27. In which way is labour competency standardisation similar to quality management under ISO 9000?

The term quality is often heard within the field of training. Around the 80s, the issue of quality in training was associated to the supply of training with all the intrinsic characteristics such as qualified teachers, relevant teaching materials, adequate educational environments, updated training programmes, etc. Most recently, training institutions have considered the principles of quality management in order to implement the so-called Quality Management and thus ensuring that training processes are developed in a consistent way and according to a standard of quality.

In such sense, a highly accepted standard is the ISO 9000 family. Such standards enable the development of the concept of quality management as well as the implementation of a continuous improvement process within organisations. The series of ISO 9000 standards was adopted in 1987 by the European Committee of Standardisation and was then internationally adopted by ISO in 1994. The last version of the standard is from the year 2000. The certification principle under ISO standard is based on a revision and checking of compliance with the standard; it provides a uniform method for the inspection of quality.

ISO standards are mainly to do with processes to be consistent and systematic. They are therefore used with respect to the management of the vocational training process. They contribute with a methodology which seeks to standardise activities within an organisation so that they become reliable regarding the expected quality of products and/or services(1) by customers. ISO standards are not related to the intrinsic characteristics of products or services; they are more focused on the quality of the processes that occur when elaborating such products. In other words: a VTI can be certified by ISO 9000 but its graduates will have to prove their competencies, be assessed and certified.

The certificate of quality is a clear message for customers about the higher probability they may have in finding their needs fulfilled in an organisation concerned about developing their activities within a framework of total quality. Furthermore, procedures of certification and the standards themselves represent a set of standardised criteria that create a sort of common currency which is becoming widely used.

A certificate of quality of ISO 9001 standard implies the same for a client of a company in America, Europe or any other part of the world. The achieved standardisation shows a positive sign of the activities that ensure the quality availed by the certification.

Quality standards, however, do not guarantee, on their own, management improvement, the flow reduction, a better relationship with customers and the global success of the institution. They demand for an institutional relationship framework in which the conviction about the need to work properly and to do this from the beginning is set as a priority.

This aspect, which is based on the management of human resources, has to do with taking organisational measures that promote the culture of quality and which results truly convincing to all involved parties. It requires developing training actions that allow workers to reach the expected and documented product standards.

We can therefore say that the link between quality standards and labour competency standards has three main areas. The first one has to do with training, since ISO standards consider that it is essential for organisations to identify needs and develop training programmes for their workers. These actions will be much more effective if they address the development of competencies fully defined and shared by the involved parties.

The second area in common is that both standard systems share the logics involved in the certification process itself. This is based upon the use of standards, workers’ participation and the assessment by an external verifier who knows the standard and checks its compliance by the candidate. Both standards aim at complying with the expected performance equally in terms of quality management and in terms of competent performance.

The third one has to do with knowledge management. The experiences of applying ISO standards have proved the need to advance in a training process for all workers. This learning is connected with structuring, building, improving and recording processes. The people involved in these activities must go through reflection and analysis processes; questioning and description procedures, record them and apply them and update the information in the system registers. This implies a systematic procedure of coding and decoding information, and finally tacit and explicit knowledge. Thus, the analysis caused by the implementation of quality management through ISO standards, becomes a learning process. In many companies, and particularly in training institutions, the reflection upon educational practices and the elaboration of materials is continuously introducing this learning dimension and the broadening of the organisational knowledge.

This is usually recognised as new learning methods such as “learnt lessons” or “good practices” which make up the “knowledge generated in working processes”.(2) The evolution of the documentation of processes and its analysis and continuous improvement entails an extraordinary learning opportunity for VTIs and has in fact made public a great amount of knowledge which has remained and is frequently applied. Both labour competency standards as well as ISO standards are seen as powerful instruments of decoding knowledge; thus contributing to better organisational management.

Nevertheless, the issue of standardisation must be dealt with care, both in terms of competencies and of quality management. The description of organisational processes and procedures shall be efficient if it does not imply an over-description which, if too detailed, may omit the descriptive aspect of the standard. The documentation process developed during the implementation of the ISO standard implies the decodification of knowledge and within it “the abuse in decodification may reduce the learning spaces and cause, in the long-term, a stagnation in the evolution of the organisation.”(3)

At the same time, while drawing up competency standards, too many details in the descriptions or in the performance criteria may, eventually, reduce the feasibility of assessing through them.

On the other hand, the relationship between ISO standards and training actions is clear; even ISO 9000 version of the year 2000 is more specific than that of 1994 regarding the training of personnel. While 1994 version stated: “keep recorded procedures in order to identify the training needs and train all the personnel involved in tasks that may affect quality. The personnel that carries out tasks in a specific way must be qualified according to education, training and/or adequate experience when this is required”; 2000 version stated that: “The personnel who carries out tasks that may affect the quality of products must be competent based upon education, training, skills and appropriate experiences.”(4)

But, the way in which standardised systems work in ISO 9000 and in labour competency can also be compared regarding:(5)

Concepts and terms: They produce concepts and general terms that enable their application in different contexts, and are therefore open systems that each organisation may adapt according to its needs.

Documentation: While quality standards describe the characteristics of processes; competency standards describe the characteristics of the expected results (performance criteria).

Verification: In both standard systems an external verifier gathers evidence as to whether the standard is being complied or not. In the case of ISO about aspects such as the existing documentation and registers; in the case of competency standards about issues such as the worker’s performance.

Organisational culture: None of the systems represent mere changes in the way of doing things. Their success lies in their effective integration into the organisational culture. The idea of certifying implies advancing in a continuous improvement process towards the overcoming of all nonconformance factors until obtaining a certificate with everyone’s participation.

Processes and people: While ISO standards provide evidence of different processes and products obtained, competency standards describe the results that people should be able to obtain.

Participation: ISO standards are previously set; the participation process of workers may take place regarding the registration and preparation of manuals. On the other hand, since workers take part in this process there are more representatives and there is greater commitment during the elaboration of competency standards.

Prospective: Quality standards focus on the creation and verification of conditions for the present, for current processes, though during their implementation, there may arise new improvements oriented to neutralise non-conformances. Whereas competency standards may include a positive ingredient that allows to anticipate new demands in the expected result of work and minimise their risk of becoming obsolete.

Complementation: A joint application of ISO standards and labour competency standards is absolutely desirable and favourable. Since ISO standard does not prescribe ways of doing and it only describes what has to be done, labour competency standards may complement it by developing the expected results of work. Much of the information included in competency standards link the evidence of performance with the specifications set by the company; such specifications are always registered in the manuals elaborated for certification in ISO. At the same time, the information derived from competency standards can be used to reinforce the necessary documentation for ISO certification process.

 

 

 

 

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1 Vargas, F., Quality management in vocational training, Montevideo, Cinterfor/ILO, 2004: http://www.oitcinterfor.org/public/english/region/ ampro/cinterfor/publ/papel/12/index.htm
2 Peluffo, Martha; Catalán, Edith, Introducción a la gestión del conocimiento y su aplicación en el sector público, Santiago, Chile, ECLAC, 2002, Serie Manuales.
3 Villavicencio, Daniel; Salinas, Mario, La gestión del conocimiento productivo: las normas ISO y los sistemas de aseguramiento de calidad, in Revista Comercio Exterior, Mexico, June 2002.
4 Vargas, F., Quality management…, op. cit.
5 Mertens, Leonard; Baeza, Mónica, La norma ISO 9000 y la Competencia Laboral, México, ILO-CIMO-CONOCER, 1998.

 

 

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