The 2021-2022 Workforce Insights research findings

Last year, the CQI commissioned Enventure Research, Ltd an independent research agency, to conduct its latest workforce insights. Its aim was to gain insight into: 

• The ‘talent pipeline’ of people joining the profession, including entry routes, challenges and opportunities, and career pathways 
• Skills gaps and opportunities facing employers of quality professionals 
• The quality profession’s view of how quality management is perceived in their organisations 

Nearly 3,000 CQI members, IRCA auditors, CQI corporate partners and corporate members, CQI Special Interest Groups (SIGs), and professionals from outside the Institute participated in the latest. Responses came from 117 countries, and 30 different industries.  

The research included an online survey, to collect up to date insight into the views and experiences of those working in the quality management profession. This was complemented by a series of
in-depth focus groups, and 15 in-depth interviews with stakeholders including employees and representatives of CQI corporate partners and Approved Training Partners (ATPs), and members of SIGs. 

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The questions about perceptions of quality have been key additions to this Workforce Insights research compared with previous studies. And it has revealed that, while quality is sometimes poorly understood, perceptions of quality are generally positive and the benefits that quality can bring recognised and appreciated.  

“The response to the survey, interviews, and focus groups has been fantastic. It has provided the CQI with a richness and depth of data,” said Alexander Woods, CQI Policy Manager. “It will be invaluable in developing our understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the profession, and in turn, addressing them.” 

“Quality offers an incredibly rewarding and varied career, and the CQI is committed to encouraging and enabling new people to join and progress through it. Growing the talent pipeline and offering professional development targeting those in-demand skills will further support employers as they seek to enhance the competence their quality function. And by raising the availability, talent, and profile of those in the profession, CQI and its members are even better positioned to describe the value that quality and the quality profession can bring to business, the environment, and society.”