Managing the Total

Quality of Training

Robert O. Brinkerhoff, Stephen J. Gill

The total quality management framework provides an easily le^ti

and popularly supported vehicle for achieving goals that training leaders
have long pursued—with only moderate success—under the banners of
systematic instructional design, performance-based training, and evalua-
tion of training. Because total quality management efforts are based on
systems thinking, training qualify improvement efforts readily clarijy the
critical role of "non£raining" processes (supervision, for example) in the
production of training-added value. The total training quality manage-
ment approach prescribes a systems view of training that partitions the
va/ue-atitiing process into three areas: processes that take place (1) before
the [earning transaction, (2) during the learning transaction, and
(3) after the learning transaction. Critical value-adding events in the
before-, during-, and after-training processes are first defined, then mea-
sured and tracked, so that nonconforming variations can be detected that
will lead first to problem solving, then to continued improvement.

Quality, in products and services, is the new revolution in private and public
sector organizations. Requests for applications for the Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award have risen from 65.CX)0 requests in 1989 to 160,000
requests in 1990 (Schaefer, 1990). Quality programs pervade the manufacturing
industries and are beginning to become part of the revitalization of health care,
retail sales companies, utilities, and other service businesses. Around the world,
businesses and industries are learning to apply quality concepts to the con-
tinuous improvement of their work units and their organizations.
Trainers are increasingly being asked to help their organizations benefit
from this quality revolution (Cocheu. 1989). However, except in piecemeal
and superficial ways, few trainers are applying quality principles to training.
In this article we describe a framework for the total quality management of
training. This approach, which we refer to as total quality managed training
(TQMT) integrates concepts of the leading quality contributors with the
best practices of human resource development.

HUMAN RQOUICE OeveLOfNCifT Quurmur: yoiXoo I. Summer 199Z ©Jorue^-aui Publlthen 121
122 Brinfeerfiq/f. Gill

Most of the elements discussed in this article are not new. The quality
concepts are freely adopted from the quality literature. Instructional systems
design principles and approaches have existed for many years, giving
direction to the design and delivery of high-qualiry learning interventions.
The recent training literature (for example. Brinkerhoff, 1987; Gradous,
1991; Robinson and Robinson, 1990) prescribes how to design and deliver
high-impact, performance-based training.
Yet. for most trainers laboring in most training departments, this advice
is very difficult to apply. The typical training operation is bureaucratically
and politically distanced from the business of the organization, and man-
agement is often skeptical of the corporate training function.
What is new is the prominence of the total quality movement. The total
quality management perspective represents a tremendous opportunity to
redefine the training paradigm and for training leaders to help the profes-
sion move closer to some significant goals: integrating training into the
overall strategic and operating framework of the organization, building
effective partnerships with management, and measuring and documenting
the effectiveness of training. The total quality perspective also provides an
opportunity for trainers to defend their requests for additional resources
by linking these requests more directly to important goals of the organiza-
tion. Training leaders cannot count on increasing budgets; the pressure to
be more productive with the same or decreasing resources will continue to
be felt throughout the organization. In sum, the total quality management
approach can help trainers play and be more accepted in a critical role in
the success of the organization.

Total Quality Management

The leading figures in the quality movement offer definitions of quality that
we can adapt to training. Deming (1986) defines qualiry as meeting the
customer's needs. He argues that the way to do this is to improve continu-
ously the processes that produce products and services. The way to
improve these processes is by following his fourteen points {point one
being "Create constancy of purpose for the improvement of product and
service") and using specific methods and tools. He suggests statistical
process control techniques (essentially collecting data that helps monitor
variation and continually adjusting processes to reduce this variation) and
the use of charts to assess and explain the variation.
Deming also stresses that quality can be managed only when the pro-
duction process is analyzed and understood wiihin a larger systems frame-
work. For example, automobile manufacturers had to learn that providing
quality to customers required management of the total system, including
product development, purchasing, plant operations, and sales and service.
Manufacturers began to work more cooperatively with suppliers to manage
Managing the Total Quality of Training 123

