Can you apply for ISO certification on your own or should you hire a consultant to do it?

When it comes to obtaining ISO certification, business owners are always in a dilemma on whether to hire a consultant to do it or do it all by themselves.

First of all, acquiring an ISO certification isn’t particularly difficult, and it’s possible if you have the internal resources, you could probably do it all yourself. However, this may require you to divert your attention away from other, potentially more pressing business issues, which is why many companies hire a consultant to guide them through the process and ensure that all of the necessary procedures are in place to get you through the registration process with the best chance of success. If you are unfamiliar with how quality accreditation bodies operate, you may be caught off guard by something that could have been easily avoided. Below are the significant benefits of working with an ISO consultant in obtaining the ISO Certification: –

1. Real-world experience saves you both time and money.
2. In-depth knowledge of the discipline and tools you wish to implement.
3. Capability to identify gaps and needs in current practises.
4. Best-practice ideas for use in your company’s size or industry.

There are many compelling reasons to hire an ISO consultant, such as:

1. A consultant can bridge the daunting ‘knowledge gap’ for those just beginning their ISO certification journey or seeking to implement a new standard.
2. A small business may not believe it can devote a staff member to learning the requirements, developing, and implementing a Quality Management System.
3. ISO can appear to be legalese – an experienced translator can translate the nuances into understandable English and manageable tasks.
4. If your Quality Management System has stalled and you can’t figure out what’s wrong, an expert can help you get unstuck and move forward.

However, by working with ISO consultant, certain risk will also arise because:

1. Business owners always think they can delegate compliance to a consultant so they can pass the audit. This results in little staff understanding of good practice. Thus, ROI is low.
2. Limited management involvement: Management is accountable for the effectiveness of the Quality Management System, including understanding, resourcing, and driving a culture of improvement, efficiency, cost reductions, risk mitigation, and next level staff engagement. Even the best-designed Quality Management System will fail in the absence of management commitment and engagement.
3. There is little shared knowledge. If only the consultant understands the system and becomes unavailable, the Quality Management System and your certification are at significant risk.

In order to achieve the best practice, checks and balances should be in place whereby top management of the company retains responsibility for the Quality Management System and employs the consultant as a mentor and coach for the company’s staff using the methods below:

1. Train department heads or influencers on the requirements of the standard you want to achieve. These are the people who drive and support culture.
2. Allow staff to shadow/collaborate with the consultant as they assist YOU in implementing, monitoring, and improving your system. This leads to increased employee understanding, engagement, and process improvement.
3. Actively inquire not only “what,” but also “why,” the reasons, benefits, and risks associated with the consultant’s recommended actions, tools, and decisions. A risk-based and continuous-improvement mindset pervades all levels of the organisation, driving improvements in process controls and system effectiveness.

In a nutshell, we should keep in mind that while consultants, coaches, and mentors can help us get to the next level, we are ultimately responsible for our own outcomes.

1. Time-saving
   A consultant who is familiar with ISO standards can rapidly understand the processes that are part of your
   company and how best to approach ISO implementation that will allow you to achieve certification more quickly. On the contrary, when you opt to assign your own resources to implement ISO 9001, more time will be spent on interpreting standards and tasks may not necessarily accomplish the optimum way. This is because daily activities and important projects handled by the particular group of employees are neglected, perhaps setting the company back in other important aspect of the business.
2. Cost-saving
   By seeking ISO 9001 consulting services, you will gain access to a process approach that will allow you to find advances in cost savings and efficiency. Adopting a healthy process flow will result in higher returns by driving efficiencies toward fewer errors and improved cost savings. You will receive more returns because the consulting experts will demonstrate a process for reducing waste that is unavoidable due to inefficiencies. Hence, the cost of hiring a consultant and the time he/she will take to implement your quality management system will definitely pay off in the long run.
3. A fresh perspective
   Hiring a specialist consultant could be a wise decision because they are able to catch small process issues that your employees may overlook or dismiss. An experienced consultant will be able to draw on past experiences in a variety of industries to develop more creative solutions that your company would not have been able to develop internally. Instead of simply enhancing what your team can already provide as experts in their respective fields, you should add extra skill and value to your team. An outsider’s perspective can add new value to how your company operates.
4.  Proper guidance
   When you seek ISO 9001 consulting services, you will be provided with appropriate guidelines that will assist you in improving customer satisfaction. The service will teach you top-notch management principles aimed at increasing client satisfaction, as well as assist you in planning for and striving to meet customer requirements. As a result, increasing your customer satisfaction will help you retain more loyal customers, because every satisfied customer is essential to maintaining client loyalty. As a result, more loyal customers generate more revenue.

Conclusion

You would be making a wise decision if you decided to hire a consultant to get your company certified. Most consultants are excellent leaders with the knowledge and experience to get things done quickly. ISO Consultant is a valuable resource for advice and strategy, management mentoring, providing perspective and vision, and executing all of this while working side by side with your company to achieve ISO Standard certification. They help your business thrive by being there and optimising the management and workforce during their stay.