ISO has released a new standard for organizations of all sizes, types, and activities that provides a framework for getting the best out of people in the implementation of a quality management system based on ISO 9001.

The new “ISO 10018:2012, Quality management—Guidelines on people involvement and competence,” aims to be a useful tool for leaders, managers, supervisors, quality practitioners, quality management representatives, and human resource managers. It describes:

  • Processes that an organization can use to implement and maintain people involvement and competence in quality management systems.

  • Actions, which may be taken to strengthen people involvement.

  • Actions that can be taken to meet individual quality management system requirements, such as those specified in ISO 9001, although ISO 10018 can be used with other management system standards.

The introduction to ISO 10018 affirms: “The overall performance of a quality management system and its processes ultimately depends on the involvement of competent people and whether they are properly introduced and integrated into the organization. The involvement of people is important in order for an organization’s quality management system to achieve outcomes, which are consistent and aligned with their strategies and values.”

Click here to read more about this standard.