the quality of system inputs and with dealers ro streamline the warranty
service process. The "total" in total quality management refers to a systems
view of quality.
juran and Gryna (1980) define quality as "fitness to use." This means
that customers should be able to count on the product for their purposes.
The product should have quality in its design, its conformance to stan-
dards, its availability when needed, its safety, and its condition when it
reaches the customer. Juran's emphasis is on the reliability of the product
in all of these areas.
Crosby (1979) defines quality as "conformance to requirements." A
high-quality product consistently meets the specifications set for that par-
ticular product. According to Crosby, the ultitnate goal of quality improve-
ment is "zero defects." This is achieved by identifying problems early in
the process, with the emphasis on prevention over detection.
Taguchi and Clausing (1990) believe that the quality of a product must
be judged by the robustness of [hat product as it is used in the field. A
robust product is one that holds up to the effects of interacting with other
parts under the actual conditions for which it is designed. For Taguchi and
Clausing, "zero defects" is not good enough because this concept presup-
poses an acceptable amount of variation from the specifications for any
part. They believe that a robust product comes from "meeting exact targets
consistently" (p. 67). This robustness must be designed into the product
because "quality is a virtue of design" (p. 65). The cost of low quality is
much greater than the cost of high qualicy. When a product fails, it must be
tracked, transported, apologized for, and replaced or fixed. The costs in
terms of production and damage to reputation are great.
Our definition of total quality managed training builds from the work
of these quality leaders to establish the following principles:

• Quality in training is defined by the needs and expectations of the

customers of training. High-quality training is training that provides the
greatest value to training customers, including trainees, their supervisors,
other managers, executives, other employees, and the consumers of the
products and services.
• Quality in training is a virtue of design. The highest quality training Is
training that is designed to consistently produce results that add value to
the organization and to its products and services and maintain this
value over time.
• Continuous efforts are made to identify and eliminate variations in the
training process that threaten quality.
• The goal of TQMT is to ensure the organization that 100 percent of its
employees leam 100 percent of what they need to leam wben they need
to learn 100 percent of the time.
• The cost of nonconformance is identified and measured to ensure that
 Brinkerhojf, Gill

training is free of waste; TQMT consistently adds the greatest value at

the lowest cost
• TQMT is integrated with other organizational subsystems (for example,
selection, benefits, performance appraisal, promotion, strategic planning)
that add value to individual and organizational performance.

Systems View of Training. Traditionally, training is thought of as a

single independent process or activity that produces a single result of
learning. However, the view that training outcomes are only some change
in the ability of the trainee is short sighted and limited, since these learning
outcomes by themselves have very little value to an organization.
To apply [he total quality management approach, training must be
defined within the context of the total system of individual and organiza-
tional performance. Training is a complex process that is affected by many
organizational, small group, and individual interactions. This training pro-
cess must be analyzed to identify its many components and critical inter-
faces with other organizational processes (subsystems), with quality criteria,
measurement, and feedback specified for each critical juncture. The com-
prehensive systems analysis of training required for the total quality
approach lo training necessitates a broad view of the training process^a
broader view than is typically taken by training practitioners and their
managers.
As Nadler (1979) points out, learning is a defining element of training
that distinguishes training from other organizational performance improve-
ment strategies, such as job design or pay and incentive plans. But
although learning is always a part of training, learning is not the goal of
training. Learning alone does not add sufficient value to justify the costs
of training. Learning results muse be further "processed" within and
through interaction with other processes in order to add value.
Most typically, training is intended to add value through the transfor-
mation of learning into changed job performance. But training may also
add value through sustained changes in the capacity of employees to per-
form in new ways in the future. Training may also add value when learning
results create positive attitudlnal reactions that then lead to improvements
in overall organizational performance and climate. In any of [hese value-
adding figurations, however, it is not learning itself that adds value; learning
results must be further transformed through retention, reinforcement, and
support activities that involve what are traditionally viewed as nontraining
processes within the organization.
Critical Value-Adding Processes. Research on training (Gradous, 1991;
Tannenbaum and Yukl. 1992) has provided much knowledge about how
the pretraining and posttraining environments bear heavily on whether
and how training adds value. From a quality management perspective, the
pretraining and posttraining environments are viewed as integral portions
Managing the Total Quality of Training 125

