Quality Assurance is everywhere, and it is undoubtedly useful. The rules that govern our processes are also there for a reason, and we should follow them. It has most likely taken many years of trial and error to figure out what works and what doesn’t. But in many organizations, there is a focused effort on compliance and little discussion about commitment.
Most managers or leaders would agree that commitment is better than compliance, but rarely do we talk about commitment. I have heard the phrase, “culture of compliance” so much that it is clear to me these leaders do not think about commitment and perhaps do not even realize that compliance does not make things great. It merely makes them acceptable. When people agree to take a job that does not equal commitment. Enlisting in the military does not equal commitment. I suppose it is a form of commitment, but not the commitment I’m referencing. Organizational commitment is when members of the organization not only comply but look for ways to push the organization forward.
We want members of our organizations to want the organization to succeed. We need them to invest their time and effort to see that it does succeed. We have all seen these employees before. The question is how do we get people to be committed instead of merely compliant?
The first solution is to start asking for commitment instead of compliance. When we focus on compliance, that is what we get. We cannot expect commitment when we only ask for compliance.
Someone very close to me recently went through an issue that highlights this problem. She worked in a small organization as the number two in charge. The organization was a mess, and there were problems everywhere. But she was committed to the cause and worked tirelessly. She put in at least 60 hours a week and received phone calls constantly when she was away from the facility. She stayed at this organization for only 3-4 months. She was eventually burned out, but not from the hours or hard work. She worked for people that wanted compliance, not commitment. The people in charge of the budget would not approve additional staff to cover severe gaps in service, and she could not fire poor performing employees because that meant she would have to cover those holes. Once there were not enough people to cover the functions, complaints increased, staff became frustrated, which caused more complaints, which prompted management to approach the issue as if there were a compliance problem. This approach caused more employees to quit, which meant employee turnover increased. The staff that resigned were those with options, the ones that stayed, were the poor performers that didn’t want to take the risk of a new job.
To focus on her employees and create an environment that showed them the organization would care for them helps foster a culture of commitment. It starts at the top; if leaders do not engage the supervisors and managers, then the managers and supervisors will not engage the lower level employees, and problems will surface. They mask themselves as compliance issues, but they are commitment issues.
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