline, staff morale and employee training. Efficiency Benefits Implementation of a QMS reduces duplicate effort, re-work, waste, costs of operations and staff turnover. External Benefits A QMS improves product delivery, service quality, customer satisfaction, and organizational image. This reduces complaints and allows the Human Capital Office to focus more on strategic issues versus day-to-day operations. Implementation The implementation process is important to achieve the full benefits of QMS. Most new users will obtain measurable payback early in the process. For successful implementation of your QMS, we recommend the following six steps: 1. Fully engage top management to: Define why you want to implement QMS. Define your stakeholders. Define your quality policy. Define and align organizational objectives and related product/service quality objectives. 2. Identify key processes and the interactions needed to meet quality objectives. Document the processes. Identify points where the processes can fail. 3. Develop an Operational Manual that will incorporate all process maps, measures, quality review processes, and laws and regulations. 4. Implement and manage the QMS and its processes (using process management techniques). 5. Implement the system, train staff and continuously reassess effective operation of your processes. 6. Manage your QMS. Focus on customer satisfaction. Monitor and measure the operations. Strive for continuous improvement. Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle Incorporating the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle in the development of the QMS will ensure success. The PDCA cycle is a checklist of four stages you must go through to get from problem-faced to problem solved. The cycle for the QMS is illustrated below. 2011 FPMI Solutions, Inc. 3
The QMS Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle The concept of the PDCA Cycle was originally developed by Walter Shewhart, the pioneering statistician. It was later taken up and promoted very effectively by the famous Quality Management authority, W. Edwards Deming. And is consequently known by many as The Deming Wheel. 1 Summary As defined in OMB Circular A-123, management has a fundamental responsibility to develop and maintain effective internal control. The organization, policies, and procedures are tools to help program managers achieve results and safeguard the integrity of their programs. Implementing a Quality Management System for all of Human Capital Management Operations will put in place the controls, monitoring plans, measures, and process improvements. It will reduce the total cost of operations and increase customer satisfaction. 1 For further information on the PDCA Cycle: W. Edwards Deming, The New Economics: For Industry, Government, Education, 2 nd ed. MIT Center for Advanced Educational Services, 1994. 2011 FPMI Solutions, Inc. 4