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RANTING - a little motivation needed to keep improving

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Dapulu

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Posted 02 November 2016 - 06:05 PM

Good morning.

 

Starting at the end 2014 one of our main customers asked us to get the BRC Certification, I entered the company when they already had a GMP/HACCP supplier audit achieved and one of my multiple tasks was getting ready for the audit.

 

Needless to say, moving from a normal GMP/HACP to a full-fledged quality and food safety standard required a lot of little changes here and there and a good bunch of big ones too. After working all 2015 and receiving disheartening pre-audit with 10+Major NC and 30+ Minor NC we worked like hell to achieve the best results. In the end we achieved a B result with 11 Minor NC. There was a new quality manager 2 months before the audit and he received all the benefits (prestige, money, blabla), Quality department and all others who worked hard for it weren't even given the thanks properly. Another workmate and me who worked the hardest ot get the audit were pushed aside. (Internal operators and managers congratulated us three after the audit, not the new QM. I'm not trying to be self-important, it's just days and hundreds of hours spent on it...and no recognition whatsoever. They all know by the training,s the daily comments, the reviewing, the daily discussions and fights to get the system working were the actual factors that made us achieve that B)

 

Couple of weeks after the result the directive took the decision to start a night shift, we not being completely ready in terms of quality and training preparation. It was OK from a basic quality and food safety control. However, we were nowhere near the level we had achieved before. That was the first big hit.

 

Later the director  kept on putting people on key areas without proper training, the aftermath being multiples small and medium mistakes that would easy be non conformities...some of them porobably major. QA Manager (kind of my boss but not really) kept on focusing on stuff the director wanted which were related to different projects outside the facility and stuff very unrelated to the current quality system. Being a small dpartment with 5 people, they took 1 out and couldn't substitute him. That's always an issue. HR never gets personnel to substitute the different positions. The people who land the job are almost always people who come knocking to the facility or are already in the facility and just shift areas. Training is AWFUL, or null in some positions. The other guy and me usually had to train them while they were working at the same time because there were "no funds" to prepare the time and effort to separate it from the usual routines.

 

Whenever there is an error in production or in quality, QA Manager doesn't even notice it sometimes and we don't properly follow up a full corrective action. He doesn't sign the documents at the end of the day. I know he cares but it's so F*¨**** frustrating. He has 20+ years of experience,  How can he not see why it's important for him toimmerse himself in the system? How can he not see that eliminating extra hours for the department, keeping low-key badmouthing his own personnel will only bring more demotivation? The guys at quality don't even care sometimes. They earn barely enough to keep their familities aflout, and the manager can't even open his mouth to discuss it with HR. He does good stuff in regards to quality...but it's so not enough.

 

A few weeks ago he had the nerve to tell me (I'm the only one remaining from the team who worked on the audit) that "we" had to keep BRC checked....and I'm just standing there looking at him. What is the purpose of spending so much time and effort on it when at the end he will take the credit and we will be his scapegoats anyways. The system was our baby and not him, not HR not the director cared wheter it was being killed or not. Multiple times I warned and explined to them the situations that could potentially affect us. But no, the director has the last choice. And the QA Manager can only tell him YES. I haven't confronted him directly about all this because when I confront him for a specific action that just happenned he pretends it was someone elses choice or the directors...I also live with him because we use one of the facilities departments. 

 

Last couple of weeks the director told me if we needed anything we could ask for it to prepare for the audit. SEIOUSLY!!!??? When we could do stuff to avoid having triple workload before the last couple of months???

 

I don't even know were to start with the corrective actions...I mean...Which auditor would be happy and all eager to see an internal audit with  dozens of MINOR NC??? When we achieved a B a few months before. 

 

I just don't even know how to properly keep the last few months documentation regarding corrective actions and internal audits in check. So many previous mistakes resurfaced again... We will work A LOT again...but if he just keeps on making these decisions...what's the point of having a BRC standard? We can easily just keep on pushing the GMP/HACCP one...because out system is OK on food safety and basic quality stuff...it's just there are SO MANY LOOSE ENDS.

 

Enough ranting. I just want to know if any of you have had a case where you need to keep on correcting the same mistakes over and over again :/ Maybe I need a vacation?

 

What do you guys think I could say to the directive and the QA manager?