of (not separate from) the overall training process and become the locus of
measurement of many critical value-adding events.
Each of these value-adding events produces "critical value adders"
(CVAs) that influence the quality of training results. Managing the total
quality of training involves identifying these CVAs and measuring their
variation to create information on which continuous improvement efforts
can be based. The quality management process depicted in Figure 1 can be
exemplified by considering a hypothetical but typical training course for
new managers entitled "How to Conduct Effective Meetings." The TQMT
approach in this example might be played out as described in the following
five key steps:
1. Establish goals for added value. Meetings among trainers and training
customers (people in the organization who will benefit from improved
meetings) are held to clarify and define measurable expectations for the
value that training in meeting effectiveness will add. The training may be
expected to increase meeting efficiency and productivity, thereby enabling
participants to reach needed decisions more quickly and thereby reduce
costs.
2. Identify before, during, and after CVAs. Analysis of the training process
identifies those CVAs that if managed more effectively could add signifi-
cantly to the overall quality of the training. Measurable criteria for each
process are agreed on. For example, these criteria could state that trainees
will clearly understand expectations for their postleaming performance in
meetings, managers of the trainees will agree to provide at least two coach-
ing interventions to the trainees within two weeks after the last training
session, each trainee will bring a completed meeting analysis worksheet to
a training session, and trainees will design and conduct an actual meeting
between training sessions.

Figure 1. Managing Critical Value-Adding Processes

BEFORE
(x)-^(x)-»-(5)*-® —
f f f t
if
AFTER
»- (x)*-(x)-^(x>*<x)

f f f
EVALUATION & IMPROVEMENT

Critical Value-Adding Events

126 Brinkerhojf. Gill

3. Measure the variation in achievement ofCVA criteria. Each of the CVA

processes is measured and monitored according to muaially agreed-on
criteria and measurement procedures. Appropriate data analysis and reports
(such as variation charts) will be produced and discussed with trainers
and the customers of training.
4. Conduct feedback and problem-solving efforts with key stakeholders.
Vv'here special cause variations in CVAs are identified, problem-solving
groups are convened to propose solutions. For example, if competing oper-
ational demands prevent managers from fulfilling their planned coaching
interventions, ways to make these managers available for coaching could
be explored by this group.
5. Implement continuous improvement efforts. Trainers and training cus-
tomers, including trainees, managers of trainees, other managers and
employees, participate in continuing efforts to study emerging problems
related to the purpose of the training, plan improvement strategies, monitor
results, and make changes.

TQMT System
Moving beyond the application of total quality management to a single
course, the TQMT approach can be used to manage the entire training
function. This is a systems view chat takes into consideration the interrela-
tionship of the various processes that support the planning, delivery, and
sustaining of learning.
The entire training system in an organization can be partitioned into
four interdependent processes (see Figure 2). Quality improvement efforts
can then be focused on the appropriate process. Although the specific
operation and desired outputs for each of the four processes are different
depending on the specific training context, the four processes can be
found within any training function and always provide a useful identifica-
tion of levers for quality improvement. Each of these processes is defined
below, with examples of how TQMT is applied [o each process.
Formulating Training Goals. The goal formulation process links
expected training results co organization strategies and goals and to cus-
tomer expectations for the results of training. To do this we must first
know who the customers of training are and identify the results that these
customers want from the training process. The obvious customer is the
trainee, but other customers, such as the trainee's supervisor, supervisees
of the trainee, managers of the organization, board of directors, stock-
holders, and end users of the product or service, are all customers of
training. Meeting the needs of each of these customers means identifying a
broad range of desired training results.
Needs analyses are conducted to help training managers decide
whether and what sorts of training the organization should provide. A
Managing the Total Qualify of Training 127

