That become certified means that management has established a system in which you plan, implement, follow up and act on regulations and that you have been audited by a certification body that has approved the way you work according to a standard e.g. ISO 9001 or ISO14001.
No matter what you are going to certify against, there are clearly defined requirements and regulations that you need to comply with. The extent to which you already live up to these and what competencies you possess to establish working practices that meet the requirements to become certified varies from organization to organization.
The journey usually begins with a current situation/GAP analysis to see where you stand today in relation to the requirements set by the standards you are interested in certifying against.
You who lead a company where you are going to go towards certification must be aware of what requirements are imposed on you in the different standards you want to certify against.
What needs to be put in place is a systematic approach to how you work to meet and comply with these requirements over time. It includes making the entire organization aware of what we do, why we do it and how we do it.
Being certified means that after you become certified, you carry out a number of activities that are recurring throughout the year to drive improvement within your organization over time.
The auditor of the certification body will come to you at least once a year to follow up that your management system is alive and still functioning as you said.
Therefore, you need to establish an annual calendar that governs all certification-related and other recurring and important activities for the company so that you carry out these in a timely manner and do not risk having your certificate suspended or revoked.
We must also not forget that the world is constantly changing and that demands change over time.
Therefore, it is important to include international and team monitoring in their systematic management work.