 

 

 



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Simon

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Posted 02 November 2016 - 06:57 PM

Hi Dapulu, all I can say for now.

 


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Posted 02 November 2016 - 07:11 PM

We hear your plight a lot and I can empathize; we've all been there to some extent.  You have a senior manager and a quality manager who sign policies and ultimately are responsible and accountable for the success or failure of the FSQMS.  If I were you I would voice your concerns calmly with facts and explain that you are worried that you may fail the BRC audit if XYZ and ABC are not carried out.  If they choose to ignore you and you fail the audit, lose certification, lose business it's on their heads.  It's a shame, but sometimes it takes such an event to wake people from their slumber.  Sounds like you are far too good for that company.

 

Best of luck.

 

Cheers,

Simon


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ChristinaK

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Posted 02 November 2016 - 07:45 PM

We hear your plight a lot and I can empathize; we've all been there to some extent.  You have a senior manager and a quality manager who sign policies and ultimately are responsible and accountable for the success or failure of the FSQMS.  If I were you I would voice your concerns calmly with facts and explain that you are worried that you may fail the BRC audit if XYZ and ABC are not carried out.  If they choose to ignore you and you fail the audit, lose certification, lose business it's on their heads.  It's a shame, but sometimes it takes such an event to wake people from their slumber.  Sounds like you are far too good for that company.

 

Best of luck.

 

Cheers,

Simon

 

I agree with Simon. The best you can do is lay out a clear explanation of what needs to be repaired and addressed to keep your BRC certification and hope that they listen to you. 

I hope that this crummy scenario doesn't dampen your passion for food safety and quality. If things go south, I wish you luck in finding a company that will appreciate your hard work and dedication better.

 

Good luck!


-Christina

Spite can be a huge motivator for me to learn almost anything.


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Dapulu

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Posted 27 December 2016 - 01:01 PM

Thank you. Although this was written a couple of months ago, things have really gone south from there. Although I'm more optimistic now than a few months ago.

 

Current situation: Not only are there multiple holes in the system, specially on fundamentals, an advisor whom I deeply trusted (and whom the senior executive completely trusts) and looked up to tell me that "I'm not doing enough" and a bunch of other demanding stuff when he hasn't even been on the facility for months nor watched or reviewed anything and I truly have been improving my game, because before my efficiency was good, but not as good as last year.My paycut suffered because "I wasn't investing enough time" when I'm easily surpassing 60+ hours. At this point in time I'm just thinking how things have changed and the only reason for being here is to improve the system and avoid a K.O. ....but maybe I should just give them an internal audit with what I believe would be minor and major NC and an option to solve them and let them do the work. It's going to hurt because all the previous work of the year will be in the air.

 

I have expressed calmly and sometimes aggresively (without offending anyone) the situations to my "boss" QM...and the result was so dissapointing. He stills treats his dpt. like cr*p, when there's an issue we have the "the senior executive is so harsh on me" speech and how everything falls on his shoulders, but being in a couple of meetings with the executive director and him, he stabs his coworkers under him by putting the blame on them. Who knows how many times I've been the one to blame. 

 

I'm trying to just "let it go" and be professional at my work. But this has been a challenge. I've made my mistakes and I owned up on them. Why is it so hard for him? Not like he's gonna get fired. At this rate I'm just having second doubts that if the audit indeed fails it will just be "my fault". I've learned and applied so much here that it's such a waste. Don't get me wrong, the most I'm learning right now is how to properly communicate my ideas to the management now that I feel I'm not part of them (although they say I am...even though I've got no authority whatsoever) but I feel like I'm stuck in this trap. The ideal scenario would be for me to keep being here until the audit, pass the audit and say good bye. 

 

My view on Food Safety and Quality Systems based on this experience sometimes makes me think that this is not the job for me, but as I keep on being patient I realize how every company is different and how the past experiences in my current work are just putting weight on my view of th

 

Probably time to move on. Soooo tired.



