C Jose - Gatchalian, Ph.D Chairman, Quality Partners Company, Ltd. Former Dean, University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations

Leadership in quality is generally supported by two vital functions: communication and training. Communication lies at the very heart of the leader-follower nexus and therefore plays a crucial role in relationships at work. The quantity and quality of communication between management and employees at the enterprise level is a significant factor in establishing and maintaining harmonious and productive industrial relations. Information that can be shared may include present day-to-day quality issues that affect the company. Communication channels should ideally provide a channel for managem ent to obtain feedback regarding programs or policies and their implementation. Training, on the other hand, is a crucial component of workplace communication and empowerment. Empowerment involves decentralizing pow er within the organization to individual decision makers, and further down to the bottom rung of the workforce. It adds dynamism to the employer-employee relationship by affording workers not just a voice in decision making on matters that affect their interests and welfare, but also provides the opportunity for them to contribute creative and innovative ideas towards achieving company goals of enhanced product or service quality and productivity. That is, if they are properly and adequately trained. As a key motivational tool, individual employees are encouraged to take responsibility for quality in terms of carrying out activities, which meet the requirements of their customers. In this respect, the strategy of Workplace Cooperation constitute one of the latest innovations in communication which is providing quality leaders a valuable platform for action.