* Jewish Employment and Vocational Service
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The JEVS* Story * Jewish Employment and Vocational Service |
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Member
Partners with MEA for Total Quality Management System
Written
by Larry L. Cox, Director of Operations and Management Services,
MidAtlantic Employers Association and Charles Scalies, Source4Quality,
Inc.
Since 1941, the Jewish Employment and Vocational Service (JEVS), a non-profit social service organization employing 1000 people in the Philadelphia region, has been committed to “Helping People Help Themselves”. In these times of growing needs and shrinking state, local and philanthropic resources, JEVS Leadership recognized that commitment alone is not enough. In 2002, JEVS engaged MEA to assist and guide their newly expanded Quality Assurance and Compliance Committee in developing and implementing a total quality management system that would:
Quality Management System Reflects Values of JEVS Organization and Stakeholders MEA designed a comprehensive quality management system embodying the principles of Plan – Do – Check – Act (PDCA), the bedrock of every top performing management system. We chose the ISO 9000 series of standards and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria as models for two reasons. First, JEVS executives and managers are familiar with them. Second, JEVS stakeholders will recognize compliance with these well-known models as further evidence of JEVS commitment to world-class quality and performance. (Other models could have been selected such as the COSO-sponsored, Integrated Framework of Internal Controls.) Our work with JEVS involves system development, implementation and improvement. The approach is to step the system from compliance with ISO 9001:2000, to promoting it to the “super standard”, ISO 9004:2000, and, finally, raising the bar to the Baldrige criteria. In that way, JEVS is assured its processes will be under control and operationally stable before addressing any needs for improvement. Piloting the Three-Step Process Reflects JEVS Mission In keeping with JEVS mission of Helping People Help Themselves, our program involves a hands-on effort to take one pilot unit through the three-step process while developing and training JEVS staff trainers to replicate the process throughout the rest of the organization with guidance, support and mentoring from MEA, as needed. The level of commitment and involvement invested in this process at every level of the JEVS organization continues to be impressive. From the beginning executive management dedicated itself to identifying and quantifying the key measurables it will employ in determining JEVS success at achieving its Mission. The measurables were communicated throughout the organization and personnel were empowered to create, implement and monitor comprehensive, coherent methods to realize them, i.e make the measurables happen and to correct those methods when they don’t. Now in 2004 JEVS is well on its way to creating an operating system that will become a benchmark for non-profit and for-profit organizations alike. MEA is proud to be the partner is this process. For more information on Total Quality Management systems and to discuss customizing a TQM system in your organization, contact Larry Cox at 1-800-662-6238. To see the full range of MEA services in Continuous Improvement, Quality and Productivity, visit www.MEAinfo.org. |
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