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This question is causing headaches for many a company, partly due to the tight labor market. Finding the ideal quality manager is no easy task. How do you respond with your personnel policy?
Before you actively search, it is a good idea to get an idea of the role the quality department has within the organization. Is the quality manager the controller or the ambassador? Does he look afterward to see if everything was done correctly or does he look ahead by setting up policies and continuously improving processes? The more quality thinking is embedded in the management and culture of an organization, the more demands are placed on the quality manager.
Developments have made the job of quality manager more comprehensive.
The job of quality manager has become more comprehensive anyway due to developments in the food industry, changed laws and regulations, the rise of labels and audits. Not only focused on QA and QC, but also on the process and the chain. Moreover, various certifications require more than registration and control. Supplier relationship, customer relationship, training policy, food safety culture, environment, sustainability, fraud, integrity: these are just a few aspects on which the quality manager anno 2023 must have vision and policy.
In short, knowledge of food technology alone is no longer enough. In addition to product knowledge and expertise, the quality manager's work requires knowledge of laws and regulations to interpret them correctly and administrative accuracy to implement, maintain and control quality systems. In addition - especially in the case of an ambassador - his/her management skills require making policies, leading projects and managing teams for quality and improvement. In addition, communication and social skills are required to successfully communicate all this internally and externally.
A capable and experienced quality manager is very important to the organization, but looking for one is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Young candidates with a completed degree in food technology are scarce, and if they are just coming out of college, the knowledge is still insufficient. This candidate needs experience, obviously, and still needs to acquire a lot of knowledge and skills to become a good quality manager. Also, candidates who advance to quality manager from another role in the organization (so-called lateral entrant) often lack the substantive knowledge and skills needed to fill the position properly.
Found a candidate? Then you want to develop the competencies in that person so that they become a good quality manager. Training is a good start. The candidate can attend training to acquire sufficient knowledge and in the meantime gain experience in the organization, but will you then become a complete quality manager? No, the management and communication skills needed to "sell" the knowledge and skills within the organization are not there yet.
This is precisely the missing link between a skilled quality employee and a good manager. To learn this, it is necessary to reflect on the work and skills to improve communication and change management. In addition, it is nice to have a network to fall back on when the quality manager is at a loss. The total picture makes for a good quality manager.
Précon offers training to become a quality manager in the food industry. The course is followed in a fixed group with a maximum of eight participants. To form the group, there is a joint start and conclusion.
During the course, classroom training (both in the area of knowledge and communication skills) is combined with online intervision sessions in which the participants deepen the training material together, discuss relevant cases, exchange experiences and reflect on practice. In this way we train the participants within a year to become all-round quality managers. One who not only has the knowledge at his disposal, but can also realize it in the organization.
Check out the training page training for quality manager (food) or contact us at info@precongroup.com or +31 (0)30 - 65 66 010
Subscribe to our newsletter, our monthly look at food and non-food quality management.