02. October 2020
Engaged employees at all levels of the organization are essential to the organization's ability to create and deliver value to its customers. Therefore, ISO's quality management (DS/EN ISO 9001) is based on 7 principles - one of which is employee engagement. It is this principle that DS/ISO 10018 is to provide guidance for.
- When talking about quality and corporate governance, employee engagement is considered to be one of the most important factors in achieving success. And managerially, it is important to respect and involve all employees at all levels. DS/ISO 10018 therefore provides guidance on how the level of employee engagement can be raised for the benefit of all interested parties - both for the employees themselves, but also for the organization and its other stakeholders, says Lars Brogaard, Senior Consultant at Danish Standards.
Quality comes from the employees' personal commitment, which is influenced by many factors - not least the organization's type of management and the culture that exists both internally and externally. Therefore, DS / ISO 10018 is about what management can do to achieve the commitment that leads to the quality of the organization's products and services, which ultimately leads to satisfied customers and lasting success for the organization.
Regarding the preparation of the 2015 edition of the very main standard for quality management ISO 9001, the previous principle of "employee involvement" was changed to "employee engagement". Some would argue that this is a minor change, but in fact it is one of the major changes in attitudes that have taken place in quality management.
- When the quality principles from 2008 were revised, there were clear differences in opinions between experts from the USA and several other countries. Denmark and Japan particularly advocated for changing "employee involvement" to "employee engagement". And in 2015, we succeeded in getting the principle changed despite the American opposition, especially because the Japanese chairman of the secretariat, who was responsible for the audit, supported the Danish proposal to change the principle, adds Lars Brogaard.
The American experts believed that employees do not necessarily have to be engaged – but that involvement of them was sufficient. But from a Danish point of view, the employees' commitment is crucial for an organization's success, which is due to the high level of education among Danish employees and a distinct form of personal leadership. Without the Danish employees' high commitment and creativity, it will be difficult to compete with foreign products and services, which are often produced for lower wages and for not as good working conditions as in Denmark. Personal commitment is therefore extra important for Danish companies.
If you want to know more about the guidance on employee engagement or the management system for quality management, you are welcome to contact Senior Consultant, Lars Brogaard, lbs@ds.dk or tel.: 39966240.
