A large study of over 4,000 workers showed that nearly 3 in 4 employees don’t think they’re achieving their full potential. Add the fact that one-third say boring training content hinders learning, and it’s clear organizations have a long way to go in terms of effective training.

Lackluster training isn’t just an annoyance. It also carries a multi-million-dollar price tag for organizations in terms of poor performance and employee turnover. To help companies avoid these problems, we’re looking at 7 strategies to make your employee training programs better. 

Audits are more than just sets of checklists, and corrective actions are more than just band aids for your organization.

They are both critical quality management functions—and they happen to work extremely well together.

Here are three reasons why we consider audits and corrective action to be a “dynamic duo,” a duo that brings out the best in each other.

Many quality or Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) management professionals rely on Corrective Action software everyday to manage events such as nonconforming materials, customer complaints and safety incidents.

And yet, time and again, we see companies falling behind on their corrective action goals. Corrective actions don’t work. They have weak fixes, where people automatically assign human error as a root cause without examining the systemic factors behind the error. And when an incident occurs, it’s not uncommon for someone to comment that they knew it was bound to happen—a sure sign of ineffective corrective actions.

What can companies do from a technology perspective?

To ensure your corrective action process is working, you need corrective actions that are findable, trackable and designed to prevent systemic issues.

When you hear the term operational excellence, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Is it:

1. Just another worthless top-down initiative forced on overworked employees.
2. The answer to all the problems plaguing your company.
3. Something corporate goons invented to make themselves look good and justify their bloated salaries.

The correct answer: none of the above. Like many things in life, success with operational excellence is all in how you approach it.

In today’s post, we’ll bust common myths and misconceptions around operational excellence, so you can identify an effective strategy that’s grounded in reality.

When it comes to solving problems that arise in manufacturing, identifying the cause of what went wrong is top priority. But what about once you’ve pinpointed the root cause of the issue? That’s when the real work starts, and you have to make a corrective action plan capable of fully resolving the problem.

In this post, we look at the most important elements of your corrective action plan, and how you can ensure an effective, streamlined corrective action process.

If you’ve watched the hit satire Portlandia, you might remember a sketch where Fred Armisen is frantically switching back and forth between reading funny blogs, answering text messages, checking email and updating his Netflix queue.

His friend, Carrie Brownstein, tries to help him overcome this endless hamster wheel of distractions. Suddenly, they’re speaking telepathically via “Mind-Fi,” which she says is like WiFi for thoughts and will let Fred put down his devices (until an ad interrupts them and makes his brain melt down).

Quality managers often have similar problems, jumping from one system to another, sifting through spreadsheets and checking off audit questions until they can barely see their larger quality goals.

With that in mind, let’s look at 5 ways cloud-based Quality Management System (QMS) software can help streamline your work through more efficient task management.

To achieve operational excellence, you need a comprehensive, forward-thinking approach to managing safety and quality risks.

This infographic identifies 4 of the most common risk management gaps and shows you how solutions like quality management software can help mitigate these risks.

If you’re a fan of the satirical news site, The Onion, you might be familiar with the advice columns with titles like “Ask a Bee,” “Ask a Close Personal Friend of Teri Garr,” and “Ask a High-School Student Who Didn’t Do the Required Reading.”

What makes them funny is that the responses have less to do with readers’ inquiries, and more with the columnists’ own issues (like a rambling, off-topic attempt at fudging the plot of Animal Farm).

In a similar vein, today’s post is a fun take on what a 1970s pop deejay would have to say about common quality management questions and concerns.

Everyone faces challenges, personally and with their businesses. People say the true mark of character is how you respond to challenges, and that goes for your business too.

When faced with challenges you have two options: become a victim of circumstance or use the tools around you to turn them into an opportunity. With a Quality Management System (QMS), you can easily turn many operational challenges into opportunities for success.

Gone are the days when most dogs were relegated to a lonely backyard existence, when a pup might never set foot in the house (let alone take up more than their fair share of the bed). Nowadays, the most fortunate dogs are pampered with such delights as a dog massage, specialty bakeries and webcam-equipped pet hotels.

Today, we’re looking at quality management software from a dog’s perspective, focusing on things your dog wishes you knew about employee training, supplier management, corrective action and more.