PERSONNEL QUALIFICATION STANDARDS Personnel Qualification Standards (PQS) is a compilation  of  minimum  knowledge  and  skills necessary to qualify for a specific watch station, maintain specific equipment, or perform as a team member within a unit. The PQS program is not a stand-alone training program but provides a key element of a well-structured and dynamic unit-training program (OPNAVINST 3500.34). PQS is used in the aviation and surface communities, but is not applicable to nuclear propulsion or the fleet ballistic missile weapons systems. It  is  the  individual  Sailor’s  responsibility  to maintain and complete the sign-off pages of PQS sheets. Your responsibility will be to help guide the individual through the program. This guidance involves keeping an accurate record of their progress through a point system. There are two methods of record keeping—hard copy (chart) and automated data processing (computer). Each method is valid, and the method used is dictated by the command. Regardless of which method is used, the same information is entered for tracking the individual’s progress.  For  detailed  information,  consult  the Personnel Qualification Standards (PQS) Management Guide, NAVEDTRA 43100-1. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT A major problem facing the armed services today is the lack of money. Our budgets are not going to increase in the near future. Indeed, they will probably continue to shrink. Although our present system of doing business is adequate, it will not allow for many improvements  in  production.  We  have  done  an excellent job with our present system. To make our dollars go further will mean a change in the way we do business. Today’s leaders must set their sights on improving the entire system. Increased productivity and better quality through leadership is the primary goal of the continuous improvement program. The focus of continuous improvement is the process by which work gets done. The person most familiar with the process is the individual worker responsible for making it work. Often, a process is either unwieldy or just plain unworkable. In a rigid bureaucracy, it is nearly impossible for workers to persuade upper levels that there is a need to change procedures. Under continuous improvement, leaders are  responsible  for  making  job  improvement suggestions as easy as possible for workers. Supervisors and managers should monitor the work process so that they can respond to suggestions from the work force concerning unworkable procedures. Sailors are good at coming up with nonstandard (but workable) solutions to problems. In some cases, those solutions result in unsafe practices; however, they often are extremely practical. We must develop the ability to find improvements  and  include  them  into  standard procedures; doing so serves a dual purpose. First, it makes sure the recommended improvement is easy to use and meets all applicable standards. Second, it makes the improved method available to everyone involved in the process. Total quality leadership is a practical application of “working smarter, not harder.” A popular myth among military leaders is that increased  quality  results  in  increased  costs  and decreased productivity. In reality, improved quality ultimately results in decreased costs and increased productivity. How can that be? A focus on quality extends the time between failures in equipment and improves the efficiency of our operations. It reduces rework requirements as well as the need for special waivers of standards. It also reduces mistakes and produces monetary savings through more efficient use of scarce resources. Continuous  improvement  has  several  direct benefits:    Increased  pride  of  workmanship  among individual workers    Increased readiness    Improved   sustainability   because   of   extended time between equipment failures    Greater mission survivability    Better justification for budgets because of more efficient operations    Streamlined   maintenance   and   production processes The    essential    ingredient    of    continuous improvement   success   is   leadership   involvement. Management  controls  the  process  that  accomplishes the  mission.  Quality,  however,  is  in  the  hands  of  the workers who do the job. Leaders, therefore, must drive out  the  natural  fear  of  change  and  innovation  that  is part  of  most  people’s  basic  psychology.  Total  quality leadership requires acceptance and a total effort from the top down. 1-13