Perhaps you are wondering why making use of ISO consulting services often is the best choice for you, well, here are some valid reasons you should consider.
Considerations for Using ISO Consulting Services
Credentials
Most consultants who offer ISO consulting services are either IRCA or RABQSA certified auditor. Other credentials held by certified ISO consultants could be Certified Quality Auditor, Certified Quality Manager, Certified Software Quality Engineer, and Certified Quality Engineer. Having any of these credentials simply means that the ISO consultant has passed an extensive assessment on the relevant body of knowledge.
Experience
Having rendered ISO consulting services to lots of different organisations, lots of ISO consultants have gathered enough experience in the planning, development and implementation of systems. If your in-house ISO staff never has been involved in some of these activities, the lack of experience in these aspects might result in them making the wrong assessments. So employing the services of an ISO consultant guarantees that the audit is being carried out by the best in the industry and thus, increases the chances of having a successful project.
Attribute
During audits, the communication of skills of your consultant is very important. Consultants who carry out ISO consulting service are usually easily comprehended and they relate well with every level of an organisation. ISO consultants are flexible, open-minded, perceptive and practical. Most professional consultants are always tactful when interacting with the auditees but also assertive and confident if need be.
Expertise
One of the utmost reasons for using ISO consulting services is to have access to expertise which does not exist within your organisation. Although your employees might have received training on the particular management system requirements (such as ISO 9001); they might not possess the comprehensive knowledge which is required to institute the management system all on their own. Also as stated earlier, a lot of ISO consultants are certified auditors and so are able to carry out better interpretations of the requirements.
Time
In the event that your organisation possesses the expertise, making the right individuals available to do the job might not be possible due to other demands of the organisation. These particular individuals might be excessively busy to finish the required jobs by the specific timeline. Making use of ISO consulting services can assist in solving this issue of timing. In fact, with the use of ISO consulting services, the tasks might get done and completed before the agreed timeline, this is as a result of the level of experience of the consultant with that particular work. When making use of a consultant in addition to your own organisation’s resources, you have to make sure that knowledge is being passed from the consultant to your staff so that your organisation could become self-sufficient on the long run.
Cost
It is common perception that making use of ISO consulting services is not cost effective. If you do a comparison between the hourly rate an ISO consultant and that of one of your staff, how this perception was formed can easily be seen. However, you should know that cost of making use of ISO consulting services does not include only the salary of the consultant; it also includes other benefits and all the hidden expenses as that would be discovered when making use of an in-house auditor.
Another factor is the greater efficiency that is gotten from employing the service of an ISO consultant in their area of specialization. Other cost factors are required training to keep up to date with relevant standards and regulations. In the long run, making use of a professional ISO consultant for a specialized work often turns out to be less expensive.
Objectivity
Using ISO consulting services is most times the best option as you will be getting an unbiased opinion about your system. Regardless of how well your staffs try to view the system objectively, the mere fact that they are involved in the system and the culture of the company ends up affecting their view.
By making use of ISO consulting services, solutions that might have been totally overlooked by your staff or regarded as impracticable would be explored. An ISO consultant might even make similar recommendations as that provided previously by your staff, however, this time, the recommendation would most likely get more consideration as a result of the consultant’s credibility.
If you are looking to implement any of the ISO standards or outsource your internal audit program, then contact us for a free no obligation consultation on how we can support your project.
