From TQM to Blue Ocean Strategy and Beyond: Employee Development as a Contributor to Organizational Growth and Effectiveness

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May 1—Can Faculty Development and Curricular Innovation Help You With Your Budget Crisis?, featuring Nicholas Santilli and Lauren L. Bowen, both of John Carroll University. They are presenting a concurrent session at SCUP–44. Santilli is also a SCUP Institute faculty member. Discussants will include former SCUP presidents Michael F. Middaugh, Laura Saunders, and Planning for Higher Education executive editor Tom Longin. Learn more or register now.

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Rio Salado College is considered by many to be an innovative leader.

Here's how it uses staff development as a TQM tool: Staff development programs have allowed Rio to introduce strategic initiatives through training to define the college’s expectations for employees and to support and advance such concepts. TQM, customer service, collegewide meetings, and The Rio Way are staff development programs used by Rio Salado between 1991 and 2006, and they provide an opportunity for the college’s leadership to create the college’s culture through learning opportunities for its employees. Rio Salado continues to use collegewide meetings, specifically, as a primary component of staff development. Each year at one of these annual meetings, the college president recognizes employees for years of service, celebrates educational programs and their successes, and communicates current strategic initiatives with all the employee participants.

Rio tends to evolve and incorporate business practices through staff development offerings. It is common for the college to use aspects of different business models that can be applied to workplace practices. Laura Helminski, chair of the communications department, explains, “It [the full scope of business models] becomes too rigid for us if we do every piece of a concept. We have found that some of the mechanical and statistical aspects slow us down, so we focus on the softer, people-oriented aspects.” She further states, “It’s not a pure approach, but we think it’s working. People tell us they believe we’re on to something! It feels right for us.”