Given the importance of HRM to the QMS, it stands to reason that the ISO 9001:2015 standard will include criteria for HR processes. The standard does not necessitate the formulation of a human resources policy, but it does contain guidelines for how your business should manage its human resources. Click here to get guidance that will help you keep your business ahead of the competition.
Nonconformity: what does it mean?
Nonconformities occur when an internal audit uncovers that a process was not executed as planned or in accordance with the standards of the standard. In order to ensure that the actual process are in line with the planned ones, an audit is conducted. In short, if investigators find evidence of compliance during an audit, that will count as a nonconformity.
What do the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 say about human resources?
In the context of the requirements of ISO 9001:2015, the phrase “human resources” is not used at all. To be sure, two of the most important subclauses deal with human resource management inside your quality management framework. You can find these substantial subclauses in the standard’s clause 7 annex.
Clause 7.1.2 People
The sole purpose of this brief clause is to specify who must be contacted in order to complete two separate activities. To begin building a quality management system (QMS), it is necessary
to determine who on staff will be in charge of each procedure, from engaging with customers to completing actual deliveries.
The second phase is identifying the personnel requirements for bringing your products and services into compliance with applicable rules and regulations and meeting the needs and expectations of your target market. According to the requirements of the standard, you must provide the required staff for your QMS and then define their specific responsibilities.
Clause 7.2 Competence
This clause is the most restrictive part of the ISO 9001:2015 standard with regard to human resource methodology. There are four different clauses that work together to provide the necessary information to all parties:
• Check the credentials – What skills and knowledge do workers at your organization require to accomplish their jobs well? The effectiveness and efficiency of the QMS are impacted by everyone working under your direction. Every time you see the phrase “determining the competency for processes” in ISO 9001:2015, realize that it means “finding what employees need to know for the effective performance of tasks before commencing them.”
• Ensure that everyone is capable – Once you’ve zeroed down on the skills that employers need, you can start thinking about how to give them to job candidates. One can choose to acquire knowledge through formal education, on-the-job training, or life experience; however, each choice needs to be suited to the individual’s needs.
Boost the toolbox of abilities – Anyone working in human resources will tell you that finding the perfect fit for any position is quite difficult. So, if this is the case, what are you hoping to accomplish? Do you intend to train the worker up so that the gap in their abilities can be filled? How much of the training will be done in-house rather than contracted out? What kind of training will it be, a combination of classroom time and on-the-job training? Also, how would you know that your intervention actually imparted the necessary competence to the recipient?
Document everything – What, if any, forms of evidence of competency will be accepted in the end? The employee’s entire training records that attest to his competence in the role, as well as the skills listed in the job description, may be considered. Human resources normally keep these kinds of documents.
Disregard HR Procedure and Policy as a Limiting Factor
If it’s not absolutely required, try to avoid being too prescriptive during the human resources process. So, for instance, you can decide that one of the requirements for an internal auditor is that they have completed a formal audit training course. Then it’s on you to make sure every auditor there is up to par with this requirement. However, if you’ve decided that you need to be familiar with the management system standard and have auditing expertise, you can do so in a variety of ways, such as by shadowing a current auditor, reading the ISO standard, and then being tested on your grasp of it. Formal auditor training is one way to acquire these skills, but it is by no means the only way.
What is on the human resources audit checklist?
Not only should the audit checklist meet the requirements of ISO 9001:2015, but it should also cover the company’s process. The HR procedure is now an auditable aspect of the QMS as it details how your company interpreted and implemented the requirements of the standard.
It is important to include criteria from both sources when constructing your audit checklist to ensure that your firm is doing not just what the standard needs but also what has been considered to be necessary to make human resources work for you.