Page 406 - The Handbook for Quality Management a Complete Guide to Operational Excellence

392 M a n a g e m e n t o f H u m a n R e s o u r c e s R e s o u r c e R e q u i r e m e n t s t o M a n a g e t h e Q u a l i t y F u n c t i o n 393

in identifying peer confidants and selecting their own peer
reviewer, and to be part of build ing a support system of resources
that will help them learn and grow toward professional mastery.

Professional Development
Professional development is the set of activities associated with obtaining
and maintaining professional credentials and of expanding one’s knowl-
edge in one’s chosen field. Here are a few examples of how some compa-
nies encourage their employ ees to continue their professional development:
Granite Rock, 1992 Baldrige Award winner, conducts annual profession al
develop ment reviews with every employee.
Virginia Beach Ambulatory Surgery Center (outpatient surgery) gives cash
awards and newsletter recognition to people who pass certification exams.
Grumman and IBM both have “Quality Colleges” that offer employees the
equiva lent of a college degree program in quality-related subjects.

Credentials
A credential is that which entitles one to a claim of authority or expertise in
a certain area. More concretely, a credential provides evidence that one has
a right to such a claim.
One class of credentials is compliance credentials. Compliance creden-
tials include licenses required by regulatory agencies for jobs that
involve public health and/or safety. In addition to legally required cre-
dentials, employers or customers may require credentials for such jobs
as a condition of the contract. Credentials are sometimes required to per-
mit one to perform certain tasks that require a level of skill that can’t be
easily determined by after-the-fact inspec tion of the work, for example,
welding or reading of X-ray images. Such credentials are often highly
task-specific, for example, certified to perform a particular surgical pro-
cedure or to weld nuclear reactors. Since skills can deteriorate, periodic
recer tification is usually required to maintain the credential. Examples
of jobs requiring compliance credentials are surgeons, certain engineer-
ing professions (including, in some states, quality engineering), nurses,
midwifes, radiology technicians, food and drug workers, nuclear inspec-
tors, nuclear welders, etc.

Professional Certification
It is possible to obtain certification in many of the broad categories of jobs
in the quality field. Certification is formal recognition by one’s peers
(ASQ) that an individual has demonstrated a proficiency within and a
comprehension of a specified body of knowledge at a point in time. Peer
recognition is not registration or licensing.

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