Dr Vu

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Posted 27 December 2016 - 01:17 PM

some times if you feel your voice is not heard you cut your losses. No use getting stressed when the top brass is chugging wine on their yachts and you are slaving away. i do feel your pain

what i hate is that if the company fails- you fail as well and a smear appears on your resume / CV.its a struggle Dapulu but soldier on and voice your thoughts at least for a bit


A vu in time , saves nine

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Charles.C

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Posted 27 December 2016 - 04:11 PM

Hi Dapulu,

 

As previously noted, many of us are sadly familiar with yr kind of woes !  I admire yr capability for Optimism !

 

I deduce there are probably additional reasons why you are hanging on in the unenviable environment you describe.

 

Apart from being extremely sympathetic towards your plight, i am curious as to the kind of Business involved ? It sounds like that for yr Process, excluding the Personnel  conflicts you describe, the QA Setup is basically insufficient/inadequate from a BRC targeted POV ?


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


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Dapulu

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Posted 29 December 2016 - 10:37 AM

Dr. Vu, Charles. Thanks for the reply.

 

Dr Vu, as you said, I'm voicing my opinions every chance I can. At the end of the day I'd like to at least say good-bye while feeling that I left the place without any worries for programs or projects. And if we do get a great results from the audit, it will be more peace of mind than anything, as I'm sure the usual congratulatory stuff will go to the QM. I'm painting him as an *ss but he has his good points too.

 

Charles, regarding the QA setup...although there is a lack of resources sometimes, I believe the current setup and system is a result from the insufficient commitment of the QM and his lack of revision and complaints or insistence with the senior executive together with the lack of training for the Quality supervisors in some programs of BRC, as well as my lack of ability in communicating properly and making my point be known through the whole management team and being insistent and spending my time on the stuff that really matters for the audit. We make a RTE product, that's all I can say. Many many things need to be accounted for and reviewed throughout production...besides the production indicators of course.

 

A few months ago, I stopped visiting the senior executive because the QM became one of my bosses and I truly tought voicing my complaints to him would be enough to make him then go with the senior executive and also point them out. As he loves taking other people concerns and then telling other people concerns in the system to the CEO.  I really hated being with the CEO, he was like a kid daydreaming and then couldn't stay focused on one subject and by the time I got out of there 3 hours had passed and I had more pending activities that needed to be completed with unpaid extra time. QM also got kind of upset everytime I went with the CEO, so I guess at the time it was a good decision...shame that now one consequence is part of the system needs to be revamped again...

 

The advisor which sees me as a lazy employee or whatever is currently helping out the QM manager with a third advisor unrelated to food quality systems but very familiar with Quality and productivity systems in other areas. Both very god friends of the QM, in fact the advisor was the one to suggest the current QM when the previous one left. And that advisor is deeply trsuted by the CEO. They're starting to review the system and although another guy (lab head) and I have a very clear understanding of what we have, what we stopped doing and what we need, they left us out. Probably because of my previous discussion of the advisor and the fact that I'm in another shift. The lab guy has many things to do during the shift so he can't be all day chit-chatting about quality issues instead of solving them. That's what I want to believe, though.

 

I hate that the QM needs to have two advisors to get told what his system lacks. No problem if that was necessary...but he can just ask his Q dpt., the micro lab guy,  and other people in production who are familiar with audits and have been here for a while.  He needs to just read the standard and then after he feels confident and has made corrections, maybe use an advisor or a pre-audit to look for improvement. He doesn't even know what his system has, that's just infuriating, and i'm not sepaking just because of the advisors... It's not that I'm against it, there have been many times when he's like "there are no resources for that, that's what the senior managamente said"(highly doubtful)...but there are resources for paying his friends but not to train his own team (I think other operators or Q supervisors could be of great help if properly trained in some programs instead of using advisors every time...long-term investmen if you may) 

 

I've been speaking my mind in a good way for the concerns involving the systems. As he's looking at things with his advisors, I voiced out that I'm currently working on some stuff and to please keep me informed so that we don't do the same work. Everytime I see something that fails to comply, I voice it out and immerse myself with the corrective action if needed, sometimes just taking preventive measures. Other times I ask the people in charge of Y program to look into X issue if I feel concerned about it, and if there's indeed an issue I voice it out to them.

