World Quality Week 2024!

Using risk to actually drive business improvements

Jon Passmore, twoSB Director

I have found that the classic 5×5 matrix for scoring risks does not work for all organisations. Although a broad range of risks can be captured, they are hard to review and may only get dusted off annually before the audit. Working with a few clients, together we have developed, tested and proved a more interactive and alternative way to use risk for positive, consistent improvement.

How does it work?
An organisation selects between 8 and 10 risk areas or ‘plates they need to keep spinning’ – e.g. ‘lead pipeline’, ‘profitability’, ‘customer satisfaction’ etc. For each risk item, a traffic light system is used with predefined thresholds for what green, orange and red looks like. This can be qualitative but better still is a quantitative measure (see image for an example).

Each month or quarter, every risk item is reviewed in turn. If the analysis shows a green you can move on quickly, but if a red or orange is identified then typically an action will need to be set to address the issue, or at least monitor it. By reviewing risk periodically, useful trends will develop overtime showing your overall areas of strength and weakness.

We have found this to be an engaging way to monitor key risks at either a director level, or discipline level, and have successfully been running it with a number of clients.

Here is a snippet of how it could look:

Apply quality principles for a higher performing business

Lucy Trimmer, twoSB Management Systems Consultant

You can be compliant, but if your quality management system doesn’t evolve to meet the changing needs and expectations of your stakeholders, the reality is, over time you will be compliant with an inefficient and increasingly ineffective management system.

“From compliance to performance” is a concept that signifies a shift in focus from merely adhering to regulatory standards and industry norms to actively enhancing organisational performance through quality management. For a consultant, this mindset means guiding organisations to not only meet their compliance requirements but also to leverage quality as a strategic asset for achieving superior performance.

ISO 9001, specifically the most recent 2015 version of the standard, has facilitated this shift with an approach not seen in earlier versions such as BS 5750.

For me, it encourages improved organisational performance by emphasising the following:

• • Firstly, it encourages a customer-focused approach. By prioritising customer satisfaction, businesses can enhance their product or service quality to meet customer needs and expectations, leading to increased customer retention and attracting new business.

• • Secondly, ISO 9001 promotes a process approach. This means that all tasks and activities are viewed as interconnected processes that function as a coherent system. By understanding this interrelation, organisations can more effectively optimise their operations, reducing errors, improving efficiency, and ultimately enhancing the quality of their output.

• • Thirdly, ISO 9001 emphasises continual improvement. It requires organisations to regularly review and improve their processes, products, and services. This leads to consistent performance enhancements and fosters a culture of quality and excellence.

• • And lastly, ISO 9001 requires evidence-based decision making. This means decisions are based on the analysis and evaluation of data, leading to better, more informed decisions that can improve quality performance.

In essence, ISO 9001 provides a framework that helps organisations ensure their customers receive consistent, high-quality products and services, by ensuring its management system can adapt and develop in response to the needs of a rapidly evolving business environment.

Shifting your mindset from compliance to operational excellence

Simon Rigden, twoSB Management Systems Consultant

“Quality: from compliance to performance” means how a business shifts its approach towards quality.

Whilst quality is without doubt a key area for all businesses and ensuring that perspective clients receive the final product, when a business first implements a quality management system (QMS) to comply with ISO 9001:2015 – this can often be seen as a “compliance” initiative. However, through the careful maintenance and effective implementation of a QMS – over time, the emphasis shifts towards a performance tool.

In alignment with ISO 9001:2015, the ultimate reward (in addition to a certified system) is achieving operational excellence, through effective resource planning and process effectiveness. It is widely seen how successful businesses utilise an effective QMS to drive performance internally, which ultimately influences the external presence and standing within their perspective industry sectors. Through the adoption of the key principles of an effective QMS into the day-to-day operations – this changes the “mindset” from: “How do we comply with the ISO 9001:2015 standard?” to “How can we utilise our QMS sufficiently, to promote continual improvement and drive our performance optimisation efforts?”

As a management systems consultant – to be able to be a part of a successful implementation of an effective QMS for a business, providing continued support to our clients and seeing how businesses effectively monitor their performance – is a constant motivation, and drive me towards continually improving my performance and assisting others in the process.