By Jerry Fournier, 2001 President of the Board

Anyone who attended the MRA President’s Dinner on January 30th will agree that the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham did an outstanding job in all respects. As mentioned in my first President’s Message, the definition of quality is “exceeding the customer’s expectations.” The Townsend did exactly that, based upon my experience and what I heard from the attendees. So how did they do it? I hope this and future articles that I write for Michigan Restaurateur will shed some light on how the most successful companies achieve their quality goals. Hopefully, this information will benefit the membership (operators and suppliers) by improving their customer satisfaction and contributing to an improved bottom line.

My employer, HDS Services, began its Total Quality Management (TQM) journey in 1992. A nationally respected consultant was hired to introduce the principles of TQM to our firm. The first step is for senior management to “buy into” the program with a 100% commitment. Once senior management demonstrates its commitment, it is then necessary to introduce and roll out the principles to all employees. It is very important for everyone to realize that this philosophy of management is a “process” and not a “program.” TQM becomes part of the daily management life of the organization. Staff members need to embrace the process as a mechanism for doing business.

Since the inception of the HDS quality management journey, Mr. John H. King, Jr., President of HDS, has become so committed to this process that he and Dr. Ron Cichy, an MRA Board Member, teach TQM/CQI to senior students enrolled in The School of Hospitality Business at MSU.

A fundamental aspect of the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) process focuses on understanding the “CUSTOMER.” Part of the process in developing this understanding is to identify all of the organization’s potential customers.

Each customer is important to the success of the organization and has unique expectations that must be met.

The most important customer is the “Employee.” This is based on the premise that if the internal customers (employees) are properly trained, motivated, and schooled in the principles of TQM/CQI, they will deliver the quality services that are necessary to exceed the external customer’s expectations.

In order to provide direction and to focus all employees on a central goal, the organization must state its MISSION and VISION in a short concise format so they are easily understood and remembered. The Mission and Vision are guiding principles for everything the employees do in their jobs. As an example, I have included the Mission and Vision that were adopted by HDS Services. The Mission is printed on a small wallet-size card and given to all employees. It is also printed on the back of the corporate and unit managers’ business cards and displayed prominently so that the external customer understands the goals and objectives of the organization. The Vision is framed and posted on the wall of each manager’s office.

Obviously, this philosophy and process must be accompanied by sufficient skills, development and training in order for the employees to perform in an efficient manner.

In the May/June issue, I will discuss the need for benchmarking the competition, the purpose of comment cards and other means of surveying the external customer’s perception of the actual quality provided. I will also share motivational techniques that will encourage employees to provide ongoing suggestions for quality improvement.

MISSION:
Total Quality Commitment
HDS Services’ mission is to continuously improve and dedicate total resources to provide the highest quality level of food service and hospitality management and expertise, to anticipate, understand, and fulfill both internal and external customer expectations, to maintain a stellar and ever-growing leadership position in the service industry, and to provide the leadership and vision required so that we earn and retain the status of preferred partner.

VISION STATEMENT:
We Will Be the Preferred Partner in Providing Management and Consulting in the Food Service and Hospitality Industries.