No business enterprise can grow and prosper–exist, for that matter–for 35 years without continuous quality assessment, control, and improvement policies and procedures (P&P). However, for KRA Corporation, it was time to formalize and institutionalize these P&Ps, especially in light of the changing landscape of the public and private workforce-services system.
New WIOA regulations, as well as those anticipated for TANF, necessitated an introspective assessment of current corporate and local-program P&Ps, to ensure total alignment with industry changes, and to identify areas where new approaches were needed–not just for compliance with regulations, but for KRA to remain a producer of superior program outcomes.
Ensuring the assessment’s authenticity and scope, KRA engaged employees–at all levels–to gain an understanding of their perspectives, and to solicit ideas on how best to embrace change, while retaining the values that have made KRA a nationally recognized leader in our industry.
Fortunately, assessment results indicated that operations were, for the most part, already aligned with the “changing landscape” and new regulations. Consequently, minor adjustments were needed only in a few areas; however, even a “few” are too many if KRA truly expected to continue providing services of the highest possible quality to our WIOA and TANF agencies, boards, customers, and partners.
In addition to KRA’s 2015 Leadership Edge–an internal professional-development program– participants assisting in the shaping of CQI elements and focus, we established two critical planning teams, an Executive Operations Committee and a Steering Committee, to create charters, and–adhering to Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence–to determine specific CQI goals, objectives, P&Ps, and timelines for implementation throughout the company.
As this undertaking required the buy-in and commitment of the entire KRA Team, to ensure that all of us were equipped with the same information needed to implement the CQI Plan successfully, we conducted CQI Plan Roll-out Meetings across the country, from Connecticut to California
Our new CQI mantra, The KRA Way, is transforming our corporate culture to one totally rededicated to focused on exceeding customer expectations by continuously improving operations, processes, and service-delivery systems, and continuously valuing the contributions and furthering the development of all KRA team members.
Dr. Boone’s 20+ years’ experience in the industry is extensive and her expertise in private-, public-, and non-profit sector workforce-services organizations is unparalleled, particularly in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan area.
