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Soapbox: Rob Maddison

'What would make the perfect certification body audit?' is a question being pondered by the great, the good and even some of the ugly within the conformity assessment industry. But are auditors and certification bodies getting too immersed in their own debate that they are forgetting whose opinion it is that really counts? Surely it is that of the certification end user.

It is not surprising that at the top of the list of priorities for end users are price and value. The problem is that the value-add that end users want often cannot be delivered by certification bodies because certification bodies generally compete on price. This means auditors often lack sufficient time for things like audit planning and preparation. It the proverbial chicken-and-egg scenario: end-users must pay more for the level of service they require, but they won't, because they do not foresee increased value.

Auditors may wish to add their two pennies' worth at this point. Because of what some see as the commoditisation of certification and the resulting fall in prices, auditors are required to work more for lower day rates.

There is little incentive for more competent auditors to remain in the industry and those that stick it out have to endure four and a half on-site days every week. This is no career, let alone a profession.

So how can we improve on what is already in place? When considering auditor competence, end users often highlight areas where they would like to see improvements in accordance with the spirit of ISO 9001. Third party auditors should understand the business in terms of its strategy, plans and stakeholder requirements. They can then fully focus audit outcomes in terms of the business objectives and encourage improvement that will really help achieve these goals.

It's high time the industry not only concurred with but acted on the complaints of end users: auditors operating in their own comfort zones, making their own interpretations of standards, talking too much and listening too little. Perhaps the industry will even react to the demand for a systems auditor, not solely a quality or environmental auditor. In this way organisations will view quality-related, environmental issues and so on as part of the whole business rather than discrete functions.

A utopian solution would be the super-auditor: one who commands respect; is experienced yet sensitive to the 'vibe' of the organisation; has a wealth of industry knowledge; is analytical yet engaging; and is ultimately an auditor who considers the business in terms of the value it gives to its customers.

End users realise that there is a small pool of such auditors, which will inevitably translate into a higher price-tag for their services. But if the product is good enough, people will eventually cough up the cash.

Rob Maddison is marketing and communications officer for the International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA). This article is based on the outputs generated at an 'open space' event run by IRCA in London in December 2006. For more information visit www.irca.org

Do you agree or disagree? Join the discussion on the CQI forum.