Page 21 - Enterprise Engagement and ISO Standards eBook

Enterprise Engagement and ISO Standards

initiatives, not only will ISO 15189 elevate the lab to a new level of quality, but everyone just
may want to be a part of it.”

The author believes that engagement can be thought of in terms of trait engagement, state
engagement and behavioral engagement.

Trait engagement is part of you like a proactive personality. Trait engagement is an
antecedent of state engagement, which represents the psychological state of engagement,
manifested as energy or absorption in work. The result of state engagement is behavioral
engagement, and that is really where the rubber meets the road. Behavioral engagement is
the discretionary work performed; it is the work we would like to see staff undertake as part
of QMS implementation.

According to Walters, “critical to these dimensions of engagement are work attributes,
leadership and trust. Work attributes include challenging and important work, and work
autonomy. Transformational leadership is visionary, challenging people to achieve the
exceptional. It inspires, and it provides clear expectations, fairness, recognition of
exceptional behavior and realization of existing staff competencies.”

She also asserts that “Trust is a fragile but necessary component. Lack of trust equals no
engagement, and no sustainable ISO 15189.The primary responsibility of building trust is on
management. Trust means openness, honesty, two-way communication, willingness, to be
influenced and willingness to change if necessary. Trust encourages self-control, as opposed
to control through direct supervision.”

Prior to beginning accreditation processes, she urges people to “explore how engaged you
really are. Consultants may advise you to gap the lab to ISO 15189 to begin the accreditation
process. Instead, try to first analyze the engagement gap. By identifying gaps and then
improving those engagement conditions, there is a better chance of successfully deploying
and sustaining not only ISO 15189 but other initiatives as well. By understanding the role of
engagement in organizational initiatives, not only will ISO 15189 elevate the lab to a new
level of quality, but also everyone just may want to be a part of it.”

ISO has authorized the creation of a broad range of standards for human capital disclosures
and human resources under the management of Technical Advisory Group 260.

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