Good managers will be able to acquire personnel who support the organization's purposes and have the ability to accomplish the tasks for which they were hired. TQM firms will need to screen and select candidates who are different than traditional job applicants. Screening will be necessary to assess the individuals' potential for team playing, their ability to understand and use the analytical tools of TQM, and their philosophical approach to satisfying customer needs. Once a firm has established its labor force, it must attend to maintaining them as satisfied, productive workers. Techniques used for this purpose include appraisal, training, and compensation.
Human performance is often a key to organizational success.
The ability of a firm to develop the performance of individual employees can be a major factor in a company being competitive. Development includes not only the ability of an individual to perform a current task, but the growth into new and more challenging assignments too. Training is the process of upgrading the skills of the human resources already working for a firm. These include both technical and managerial skills. TQM firms will have to commit significant resources toward the training of their employees.