O ne reason why ISO’s management standards are so highly regarded is that in order to claim ongoing certification, organizations must be audited continually to ensure they still meet the requirements of their chosen standard. This independent verification gives clients and other stakeholders the reassurance that certified organizations really do “walk the talk.”

After achieving ISO certification, organizations are granted certification for a three-year period, subject to ongoing reassessment from their chosen certification body. Now read on to find out how this could work for your company.

Gaining initial certification

The first step toward achieving certification is the stage 1 audit. This assessment reviews your current management system arrangements and verifies how close you are to meeting your chosen standard’s requirements. The outcome is a plan of action to enable readiness for the stage 2 conformity audit. Many organizations find that they already have a number of required processes in place; they just need better documentation and communication of what processes are mandatory, and who has responsibility for what.

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