This Facebook post and the comments are a great sign of the times.
https://www.facebook.com/1155916054/posts/10223618241341529/

WOW – This is what the great “resignation” looks and sounds like.

In the past ops and quality practitioners promoted customer-focused quality management. I think the future, at least for a while it’s going to be employee-focused quality management that will be needed for employees to have a competitive advantage.

Interestingly the original work on quality management and TQM always had the entertwined debate of whether to focus first on the customer or first on the employee… a bit of a chicken and egg debate. Both arguably will create a better outcome for everyone, rather than a priority on bottom line focus and “golden” handcuffs.

Deming offered this definition of quality – ‘Pride of Workmanship’!

He argued that if employees are not proud of the work they are doing, there is no way to expect customer quality or satisfaction to be improved or even the sustainable result of a workers effort.

How can an employee have “pride in work(man)ship” if they don’t even want the job and are forced to take it for lack of a better, quality of life, option.

It’s time to bring back the foundations of building quality focused companies, starting with employee-focused quality.

Comment or contact me with your employer-quality ideas or opportunities.

Updates and related information:

1/8/22 Full return to office is ‘dead,’ experts say — and remote is only growing

1/8/22 What to Do When All Your Employees Want to Leave