How to establish, break down, and develop ISO9001 quality objectives?

Different industries have many interpretations of the meaning of quality. Simply from the perspective of companies producing products, quality is the overall characteristics and features of products and services, based on the capability to meet explicit or implicit needs. As the name suggests, the meaning of quality objectives is "the goals pursued in terms of quality." Quality objectives should be formulated and approved by the general manager at the beginning of each year, then broken down to each department. Each department formulates its own objectives based on the overall goal (the target value can be greater than the overall goal but not less). The principle of quality objectives should be continuous improvement, enhancing quality, and satisfying customers.

Quality objectives can be divided by time into medium and long-term quality objectives, annual quality objectives, and short-term quality objectives; by level into enterprise quality objectives, departmental quality objectives, and team and individual quality objectives; by project into overall enterprise quality objectives, project quality objectives, and special topic quality objectives.

1. Issues to consider when formulating ISO9001 quality objectives

To make ISO9001 quality objectives truly conform to the actual situation of the enterprise and play a role in management, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the issues involved in ISO9001 quality objectives. This is part of quality planning.

First, ensure that ISO9001 quality objectives are consistent with the quality policy. The quality policy provides the framework for the formulation and review of ISO9001 quality objectives. Therefore, ISO9001 quality objectives should be based on the quality policy. We can use the method of deriving ISO9001 quality objectives from the quality policy, that is, based on a full understanding of the essence of the quality policy, specific objectives are derived. For example: if the quality policy is "innovation and development," it can lead to how many new products to develop within a certain period; if the quality policy is "customer satisfaction," it can lead to controlling the customer complaint rate to a certain level, and so on.

Second, fully consider the current situation of the enterprise and future needs. The objectives should neither be too ambitious and unattainable despite efforts, nor too easy to achieve without effort. Such goals lack motivational effect. Consider "aiming high to achieve medium; aiming medium to achieve low" to continuously stimulate employees' enthusiasm and creativity, achieving value-added effects.

Third, consider the requirements of customers and related parties. To make the enterprise's ISO9001 quality objectives forward-looking, it is necessary to pay attention to the current and future market, fully consider the needs and expectations of customers and related parties, and consider whether and to what extent these requirements are met. Only then can ISO9001 quality objectives provide sufficient guidance and align with market demand.

Fourth, consider the results of enterprise management reviews. If the enterprise has established a quality management system and conducted management reviews, it is necessary to identify problems during the review process. By reviewing the suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness of ISO9001 quality objectives, corrective measures can be proposed to improve the ISO9001 quality objectives, making them more targeted and effective.

2. How to formulate ISO9001 quality objectives

ISO9001 quality objectives can be divided by time into medium and long-term ISO9001 quality objectives, annual ISO9001 quality objectives, and short-term ISO9001 quality objectives; by level into enterprise ISO9001 quality objectives, departmental ISO9001 quality objectives, and team and individual ISO9001 quality objectives; by project into overall enterprise ISO9001 quality objectives, project ISO9001 quality objectives, and special topic ISO9001 quality objectives. To formulate reasonable enterprise ISO9001 quality objectives, first clarify what problems exist in the enterprise, understand the strengths and weaknesses, and formulate enterprise objectives based on the current situation and future market prospects.

First, identify the current weaknesses and existing problems of the enterprise. We can discover enterprise problems through customer complaints, quality audit results, management review results, statistical analysis results, occurrences of nonconformities, corrective or preventive actions, etc., to find the weaknesses of the enterprise. Thus, identify the issues that ISO9001 quality objectives need to address, including nonconformities, defects, deficiencies, and gaps compared to advanced standards.

Second, analyze these problems and determine their scope. There may be many problems in an enterprise, but which ones are important and must be solved? We need to consider their impact on the enterprise to decide whether to include them in the enterprise ISO9001 quality objectives, while also considering the time, personnel, and resource allocation affected by these problems. Thus, identify the problems with significant impact on the enterprise to formulate ISO9001 quality objectives.

Third, derive ISO9001 quality objectives from the existing problems. ISO9001 quality objectives formulated based on the enterprise's problems are targeted and challenging, and can be operable during implementation. For example: if it is found that the enterprise's products cannot meet market demand, innovation in products is needed, and accordingly, an ISO9001 quality objective of "developing several new products" can be formulated; if the product pass rate is low, a new pass rate level can be set; if the enterprise's quality loss rate is too high, a new quality loss rate standard can be established.

Fourth, to make enterprise ISO9001 quality objectives easy to implement and truly effective, the formulated ISO9001 quality objectives must meet the following requirements: First, include the content needed to meet product requirements, i.e., the quality requirements for products should not be lower than those specified by customers and laws and regulations. Second, ISO9001 quality objectives should be measurable. Only then can the completion or degree of completion of ISO9001 quality objectives be effectively evaluated and assessed. Third, the challenge level of ISO9001 quality objectives. Goals that are easily achieved often lack motivational effect; overly conservative goals lose the meaning of setting ISO9001 quality objectives. However, they should not be set too high beyond the enterprise's actual situation. ISO9001 quality objectives should be challenging and achievable through effort. This way, ISO9001 quality objectives become a driving force for continuous improvement and realize their "value-added" effect.

