We know that selecting ISO indicators for senior management can be very challenging and frustrating. Many professionals complain that the board is not engaged with the management systems (MS), making presenting results and sensitive MS items very complex.
However, without working on important indicators, it becomes more difficult to prioritize actions, request and secure funding, and even keep the system active and profitable. As a result, many companies end up with stagnant systems, little representative and even merely bureaucratic, which – needless to say – results in low outcomes for all stakeholders.
Therefore, we need to develop strategies to present ISO Indicators to senior management in an interesting, practical, and accessible way. Ensuring that the company’s vital themes and the MS are presented, discussed, and prioritized.
It’s worth mentioning that this content is valid for any standard, such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, or ISO 45001. Moreover, we will not discuss specific indicators, as each company has its peculiarities and specific needs arising from the organizational context. In this content, I will talk about general aspects, tips, for correct and effective selection of ISO Indicators for senior management. With that said, let’s get started?
ISO Indicators for Senior Management – What Definitely Not to Do
As professionals specialized in ISO management systems, we often have various terms and concepts at the tip of our tongue. However, despite being vital to our work, these vocabularies are not interesting or engaging for senior management.
Thus, the first crucial step you need to take is to exclude these vocabularies from any presentation. Your senior management does not want to know, for example:
- The names and numbers of the items in the standards;
- What normative requirements are necessary for certification;
- How much work we had to implement a best practice or standard;
- How many non-conformities (NCs) the audit had;
- What was the finding of NC X, Y, or Z;
- Among other terms and concepts very specific to our daily routine.
These terms and aspects, despite being very important, may mean little or nothing to the senior directors. Often, they will not be able to connect them to the reality of the company and to aspects that truly fall under the purview of a director’s decisions, for example. And this is where our role becomes vital, as we need to “translate” this information in a way that connects points and creates urgency and importance. And this is where the trick comes in!
ISO Indicators for Senior Management – What to Do to Attract More Attention
There are two major aspects that are vital to the business and will catch the attention of any director. They are the two key vocabularies: Costs and Profits! Understanding this, it becomes clearer and easier to find information that makes sense when it comes to ISO Indicators for senior management.
So, what we need to do is select from all the KPIs and indicators, some that more directly affect these two themes. The question we have to ask ourselves is:
“What indicators do we currently have that present a strategic view of profits and costs to senior management?”
For instance, you might have an indicator of losses or waste, scraps. All this theme is directly linked to costs and how it negatively affects the company’s profits. And this is extremely interesting for the organization. Thus, an indicator that shows rework, for example, can be very interesting.
Similarly, indicators that show gains can be very attractive because they demonstrate how investment in ISO management systems helps the company earn more. Indicators showing time savings, increased productivity, increased profit are ideas to reinforce the management system and help make important decisions.
Present Meaning, Not Just Numbers, Graphs, or Standards
To conclude, it’s worth emphasizing one thing: the indicators themselves may not say much to senior management. Often, they don’t have the time to deeply analyze them and, thus, assign meanings. So, more important than presenting numbers is presenting a meaning for what is being presented.
Therefore, when selecting ISO indicators for senior management, also provide explanations and connections that show how these numbers, graphs, and indexes are contributing to bringing gains or losses (profits and costs) to the company. In this way, they become truly attractive to directors and senior executives and will be more noticed, debated, and prioritized.
Lastly, do not forget to adapt the names, terminologies, and even the way of presenting the results for the target audience – in this case, the board of directors. If you manage to transition between the language of management systems and the language that the board understands, everything changes, including the way directors see you.
Therefore, to wrap up, this is not just a matter of simply presenting ISO indicators to senior management. This topic is related to the sustainability of the company, how the quality or ISO systems are perceived by people, and even about how you will or will not advance professionally.
