Partnership with internal customers – a way to achieve increased commitment

An often‐discussed issue in the total quality management (TQM) philosophy is how to improve internal customer commitment. To find answers one must look at what the actual commitment is based on. Which decisive factors are contributing and how are they connected? As an employer one is not only employing just one part of a person but the whole person with personal, social and professional qualities. Many employers do follow “checklists” regarding how to deal with human resource issues, but they often do not really understand the content in the suggested questions of the checklist. This paper will include issues from social and behaviour sciences to enter deeper in the TQM philosophy and system thinking concerning co‐workers’ commitment. The purpose is to try to stimulate the debate using internal partnership as one way to attain increased commitment of co‐workers. A model will be used to view decisive factors for partnership, all depending on communication. In this paper the term “partnership with internal customers” will be used to stress the necessary mutual agreement between employers and co‐workers that are needed.