3. Decomposition and deployment of ISO9001 quality objectives

Once enterprise ISO9001 quality objectives are formulated, consideration must be given to how to implement them. We need to deploy them so that the objectives are clear vertically and horizontally, with everyone sharing the heavy responsibility and each person having targets. Decompose and implement ISO9001 quality objectives to each functional department and level of personnel, making the objectives more operable. At the same time, only when each department and level clearly understands their ISO9001 quality objectives, knows the direction of effort, understands what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and to what extent, can their enthusiasm be fully mobilized to ensure the completion of ISO9001 quality objectives. After the objectives are deployed layer by layer, the achievement of each level's objectives guarantees the realization of the enterprise's overall ISO9001 quality objectives.

After ISO9001 quality objectives are deployed, the departments and persons responsible for implementation should prepare implementation plans or schemes for each ISO9001 quality objective. In activity plans or measure schedules, the problems existing in achieving the ISO9001 quality objective, current status, necessary measures, goals to be achieved, completion time, responsible executors, etc., should be detailed. This makes the steps to achieve ISO9001 quality objectives clear at a glance, ensuring their realization.

4. Performance appraisal is a strong guarantee for achieving ISO9001 quality objectives

Performance appraisal is a double-edged sword; if not handled well, it can cause self-harm. However, for an enterprise to achieve its ideal goals, it is impossible to do without performance appraisal, because the performance appraisal system is like the mainspring of a clock. If the mainspring is not tightened, the clock's power will be insufficient or it may not run at all. From the perspective of Chinese enterprises, not many have a well-functioning performance management system. According to experts, the proportion does not exceed 10%. Even more worrying is that most domestic enterprises, at least 60%, have not established a decent performance appraisal system and basically operate under the rule of the boss. Such enterprises cannot realize their goal systems according to their intentions.

As for how enterprises establish a performance appraisal system and the methods to do so, many articles have introduced these topics, so this article will not repeat them. However, when enterprises establish performance appraisal to achieve their ISO9001 quality objectives, the following issues should be considered.

First, education must come first, with unity from top to bottom, and there should be no rush for quick success. Many enterprise leaders oversimplify performance appraisal, thinking that as long as a relatively complete appraisal system is designed and forcibly implemented, it will work. In fact, appraisal is far from that simple. The key to successful performance appraisal lies in whether all employees' mindsets are aligned. Employees must first be educated that performance appraisal not only benefits the company's development but also the employees' career development—a win-win situation. Can you imagine if all employees think performance appraisal is a management game played by leaders to target people? Can such a system operate effectively? Therefore, before implementing performance appraisal, just like with the enterprise's ISO9001 quality objectives, several rounds of communication for consensus from top to bottom are needed, along with multi-faceted and multi-level education and training to ensure everyone’s awareness is in place. Only when employees correctly understand the purpose and significance of setting and implementing ISO9001 quality objectives through performance appraisal can the appraisal have a chance to succeed.

Second, performance appraisal should consider both positive and negative incentives, taking into account employees' multi-level needs and expectations. Many enterprises' performance appraisal systems are only linked to the enterprise's ISO9001 quality objectives and not connected to employees' compensation and development. Leaders of these enterprises often unintentionally make a mistake: they want the horse to run fast but do not want it to eat more grass, which is untrustworthy.

Third, especially senior management should strengthen their ideological cultivation in this area. Like the formulation of the enterprise's ISO9001 quality objectives, many aspects of performance appraisal are decided and approved by the highest management. Therefore, the quality and awareness of the main leaders must be adequate; otherwise, the purpose of ISO9001 quality objective performance appraisal will be difficult to achieve. In many enterprises, middle managers are often more competent than senior managers, and if senior managers do not strive to improve, the result is tragic, ultimately leading to alienation and betrayal. From this perspective, senior managers should first strengthen training and learning. China does not lack bosses but lacks entrepreneurs who can skillfully navigate the global market economy.

5. Issues to Note When Establishing Quality Objectives

The decomposition of quality objectives provides a clear basis for the organization to monitor and measure the effectiveness of the quality management system.

When formulating quality objectives, first, pay attention to the measurability of the quality objectives. Avoid simply converting company goals directly and completely into department goals, and avoid vague terms such as "serious" or "guarantee"; some objectives may not be quantifiable but must be measurable.

Second, quality objectives should be achievable and challenging. Avoid setting goals that are too high to reach, and also avoid setting new goals that have already been achieved or are easily attainable.

Third, the organization should combine long-term development plans with quality objectives for different periods, formulating short-, medium-, and long-term goals. Short-term goals can be set annually, regularly monitored and measured, and evaluated during management reviews to determine their suitability and whether modifications or improvements are needed.

Fourth, after achieving the goals, new and higher goals should be set. If the goals are not achieved, the reasons should be analyzed and corrective measures formulated to continuously improve the effectiveness of the system's operation and achieve continuous improvement.