Toyota Quality Control Department

Company success is reliant on the competencies of its departments in meeting set goals and obligations to other departments. Quality control departments are mandated with ensuring customer and employee satisfaction, operational efficiencies, and reduction of waste. At Toyota’s quality control department, change is needed due to the low morale and performance pressure on the segment. Understanding the short and long-term goals, reorganization needs, the assistance from other departments, training, challenges, and the leadership traits is detrimental towards ensuring the success of the change required in the department.

Supervisory Skills: Toyota Quality Control Department

The performance of a business as far as profitability, competitiveness, and sustainability is concerned lies in the firm’s internal operational efficiencies. Various company leadership positions mandated with supervision, policy and decision making determine workforce morale and success attainment by creating an enabling environment for business competence. The dynamic nature of the business environment calls for business to enhance market analysis to ensure strategic planning that ought to take advantage of opportunities and respond to challenges. Owing to technological advancements, globalization and cultural shifts, operational matrices of businesses require flexibility. To ensure optimal performance, companies have segmented their activities to comprise of departments dealing with distinct tasks that collectively combine to actualize organizational goals. At some given times, the overall business or departmental strategies lose relevance due to environmental shifts leading to poor performance and employee morale. This paper will analyze the supervisory skills required to turn around the operations and performance of Toyota’s quality control department.

Long and Short-term Strategic Planning

The department will be able to turn around the poor morale and pressure to perform in the existence of set goals and strategies leading to the attainment of the given aims in both the short and the long-term periods. Owing to the problem facing the Toyota’s quality control department at the moment; low morale and pressure to perform, the appropriate short-term goals to be attained within a period less than one year is to increase internal satisfaction and operational efficiency. Internal (employee) satisfaction is achieved when employees’ can perform exemplary under minimal supervision and a negligible turnover rate which is attained through financial and intrinsic motivation. Employees require a conducive environment, flexible working hours and growth to feel motivated. The attainment of the short-term goals at the quality control department within one year is quite attainable and can be measured by assessing the output, absenteeism and resignation records. The long-term goals include the reduction of waste and the attainment of external (customer satisfaction). The goals should be achieved within the 2-10 year period. Reduction of wastes will require modification in the product quality specifications to aim efficiency in material utilization. Customer satisfaction can be attained after surveying complaints and return of sold items due to fault citations. Measuring of the realization of long-term goals should be based on records as far as the quantity of waste and consumer complaints about product quality is concerned.

Departmental Re-organization

Toyota’s quality control department as per the current structure comprised of a vice president, divisional directors, a group of inspectors and managers and the employees at the functional level. The leadership positions and supervisory levels at the department are a lot and require restructuring to reduce bureaucracies. To ensure smooth, fast and cost-effective decision-making process, a plan to restructure the department to comprise of the Vice president, a divisional director and only two inspectors for each of the seven divisions will be appropriate. The morale at the staff and the pressure to perform can be addressed by putting in place a small but comprehensive leadership structure that reduces redundancies that could occur mainly in the making of decisions on unplanned events with limited time for deliberations (Beinart et al., 13).

Inter-departmental Collaborations and Training

The Toyota’s quality control department primarily focuses on the testing, monitoring, auditing and reporting of the company’s products. The performances of the company segment rely heavily on the inputs and outputs of other departments to meet its obligations. Achieving the goals which include customer and employee satisfaction, reduction of waste and operational efficiency will require contributions from the research and development, human resource, and development department as well as collaborations with the production department. The agency will need the advice from the production, research, and development department in its quest to recommend for wastage reduction. Also, internal efficiency is a function of all the departments within the company thus requiring universal input. The unit involves quality skills and expertise, therefore, needing assistance from the human resource department which is responsible for the recruitment, training, and deployment of employees. The changes in the office might require new skill sets thus calling for assistance from the human resource department in training existing and incoming employees. Educating on teamwork, communication and idea generation in the unit is a requirement to turn around morale and performance in the quality control department (Murray et al., 22).

Toyota’s Quality Control Department Challenge and Leadership Traits

Turning around morale and performance at the quality control department is expected to face various challenges as the change process is implemented. The hurdles in implementing reforms include lack of consensus on the recommendations, communication shortcomings, and employee resistance. The proposals on departmental restructuring which are essential in transforming quality control at Toyota will require an agreement between the company’s CEO, vice president, and divisional directors, inspectors, and supervisors. A lack of consensus will not allow for the required implementation of the reform proposals leading to failure. The proposed changes in the department will require precise communication. The various stakeholders in the division will embrace the difference if they are aware of what it is all about and their role in the process. Poor communication can lead to misunderstanding of the change motive leading to resistance to the turning round of morale and performance at Toyota’s quality control department. Also, employee resistance is a projected challenge in the implementation of change. The workforce could feel a threat to their job security or exclusion in the deliberation of change thus resisting it. There is dire need to incorporate employee input into the quality control change program to prevent resistance from employees (Rousmaniere et al., 8).

The performance and morale at the Toyota’s quality control department are dependent on its leadership competence. The managerial characteristics ought to be appropriate to ensure appropriate influence on the employees and guide the collective operations into success. The necessary leadership traits from the seven divisional directors to implement change at Toyota’s quality control department include self-confidence, sensitivity to others, and stability. Employees will heed the influence of a leader who is confident of his plans and their success. Confidence assures the employees to believe in the quest for change pushed by the directors. Sensitivity to others will ensure that leaders include the contributions of the employees in the change plan. Also, the concerns of employees are detrimental in influencing the success of change as they determine motivation. Stability in a leader will ensure that he or she can handle challenges and resistance from employees without causing divisions in the department.

Conclusion

Change is a process that requires thorough analysis to ensure appropriate implementation and success in the process. Toyota’s quality control department is faced with low morale and pressure to perform. The turning around of the unit will require an analysis to determine the necessary goals, the contribution of other departments, assistance needed, impending challenges, and the leadership traits necessary to ensure the success of the change process. Information on the background leading to the problem faced by the department is the yardstick in creating change.

Work Cited

Beinart, Helen, and Susan Clohessy. Effective Supervisory Relationships: Best Evidence and Practice. Hoboken, NJ, USA : John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2017.

Murray, Tamara, and Eva C. Meszaros. Awesome Supervisory Skills: Seven Lessons for Young, First-Time Managers. United States : CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014.

Rousmaniere, Tony, Rodney K. Goodyear, Scott D. Miller, and Bruce E. Wampold. The Cycle of Excellence: Using Deliberate Practice to Improve Supervision and Training. Chichester, UK John Wiley et Sons 2017