THE Management Division of the American Society for Quality (ASQ), on Tuesday, hosted a seminar for young Guyanese professionals at the Georgetown Club, on Camp Street.

It was aimed at enlightening them on more steps that can be taken to build a strong local economy through quality.
Speaking to the participants, a representative of ASQ in Guyana, Mr. Owen Ramsay, said there is a wealth of information that could be helpful to further enhance any company or organisation, once they become a member of his entity.
“This information will help a person to focus on the principles and concepts you need to do a better job at what you are doing,” he stated.
He said one of the things on which the ASQ is focused is building a strong economy in Guyana and, to do this, quality is a must.
“You have to focus on quality, we are interested in focusing on the Caricom Single Market and Economy and, in order to do that, quality has to be the number one priority in our business,” Ramsay reiterated.
He pointed out that, to achieve the goals and objectives, one must first understand how to apply data quality control and many organisations in Guyana would see this as being one of the real challenges.
“So we must understand how to use data and apply quality control,” Ramsay added.
      
CORE VALUES
He said one must know how to use data effectively in order to achieve intended goals and noted that it is important to endeavour to make high-quality goods at low cost, to focus on alignment of vision/purpose and to have an operational set of core values that is understood throughout the organisation.
Ramsay said, often times, organisations would spend a lot of time and money on training and would end up being disappointed at the end result. This is because those persons did not grasp the true objectives that are underlined by top management.
“Often you find that some organisations spend a lot of time on training and they come back disappointed. Nothing much has changed or has happened because persons have not bought in to what the objectives are as stated by top management,” he posited.
Ramsay said that is a significant challenge but, with ASQ, it can be different if the correct steps are taken in a timely but slow process.
ASQ is a global community of people comprising more than 80,000 members worldwide who are passionate about quality and offers technologies, concepts, training, solutions, and an active network of quality practitioners, leaders and innovators second to none, he boasted.

VERY INTERESTING
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, in  brief remarks, said he finds the organisation very interesting because it gives a lot of information that persons may want to know and deals with a lot of issues persons may be having in terms of delivering quality services to customers.
He observed that it helps persons to reduce some of the social problems and questions they may have among themselves.
“If you look at some persons, you may notice that their learning skill is very staggered,” he said.
He said persons who would have joined the organisation have gained knowledge on advancing the ideas, tools, techniques and systems that will help the world meet tomorrow’s critical challenges. Today, ASQ has the largest community of quality professionals in over 150 countries across the world with a certification that is recognised worldwide and is a leader in quality management knowledge and information, said its Global Outreach Chair Ramsay.
He informed the audience of some of the things the organisation has to offer and encouraged them to join, stating it would be of great benefit to them.