Regardless if you’re a business veteran or are just getting your toes wet, chances are you’ve already seen the term “ISO certificate”. While a company that has these automatically becomes credible in the eyes of many, we feel that the reason behind this is often poorly communicated by the organisation that is responsible for these International Standards.
For example, are you aware of how ISOs can benefit your business directly?
If not, JR Consultants are here to help,
Who Are ISO and Why Is Their Work Important?
Each of the currently available ISO standards has been meticulously crafted by the so called International Organization for Standardization, situated in Geneva, Switzerland. “But why are these standards so important to a business’s success,” we hear you ask? To help you understand the benefits of ISO, let’s take a look at what this organisation does first, and why.
The company that strives to make things better for everyone
According to the information published on ISO’s official website, this international organisation currently consists of 161 countries, which translates to 779 technician committees and subcommittees who are responsible for overseeing the development of each standard.
The organisation’s goal is to nurture the growth and development of businesses worldwide by introducing standards that optimise their work processes, boost their revenue, make their clients happier, and provide other benefits that ultimately make each company better at what they do.
ISO standards and their place on the modern business map
Since its inception in 1947, ISO has published tens of thousands of international standards.
Their purpose?
To offer efficient and safe solutions to practically any type of business – from electronics manufacturing and food processing industries all the way up to the healthcare sector.
And although ISO regulations now run into thousands, there are a handful of more popular ones that every business owner should be at least aware of. For instance, such are considered:
- ISO 9001:This standard provides companies with a set of good business practices in order to improve upon and achieve better results on a consistent basis. In other words, if your company is known for putting out quality products most of the time, this will help you deliver them every time.
- ISO 14001: this standard is responsible for limiting your business’ harmful impact on the environment. It advocates strict regulations that help reduce carbon and other pollutions;
- ISO 13485: seeks to optimise the design and manufacturing process of medical devices.
The Benefits of ISO Certifications for Your Business
ISO certifications ensure that the companies who carry them can actually live up to their promise of delivering high quality results to their target audience.
This certification system also saves the authorities of a given country the hassle of checking the credentials of an organisation before enlisting it to work on some important project.
And while this is all great, you are probably seeking to understand how the ISO regulations can impact your business in more direct and meaningful ways. Here’s how.
They give productivity a big boost
As companies grow in size, they start toying with new ideas and developing individual processes that can make those ideas a reality. If left unchecked, this could lead to a cluttered set of work practices that under delivers, causes problems, and wastes valuable resources.
According to the Fantastic Tradesmen, jobs offered by certified professionals allow a significant boost in profit margins over jobs carried by qualified technicians.
To fight this, many of ISO’s International Standards encourage companies to stick to clearly defined and measurable goals. This will allow you to streamline business operations, tackle mistakes before they can grow into full-blown problems, and eliminate obsolete practices, all of which will sooner or later lead to noticeable spikes in productivity.
Here are a few extra benefits you gain by adhering to ISOs that are relevant to your industry:
- Learn how to create an efficient management system on a company level;
- Have more and better opportunities to market your products or services;
- The company can keep up with the evolving needs of customers more easily;
- Optimising processes to achieve better results for less time and resources.
They lead to bigger revenue
According to a study the revenue of companies that have met ISO Standards had grown significantly compared to their non-certified competition. This is a natural outcome since improved efficiency leads to fewer errors, and fewer errors means less re-worked, scrapped, or outright rejected products or services. ISO certifications also assist in simplifying work-related documentation, and ensures that your business flow remains steady even if mistakes are made.
They are a doorway to other markets
ISO certifications give credibility that is recognised on an international scale. They show that your company is able and committed to providing products or services of a very high quality. With the right certifications, for example, it would be much easier to apply for a government contract, join forces with a bigger company on an international project, and so on.
They encourage a sense of teamwork
As mentioned earlier, ISOs help companies do what they do better. But this is not good just for business – this “upgrade” has a noticeable positive impact on employees, too!
Knowing that what they make is of extremely high quality and that it will have a positive impact on someone’s life, employees will derive much more satisfaction from their job, their motivation will remain undaunted, and the company turnover rates will be negligible at worst.
Working with a clear and sensible set of ISO rules will also bridge the gap that so often exists between employees of different social standing, for instance assembly workers and upper management, and will help them coordinate their tasks better to achieve a common goal.
They guarantee customer satisfaction
At the end of the day, we can all agree that it’s all about the customer. The companies that adopt ISO Standards have been shown to better handle customer complaints and have stricter quality control policies. They also have an easier time of gaining and analysing feedback in order to understand just how satisfied (or upset) their clients are with a given product or service.
And here are a few more concrete examples of how ISOs can improve company-client relations:
- Products are delivered on time and in their original undamaged condition;
- New and returning customers alike are always treated in a respectful manner;
- Policies are introduced to reduce the number of returned products to a minimum;
- Independent audit teams visit regularly to ensure a consistently high level of quality.
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