The ISO Consultant: Choosing the right one for your company
ISO standards allow companies and organizations to provide quality services and product that adhere to inquiry requirements. The task of ensuring that your business complies with specific standards is a huge one that demands professionalism. Companies cannot afford to have their employees take on the responsibility of verifying compliance with these standards. It would take considerable resources to train and educate regular employees on the various regulations. There is also the matter of timeframes, which organizations have to consider when implementing ISO certifications. Hiring an ISO consultant guarantees that you avoid common, costly mistakes. So, how do you pick a consultant who is right for your business?
Qualifications
For the same reason you don’t have your employees handle the ISO certifications, you can’t hire an individual without proper training. A consultant cannot implement standards that they don’t know anything about. Learn about the relevant courses necessary for specific ISO certifications. For example, if you are getting a consultant to implement ISO 9001 in the organization, find out what type of training corresponds to the job. Don’t forget to ask consultants if they belong to any national or international industry bodies.
Concentrate on Experience
Understand that there is a distinction between someone who has the right training to implement standards and a consultant who has done it several times. Implementing ISO certification for the first time is, particularly daunting and an ISO consultant with a few years of experience will be useful. Don’t focus solely on the education qualifications of an expert. Another plus point of experienced consultants is that they have seen most of the ISO mistakes that companies make; and therefore, can avoid them.
When gauging the experience of a consultant, don’t just look at the years of work but the type of work and the clients. A consultant who has worked for different types of entities will be a better fit to work with than a professional who just revolves around one area.
Multifaceted Skills
Avoid the mistake of hiring a consultant whose experience spans only a single sector. Companies, especially the large ones, have different types of ISO certification needs. This month you may need to implement health and safety ISO standards and the next, environmental ones. Hiring a consultant with multiple training and skills will save you the trouble of finding a new one with each time there is a need for certification.
Customized Services
The reason you are hiring a special consultant is to put in motion standards that align with the needs of your company and avoid ISO mistakes. These goals would be useless if you get a consultant who comes with a template to implement standards. Stay away from professionals who copy paste implementations from one organization to the next one. Before hiring a consultant, hold a meeting to understand their techniques and plans for your company.
Result Oriented
When implementing ISO standards, some objectives come with each project. Whether it’s improving management, quality products or safe services, you have planned results. A consultant should be able to use the budget available and the given timeline to deliver a successful project. It would be a waste to spend money on a high-priced consultant and then end up with a poor implementation.
Pricing
As much as budgeting for a project is advisable, don’t compromise the quality of work for low-cost services. Avoid hiring the first consultant that presents a bid. Take different quotations and evaluate them against the level of service that each one offers. If a consultant comes in with a very lowball offer, ask yourself what the catch is. Implementing ISO certification is not cheap, so make certain that the organization can afford it.
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