How do I gain ISO Certification?
Achieving ISO Certification is a huge milestone for growing companies and can prove an invaluable asset to established organisations. From the front-end benefits of being able to tick that box on a tender request to ensuring business processes are efficient and effective are available to all Certified organisations and over 1.3 million businesses take advantage.
When should I consider certification?
Essentially an ISO Certificate in your chosen field acknowledges that an organisation manages its business processes well, specifically, conforming to the requirements of the ISO standard and announcing publicly that your organisation can be a trusted partner. All companies will have management systems, a method for work even if it’s not formalised, but may not need the external recognition of an ISO Certificate. Ask the following questions of your business; does my product demand it? Do my customers demand it? Does the way I run my business demand it? Or would certification deliver benefits to any of these areas andwould the benefits compensate for several thousand pounds of cost?
Having established that certification is required for your organisation the next step is to seek outside support. There are many organisations that can help throughout the certification process but it is a Certification Body that will audit and award your certificate. You may be confident enough to approach a Certification Body immediately to start the Certification application or you may want some support from an ISO trainer or consultant first; planning the project, building the management system, GAP analysis, training or just advice. These companies can guide you through the process, ensuring your management systems are fit to start the application and training your staff in the requirements of running a certified system.
Certification Bodies are governed by the UK Accreditation Service and their auditors qualified to judge whether an applicant organisation conforms to the standard to which they are seeking Certification. The process they will follow is very simple;
1. Stage 1 audit - to establish how closely your organisations processes conform to the requirements of the standard. Often a report will detail where issues need addressing prior to scheduling a;
2. Stage 2 audit - where the Certification Body auditor returns to make a conformance judgement and ideally clear your path to Certification.
After your organisation has been awarded Certification and the celebrations have stopped, this is when value can start being drawn. The more you embrace the management system, the more value you’ll get from it. Expect surveillance audits from your Certification Body and be prepared to treat your management system like a work in progress that evolves and improves.
This journey can be transformative for organisations and used effectively can ensure strategy and operations are synchronised within companies allowing them to perform at their peak.
For further information and unbiased advice on the Certification process contact iqms Learning and speak to one of our specialist trainers. https://iqmslearning.co.uk/contact