Figure 2. TQMT Subprocesses

TRANSFORMING FORMULATING
LEARNING INTO TRAINING
ADDED VALUE GOALS

CREATING
FACILITATING TRAINING
LEARNING PLANS AND
TRANSACTIONS STRATEGIES

needs analysis is typical of a goal formulation activity. There are other

activities that characterize goal formulation as well. For example, a top-
level management group might decide to install new technology to stream-
line business operations, eventually contracting with a vendor to supply
and install the new equipment. Discussions with the vendor should explore
the nature of the training that will be provided, how it will be delivered,
what support is needed from the organization, and so on. These discus-
sions about training are another type of goal formulation since they con-
tribute to and shape decisions about the needs, desired outcomes, and
expectations for the value that training will add.
Goal formulation occurs at an easily recognized macrolevel whenever
an organization considers the development of new training programs. Less
immediately recognizable as goal formulation is the microlevel. For example.
a company employee hears from a friend about a training workshop and
then asks a supervisor for permission to attend. This represents a micro-
level, goal formulation activity. In this example, training needs may or may
128 Brinkerhof. Cill

not have been made explicit, but benefits and expectations for training
results are anticipated.
The goal formulation process includes all activities that shape decisions
to deploy training resources. Tbis process either implicitly or explicitly
identifies tbe benefits to the individual and the organization. The process
cannot be skipped, though the attention given to goal formulation may
vary considerably from one training effort to another. Regardless of how
consciously and conscientiously goal formulation is done, the process
shapes expectations for the value that the particular training will add co
the organization.
Goal formulation activities are measured and tracked to detect varia-
tions in CVAs. This ensures that:

• Training goals are clearly and explicitly linked to organization goals

• All stakeholders (for example, trainees, trainee supervisors, top level
management) understand and agree to the goals
• AI! stakeholders understand the linkage of training goals to organization
goals
• Measurable goal achievement indicators are understood and agreed to by
all stakeholders
• Projections of value to be added by training are greater than anticipated
costs of training.

Creating Training Plans and Strategies. This process includes all of tbe
decisions and activities that sbape tbe nature and scope of training activi-
ties. Designing tbe training activities, writing materials, planning work-
shops, publicizing the event, specifying participant selection procedures,
notifying supervisors, soliciting management support, and creating realistic
and supportive expectations are all examples of the planning and strate-
gizing process. This process is accomplished at different levels of rigor: A
top-level manager may say, "Let's put on ACME'S widgei training while
everyone is in town for the sales division meeting next year!" A strategic
planning committee may devote a year of meetings to designing a four-day
corporate retreat. An instructional designer may produce a workshop mod-
ule. A training manager may think to herself, "Hmm, I'd better get Pat's
boss involved in helping Pat support Fred in using his new negotiation
skills." In each example, all are engaging in the process of creating training
plans and strategies.
In TQMT, this process produces the training plans and procedures,
specifying all details of how training resources are to be deployed, with
whom, and on what schedule. Tbe training strategy design process includes
not only typical instructional design activities but also specific plans for
what should happen before and after training. It is a process rife with
levers (CVAs) for increasing training quality.
Managing the Total Quality of Training 129

The strategy formulation process raises and resolves questions that

result in specific expecrations for action on the pan of trainers, trainees,
trainee supervisors, managers, and others. Systematic measurement of these
actions to detect variations that threaten quality are planned and directed
toward CVAs. Strategy formulation activities are measured and tracked to
detect variations in these CVAs. This ensures that:

• Trainee groups that have the greatest need for training benefit from the
training
• Trainee schedules allow for jusc-in-time learning
• Ownership of training plans are shared equally among the different
stakeholder groups
• Trainee and supervisor expectations for training needs and results are
realistic and accurate
• Accountability for usage and support of learning on the job is specified
and agreed to among key stakeholders (trainers, trainees, supervisors,
and managers)
• Venues for learning transactions support and encourage excellence
• Training group size and make-up are optimum for learning and impact
• Responsibility for prelearning activities (such as analysis of transfer of
learning objectives) is clearly assigned, understood, and agreed to
• Instructional designs incorporate effective and appropriate adult learning
strategies.

