Section Six- The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award framework
provides a TQM guide for evaluation of human
resources.
Interestingly, human resource management and
development make up one of the seven major components on
which companies are evaluated for the Baldrige Award,
comprising 150 of the total of 1,000 points. The importance of
the Baldrige framework, however, is not attributable to its role
in the granting of awards for quality. Instead, its importance
lies with its usefulness in providing a guide to obtaining quality
and its value in evaluation or assessment.^82
Under TQM, the ultimate objective is to provide customer
satisfaction. By satisfying customers, a company increases its
market share and enhances the likelihood of increased
profitability. The traditional objectives of the human resource
function, which seek to improve performance, productivity,
employee satisfaction, and motivation, are indirectly related to
customer satisfaction. This is because employee retention and a
well-trained workforce are required for the production of quality
goods and services. Since TQM emphasizes the importance of a
systematic, comprehensive approach toward quality, the
interrelated role of the human resource function and its indirect
impact on the workforce make it critical to this objective. One