Dedicated employees and quality go hand-in-hand, according to the annual survey.
More and more companies, both large and small, have 100% of their employees dedicated to quality, according to the results of the annual Quality Leadership 100 survey. Not only are employees dedicated to quality, but one common aspect among the top five companies-Portec Flomaster, Microscan Systems Inc., Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, General Electric Co. and CNH America LLC-is dedicated employees. So dedicated are the employees at number-one ranked Portec, that the company's turnover rate is less than 3% with the majority of the employees clocking in more than 25 years of service with the company. Nate Betz, Portec's quality coordinator and chief QC inspector, says, "The workforce contributes to quality."
One way to engage and empower employees is through training. On average, most employees receive between one to four hours of training in quality per month, according to the survey. Companies that indicate that employees receive 10 or more hours of quality training per month generally indicate that quality has improved company profits and shareholder value by 80% or more.