 

Time is of essence and right now I believe I can last a bit longer. As Charlie said, there are a few things which keep me hanging in here, however most of them have been either achieved or are on the final stage. I'm afraid that even with the audit passed, the system in order and everything the advisor and the QM will still badmouth me and my efforst with other people and the CEO. As such, I've been talking to the CEO more and more, although that will be a problem with the QM as what I say will probably sometimes interfere with the "we're all right for the audit" and "the systems are great" perspectives that he previously had with the CEO. I will have to solve the bad blood between the advisor and me at some point. Shame that we're also working on other projects and either way he has the final say and if he feels I'm still a lazy *ss I can't do more. So whatever time I invested also has the possibility of being wasted.

 

Man that was a rant. Having a limited of mount of people in my life which understand what I do is taxing because most of the time I can't properly convey the whole perspective and how important some things are. Great forum and again, thanks for the reply.

 

:) Will do my best and what I can for a little while more in this specific business. Hope everything ends well.



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Posted 30 December 2016 - 05:58 AM

Hi Dapulu,

 

Thks for the extended comment.

 

Based on yr info. I can offer one generic comment, IMEX of being involved with RTE products, this often rapidly exposes a myriad of Process/GMP/HACCP/Environmental, FS-related deficiencies which were conveniently overlooked (and auditor tolerated) for NRTE products. Applies both internally to QA-related activities, and from an external auditor's POV.

 

The QA consequences, however validatably justified, are typically described by Top Management (notably where new expenses are incurred/requested) as due to QA going overboard or doing some "Empire Building" !

 

Previous analogous threads here have often generated suggestions equivalent to "Run, Don't Walk" !! however a more pragmatic course is perhaps to minimize the outward discontent/fall-out and establish a new "Destination" first if at all possible.

 

Good Luck and Best wishes for the New Year !


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


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Posted 27 June 2017 - 08:40 PM

Giving a quick update half a year later.

 

We passed the audit with a B...  Barely, though. The auditor that came in was quite demanding and also tolerating and lenient as he overlookes some things that for me would be minor instead of just a comment.

 

Worked hard, and during the audit, there were a lot of loose ends. On the other hand, so many were prevented. I felt we were making some theatre performance. We were so good on some stuff and on the other hand we had small mistakes that led to the NC that could have been easily prevented. 

 

After the audit we made most of the corrective actions and after a month we finally received the certificate again. With it in hand I went to the director and also gave him my Voluntary Resignation letter...which he did not accept. Had pending vacations so he offered me to take them and after a few weeks came back to production, thought I'd feel better but I felt worse. Not one month after the audit so many changes started popping up in process and personnel. The only people left in quality that have audit experiences are the QM (not a good option), the Lab Head guy (+10 years in the factory) and me. When I objectively thought maybe I was just jealous of QM and his benefits I realized it bothered me because I fully believed I could have been the QM, but didn't have the guts to ask for the position. Someone told me saying "I can do better" is a bad trait and asked me why didn't I just do it. Long story short, money, benefits, backstabbing and drama were the reasons. That helped be more serious and profesisonal for a while...if only he didn't present other people work as his own  :oops2: .

 

Then senior management requested us to be fully prepared to have another audit at the beginning of production season...and the whole ordeal started again.  

Except this time I'm out. I went again with my Resignation letter 2.0 as we were on maintenance period so there really was no reason to stay, as I believed I could learn form other processes and I thought it was enough.  He said he saw me during the audti and fully acknowleded my importance for the audits passed and he has been thinking about changing QM for a while and that he understood if I needed to get out to grow he could take it as long as I returned in the future. At the end of a lenghty conversation and some ranting he said if there was nothing else he could do to help him out before the next audit as an advisor, also being paid for it and told me to wait a couple of days for the proposal. Waited a couple of weeks and then asked him again. Pure BS. He didn't think about it and asked if I really wanted to leave, that he didn't know what he could help with (as in money, benefits, among others). I felt cheated on... no training, no raises, no promotions, no incentives when we needed them and now he's offering them. When I got no motivation left....just like an ex-girlfriend/ex-boyfriend when you're breaking up and they say everything's going to change. However, said no and now I'm just finishing up for handing everything to him and say goodbye in a couple of days after handing in Resignation Letter3.0. :happydance: May be dumb for me...but sometimes it's not worth it. And to be honest, I'm more likely leaving because of him than for the quality department 

 

And now looking for the next challenge. :sorcerer:

Except this time I'm out.



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