It’s World Quality Week!

Quality can mean different things to  different people, but in business it serves as a by-word for a product or service which can be relied upon to protect your brand, retain and build your customer base, and ensure high standards are met throughout the business as a whole.

Quality week is celebrated by the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) in conjunction with the International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA) every year in order to raise awareness of the Quality Management profession. Each year takes on a different theme, with past themes including ‘environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact’ and ‘creating customer value’. This year’s theme is ‘Quality conscience: doing the right thing’.

What is ‘Quality conscience’?

‘Quality conscience’ is all about ‘doing the right thing’ for people and the planet. Good businesses should be focused on doing the right thing when it comes to their products and services because:

-    Customers expect it.
-    Investors value it.
-    Reputation depends on it.

The quality management profession helps to define expectations from customers, investors, and society in order to get things right first time. 

How to track and improve quality

ISO 9001 certification is one way of achieving a recognised level of quality control within your business. The values of ISO 9001 certification closely resemble those that World Quality Week are trying to promote. These are:

-    Strengthening of brand.
-    Encouraging the scalability and repeatability of business.
-    Saving money through more efficient, defined processes.

By implementing these values throughout your business, the aim of both ISO 9001 and World Quality Week is to encourage a ‘culture’ of quality throughout your company. 

A ‘culture’ of doing the right thing

The CQI aims to encourage businesses to create a ‘culture’ of quality. By observing people doing the right thing, setting an example, and advocating for other businesses to do the same, a culture of quality will become more commonplace in our world today. Think of this process as looking to encourage all employees in a company to be accountable for high standards of quality through well-defined systems, which will, in turn, improve the effectiveness of your business, impress customers, and ensure you stand out against other companies.

How can you get involved in World Quality Week?

The CQI are running online webinars on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week (7-11th November). These cover a range of topics from creating a positive social impact to selecting the right quality tools. They also provide a free download of World Quality Week activities to encourage your company to start thinking about how everyone can contribute towards the culture of quality. 

From the lowest levels of involvement, such as just simply hosting a team meeting to discuss the values of this year’s World Quality Week, to official levels of certification, any attempts to contribute to the culture of quality within your workplace is going to make a difference to the way you and your company think about quality.