So, if you haven’t successfully completed your transition activities by Sept 15th 2018 then you will lose your certification – and need to start the whole process again. Is that you?

There remains a glimmer of hope even at the eleventh hour however; “Your certification body can issue certification to “ISO 2015” within 6 months (15 March 2019) provided that the audit process has been initiated by 15 September 2018”

The key question you need to ask your Certification Body is, “what do you have in place that constitutes the audit process having been “initiated”? Take action now and determine what you can do to not only salvage your Certification but seize the opportunity to re-set your business.

ISO 9001 and other Standards, applied properly and appropriately, offer a complete framework for quality delivery and enhancing Customer Satisfaction. The 2015 versions of the ISO Standards enhance that already excellent framework and will compel you to probe deeper and even more purposefully in teasing out your business effectiveness. Why would you risk losing your Certification and the opportunity to have the enhanced version provide meaningful business benefit?

The need to transition to ISO 2015 allows you to consider: Is your quality management system working for your business, exactly the way you want it to, and delivering results? Have you honestly implemented it consistently? Where could it be improved? Are there any weaknesses and if so now is the time to sort them out prior to transitioning to “ISO 2015”; don’t take them into your revised system.

We have a 100% success record (testimonials available from our most recent successes available if you wish) in guiding businesses through the ISO “2015” transition and thereby enabling them to not only retain their ISO Certification but also make the most of it. Our tried and trusted process only takes a few days, if commitment is present, and I will outline the main features.

It makes sense to restructure your system to suit the new (Annex SL) 10 clause structure of ISO 9001 and 14001, as all management standards will be so structured in the future and any future add-ons you choose will be easier to integrate. We have always integrated management systems and all our customers have successfully secured Triple ISO from the outset. This new structure will simply make integration more efficient in addressing multiple management system requirements.

It has always been important to accurately define the scope of your management system, to specify its boundaries and the activities to which it purports to control. This can directly affect your system’s effectiveness and has added importance under ISO 2015 as it needs to consider some new requirements before it can actually be defined.

The new Standards also require you to define your business “context”. What is the reality of your business environment? What does your business need to be and do to succeed in your chosen markets? As a business leader you may instinctively know the answer to these questions but is it clear to everyone in your organisation? Have you as the business leader moved from an instinctive understanding to defining your context in detail taking into account all the factors that influence the successful delivery of your products?  This needs to include both internal and external factors and what is called the “needs of interested parties”, or anybody or any organisation who can impact your activities or could be themselves be impacted by them and whose needs you should be caring about. This is not only critical to meeting the new Standard but is a potentially profound and beneficial exercise – a deep level understanding of your context throughout your business should be the basis of your management system and positively inform it all levels; this can only lead to its more effective implementation with real business benefits. Throughout this exercise you should be assessing “risks and opportunities”. I will talk about “risk-based thinking” later on but it should be to the fore from the outset; all the factors that need to be considered to properly determine your context will have risk and opportunity connotations.

Successfully defining your context will make it easier to satisfy another new 2015 requirement which is to align your quality management system objectives with your strategic direction. Your system should be integral to achieving your business plan and your business plan based on an effective implementation of your system. They were always inextricable linked, now explicitly so under ISO 9001.

All members of your organisation should understand your management system’s pivotal strategic role. Choosing to secure ISO 9001 was a strategic decision in the first place; effectively transitioning to the 2015 requirements is equally so.

ISO 2015 calls for “active” and responsible leadership and you will have commenced this by driving the context definition exercise. Now we have established your quality management system’s pivotal role in your business success, how are you going to demonstrate leadership and where are you going to define other leadership responsibilities throughout your system? Determining how and by whom leadership will be demonstrated will clearly benefit your organisation, making leadership responsible and accountable and therefore measurable! Leadership by example in driving your quality management system aids buy-in and effective implementation at all levels. Why not enshrine it in job descriptions and your definitions of roles and responsibilities so that your system equates to everyday business activities?

Any effective management system has always been concerned with risk management and “risk-based thinking” as introduced above courses through the new Standards and is allied with concurrently thinking about opportunities. In general terms I have stated that any consideration of context and scope must include assessing risks and opportunities and doing this up front will obviously increase the effectiveness of your organization’s system whilst also opening eyes and ears to potential business enhancements and benefits. It is now time to extend this to the particular and consider all your individual activities in terms of their inherent risks and potential opportunities. Furthermore, plans need to be in place to mitigate risks and exploit opportunities. Real business benefits are there for the taking by adopting this approach.

ISO 2015 re-emphasises the process approach. The simple but profound basic ISO philosophy of plan-do-check-and-act (PDCA) is enhanced to include items mentioned above (as context and interested parties and risks and opportunities). Properly conceived processes for all your activities, if managed well, will achieve your desired results!  ISO 2015 focuses on achieving planned results and quite right too; better process control leads to improved delivery, enhanced customer satisfaction (and retention and loyalty), and improved image, reputation and credibility. Whilst it is important to review all processes in order to ensure your Best Practice, the new Standard stresses areas such as change management and knowledge capture. Organisational knowledge has been introduced to ensure your organization acquires and maintains the necessary knowledge to perform in its chosen business environment and continues to absorb lessons learned and thereby improves in the process. There is added emphasis on controlling “external providers” i.e. anyone, subcontractors and suppliers, who can impact your delivered product, and “performance monitoring”, i.e. the check-and-act of the fundamental PDCA cycle. How well is your management system performing? Is it enshrined in the business? Could it do better? Does everyone understand the criteria for successful delivery and do you have the documentation and resources in place to ensure it?

Seize the last-minute opportunity to secure your ISO Certification and simultaneously create the most effective and practical management system that will make your business the best it can be. Let us help!

Bio: 

Andrew Foy worked in the UK Construction Industry for over twenty five years as a specialist contractor. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Building (MCIOB) and a qualified Lead Auditor for Quality, Health & Safety and Environmental Management. His time is spent not on auditing however but on helping businesses gain their ISO Certifications. Andrew’s Guaranteed Success Methodology sees his Clients open up new markets, assure their customers, manage their risks and improve their businesses. Through online meeting technology Andrew and his colleagues are able to assist any business in any location.