In this article, I’m going to cover ISO 9001 Clause 5.1 Leadership and commitment – specifically Clause 5.1.1 General. I know that doesn’t really explain much, does it? What on earth does a clause titled “General” mean?
To be honest I don’t know what the ISO 9001 technical committee was thinking when they named quite a few clauses throughout the standard as General. I can see that clauses called General are always the first clauses in a sub-clause section which sort of explains it a bit, I guess? A general clause normally explains an overall expectation of what’s coming up.
So now I’m going to break this clause down and turn it into something you can all understand. You’ll then be able to apply this to your own organization's system and understand what the requirements will look like for you. No more guessing!
Clause 5.1.1 General is the first subclause under clause 5.1 Leadership and commitment. There are quite a few different elements to this clause so I will break them down into smaller chunks and explain each part as I go.
Before I do this though, I do want to share with you what it would look like to audit the requirements of this clause. Personally, I do not sit down and go through these requirements one by one and look for evidence through interviews with Top Management. A lot of the requirements in this clause you will come across throughout the duration of the complete audit.
There are areas that you will observe, listen to, and collect evidence on that will all point back to these requirements without you specifically making your way through them one by one. If you are building a system please also be aware of this.
There are other clauses you can conform with that will automatically meet these requirements so there is no double up. I’ll explain this to you for each section as I go.
Each separate requirement in this clause starts off with the statement of Top Management shall demonstrate leadership and commitment with respect to the quality management system by …
And then it lists the various ways in which this leadership and commitment is to be demonstrated.
So I don't have to repeat myself over and over again I am going to now assume that you know that each section that I cover is referring to how leadership and commitment is to be demonstrated with respect to the quality management system by top management. And actually, it is probably a good idea right about now to explain to you who on earth top management is.
The official definition for top management is, the person or group of people who directs and controls an organization at the highest level. I always say that top management are the decision makers.
Depending on the structure and size of the business, top management could be the owners, shareholders, board of directors, general manager, or even a project manager if the scope of the system is down to a project level only.
Okay, let's get started!
Point a) states
taking accountability for the effectiveness of the quality management system
Yep – that’s right, top management is ultimately accountable for the quality management system and how effective it is. This means that even though top management can delegate or assign certain responsibilities to others they are still accountable for them. The buck stops with them.
Point b) states:
ensuring that the quality policy and quality objectives are established for the quality management system and are compatible with the context and strategic direction of the organization.
Quality Policy requirements are stated in Clause 5.2 and quality objective requirements are stated in Clause 6.2. Make sure that top management has been involved in the establishment, review, and maintenance of these requirements. If that’s done in those 2 clauses then it’s a nice tick back here too.
Point c) states
ensuring the integration of the quality management system requirements into the organizations business processes.
Oooh, I love this one! A quality management system isn’t something that is built separately from the business and it sits in a corner by itself gathering dust. The quality management system needs to be integrated into the day-to-day processes so that ‘quality’ is just the way you do business. You will know how well this is implemented when you’re interviewing employees and they are showing you the processes that they follow to collect information and ensure that the customer receives what they want when they want and maybe with something a bit extra too!
Point d) states
promoting the use of the process approach and risk-based thinking
We did talk about the process approach when we covered clause 4.4 Quality management system and its processes in an earlier video.
When it comes to risk-based thinking this is all about being proactive rather than reactive. Identifying the potential risks and opportunities to the quality management system. Do you know where these will have already been identified? Go and take a look at the videos for clause 4.1 Understanding the organization and its context and clause 4.2 Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties and all will be revealed.
Can you see that already by meeting other clause requirements the requirements in this sub-clause are also being met?
Point e) states
ensuring that the resources needed for the quality management system are available
That’s right – top management can’t use the excuse that we don’t have enough staff to maintain the quality management system. Believe me it’s a common excuse given for any gaps that might show up. And look, I get it, it could definitely be the case. However, it is clearly stated that it is up to top management to ensure that resources are available. It’s right here in black and white. Don’t forget that resources are not just people, they can be plant, equipment, hardware, and software too.
Point f) states
communicating the importance of effective quality management and of conforming to the quality management system requirements
It appears as though it is up to top management to communicate to everyone information about the quality management system, what it means to the business and what it means to workers with regards to following the system. What a great opportunity to engage with workers and really get them involved in the system – not only in understanding the requirements but also in providing feedback and improving the system.
Point g) states
ensuring that the quality management system achieves its intended results
And this means that top management should be monitoring what they planned to achieve. They might do this by monitoring objectives set or reviewing nonconformances and corrective actions.
Point h) states
engaging, directing and supporting persons to contribute to the effectiveness of the quality management system
I sort of mentioned this a bit earlier when I was referring to communicating the importance of effective quality management and of conforming to the quality management system.
Any communication and interaction that top management has should be demonstrating in a positive manner – (well by leadership really) what the quality management system is all about and getting people involved in the process.
Point i) states
promoting improvement
I like that word – promoting. This is all about actively encouraging the team to keep an eye out for improvements. Building a culture where your workers are not too scared to put their hands up to say that something isn’t working out the best way that it can and putting forward solutions. This attitude and culture really do need to come from the top.
And finally Point j) states
supporting other relevant management roles to demonstrate their leadership as it applies to their areas of responsibility
This is great! What better way to build a positive culture around quality than to give other management roles leadership responsibilities to promote the quality management system? This really shows that the system is to trickle through all of the relevant functions and levels of the business. Giving people at different levels areas of leadership and engagement.
Now that I’ve explained all of these requirements, can you see more clearly how you would determine conformance to this clause by the results of your entire audit or review of your system?
There are so many links and parallels to these requirements and not all of them are easily determined in a straight-out interview with top management.
You need to be able to walk around and ask questions of different workers at different levels to truly see how top management is demonstrated their leadership and commitment to the quality management system.
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