FadHtating Learning Transactions. This third process refers to the

activities that produce learning. The process includes whatever is done to
ensure that trainees learn what they are supposed to learn in the most
effective and efficient manner possible. Teaching is the most obvious activ-
ity in this process, but managing the learning environment, providing
physical and psychological comfort and encouragement to learners, moni-
toring learning, and providing feedback are also important.
Learning transaction activities are measured and tracked to detect vari-
ations in CVAs. This ensures that:

• Trainees are learning at effective rates

• Individual learning deficits are identified, analyzed, and ameliorated
• Trainees master interim and terminal learning objectives
• Learning includes individual clarification of job usage and benefits
• Trainees build clear understanding of linkage of personal learning to
achieving organizational strategic goals
• Learning feedback is accurate and timely.

Transforming Learning into Added Value. Training goals are not accom-
plished simply with the acquisition of learning on the part of trainees. For
130 Brinkerhoff, Gill

learning to translate into added value to the organization, learning must

endure and be applied to the workplace to enhance organizational perfor-
mance. A number of activities must occur to support this transfer, including
follow-up assessments of job performance, periodic meetings with trainees
to encourage the use of training, and rewards for the application of new
learning. When training is not intended for immediate use (such as when
airline pilots are trained in crash-landing techniques), then activities such
as refresher training, providing job aids or written updates, and reassess-
ment of skills represent this founh process.
Learning transformation activities are measured and tracked to detect
variations in CVAs. This ensures that:

• Supervisors suppon application of learning to the job

• Trainees apply learning on the job
• Impediments to the transfer of learning are identified
• Learning is retained over time
• Trainees receive accurate and timely feedback on their use of learning
• Supervisors receive feedback on their coaching and support efforts
• Incentives, rewards, and recognition are provided
• Feedback is provided on the impact of learning on the organization's
progress toward its business goals and objectives.

Activities during all four of the critical training subprocesses should be

monitored to assess conformance with expectations. A continuous flow of data
about activities and results during all four subprocesses will serve to focus
attention on important quality considerations as well as shed light on the
extent to which the organization is achieving greater control over training.
Activities that guide the total quality management approach are the
same for each of the four training processes:

• Expectations for outcomes of each process are discussed, negotiated,

clarified, and agreed on with customers.
• Critical interfaces with other organizational subsystems are analyzed and
translated into critical value-adding actions (the quality levers).
• Specifications for variation of CVAs are constructed so that they can be
measured.
• Variation reports are communicated to key parties so that participative
problem-solving and improvement efforts can be undertaken.
• Knowledge created by the foregoing activities is clarified and formalized
into new procedures and expectations that continuously improve the
quality of training.

The commitment to continuous improvement is essential to the total

quality management approach. Training remains as much art as it does
 Managing the Total Quality of Training 131

science; no maner how well a given training process works, there is always
room for improvement.
A total quality management approach to training is not a cookbook
approach that can be applied in the same way to every training program. As
we explained above, the ultimate goal of training is added value to the orga-
nization. Because the culture and structure of each organization are different,
and the needs and opportunities in any given organization are constantly
changing, indicators of quali^ in training are entirely context specific and
context bound.

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Robert O. Brinkerhoff is professor in the Department of Educational Leadership,

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo.

Stephen J. Gill is executive consultant for United Training Services, Inc., South-
field, Michigan.