News Analysis: ISO 9001 Drives Need for Engagement
While ISO 10018 standards and certification can help any organization profit from engagement, ISO 9001 also requires multiple engagement tools to address key human resources issues.
ISO 10018 standards and Quality People Management certification bring the advantages of ISO 9001 to organizations in every part of the economic sector, from for-profit to not-for-profit and government, by applying a systematic, integrated approach to achieving goals through people. At the same time, it provides a framework that can help ISO 9001 organizations achieve greater results.
To learn about selling or using engagement solutions to support ISO 9001 and ISO 10018 Quality People Management standards, click here to register for free webinars.
ISO 9001 standards address both Human Resources and Marketing issues by identifying the need to make sure people have the leadership, skills and awareness in place, and that they work in a culture dedicated to quality, employee safety and well-being.
According to a primer on ISO 9001 published by Ark Solutions, an ISO 9001 consultant, “human resources constitute a key component of the overall resources needed to run an organization. We could define it as the employees (labor) that staff and operate an organization’s business. They provide value to the organization through their collective competencies, knowledge, skills, creativity and innovativeness. Many view human resources as the most important resource in an organization.”
In fact, an analysis of the ISO 9001 standards specifically includes the following engagement-related issues:
- Leadership committed to creating a culture of quality.
- Communication to strategically inform people of values, information, risks and opportunities.
- People and job design—ensuring that the organization has enough people with the necessary skills and commitment to innovate.
- Organizational knowledge to ensure that information is shared and is always available to those who need it.
- Competence—ongoing efforts to make sure people have the skills they need.
- Awareness—a strategic effort to ensure that everyone is aware of the culture, the values, objectives and results through communication and recognition.
- Customer communication to ensure that the organization is continually gathering information from, and sharing information with, customers.
- Customer satisfaction—having a strategic approach to maximizing customer satisfaction.
ISO 9001 Already Includes Engagement
According to the U.K. organization, National Security Inspectorate, ISO standards involve people engagement in multiple ways.- An understanding of all the issues that affect customer satisfaction.
- Addressing issues related to the “culture, beliefs, values, or principles inside the organization.”
- Understanding the needs and expectations of direct customers, employees, suppliers, service providers, etc. -- anyone who has an impact on an organization.
- Employing leadership that demonstrates “hands-on” commitment. “Where the words 'promoting,' 'taking,' 'engaging,' or “'supporting' appear, these activities cannot be delegated and must be undertaken by top management themselves.” This includes leading people to contribute to the effective operation of the system; drive continual improvement and innovation; and develop leadership in their managers.”
- Having a customer focus: “Knowing the law and knowing the customer’s expectations and delivering it…. Making sure the customer is happy.”
In addition, they underline: “Organizational knowledge leaders in the business have to decide what skill sets staff need in order to fullfil their business plan. This includes knowledge of products and services they are selling. This would best be captured in a skills and or training matrix to demonstrate a clear understanding. If the business decided to change its direction or perhaps move into another area…they will need to document that they have identified which skills they may be missing or where those skills lie to ensure they are in place.”
The authors note that awareness is a more recent ISO 9001 requirement: “There is greater focus on not just communicating the policy, but ensuring that it is understood, how it affects work, especially if they deviate from it. Staff should understand what they contribute and how this can make the business better. From a quality management point of view, businesses should look to explain policies more clearly so that staff understand their meaning."
ISO 9001 emphasizes “effectively communicating to all those within the business and those affected by it. Internal communications can include briefings to staff on: new policies; new or amended objectives; new of amended strategies; new clients; new or amended technology; new products; issues with suppliers; anything that will have an impact on them.”
The Importance of Human Resources and Customer Engagement
The quality people experts at AskArtSolutions in the U.S. echo the conclusions of the U.K. organization. “Sub-clause 7.1.2 under resources requires the organization to determine and provide the necessary people for the effective implementation of its QMS (quality management system) and for the operation and control of its processes. As indicated in the previous clause 7.1.1, human resources constitute a key component of the overall resources needed to run an organization. We could define it as the employees (labor) that staff and operate an organization’s business. They provide value to the organization through their collective competencies, knowledge, skills, creativity and innovativeness.”
The authors continue: “Part of an HR department’s responsibility is to ensure the availability, competency, performance and well-being of the workforce in line with the organization's strategic goals and objectives… It also requires having the requisite skills to produce and deliver the organization’s products and services to customers…Another important determinant of human resource planning is ‘skills mix’ – the range and combination of competencies and skill sets (capability) needed to perform tasks or combination of tasks at the managerial, supervisory and operations level. Another approach to skills mix would be to determine personnel needs at the functional level – sales, engineering, purchasing, production, etc.”
The authors also point to another ISO 9001 clause related to engagement: 7.1.4 for Environment. “The term environment in this context refers to the work environment and is used to describe the set of conditions in which employees perform their work and under which products and services are produced. Conditions can include physical, social, psychological and environmental factors (such as temperature, lighting, recognition schemes, social and occupational stress, ergonomics, etc.). It can also relate to conditions on how work is actually done (complex, repetitive, creative, interactive, team, etc.) in work processes and procedures. The organization should provide and manage a suitable work environment to achieve and maintain the sustained success of the organization and the competitiveness of its products.”
The authors stress, “The work environment should encourage productivity, creativity and well-being for the people who are working in or visiting the organization’s premises (e.g. customers, suppliers, and partners)…The focus should be on employee welfare and safety, effective operation of QMS processes and product conformity."
The authors note that these principles apply not only to employees, but to all part-time or off-site employees or even those of employees or distribution partners.
To learn about selling or using engagement solutions to support ISO 9001 and ISO 10018 Quality People Management standards, click here to register for free webinars.
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