A shared dream has brought your business to life. Communication is simple, everyone knows exactly what to do and the quality of your work is high.
Your team has grown to 25 people. With more hands on deck, new challenges arise. Communication between departments begins to become complex, tasks become more complex, and quality begins to falter. As a CEO, you feel like you're getting more and more caught up in fire department pressure instead of leading the company forward.
At this stage, you are faced with a choice: to implement ISO 9001 or to deal with each problem separately.
You choose to deal with each problem separately. Communication becomes more complicated and the quality of your products and services varies. You find it difficult to retain and recruit competent employees. When a problem arises, it becomes chaos and you as CEO become stuck in solving daily problems instead of focusing on the future of the company. Despite the fact that you solve every problem that arises, new ones continue to appear.
You have grown to over 100 employees. The challenges have become overwhelming. You find it difficult to keep track of all processes and deliver consistent quality. Customers are unhappy and employees are frustrated. The culture of the company has become characterized by constant problems and fire department pressure.
If you had instead chosen to implement ISO 9001, your journey would have looked very different.
By implementing ISO 9001 when you were 25 employees, you have been able to map and document your core processes, create a common understanding of how things should work and thus facilitate communication and efficiency.
ISO 9001 has helped you identify the competencies needed for each position and process, facilitating recruitment and staff development.
By conducting an effective stakeholder analysis, you have understood the needs and expectations of your stakeholders, thereby building stronger relationships and adapting to changing market needs.
When a problem arises, ISO 9001 has clear processes to deal with it. Instead of chaos, procedures are now in place that allow problems to be quickly identified, remedied and prevented from occurring again.
Five years later: With over 100 employees, you have a strong and efficient organization. You deliver consistent quality, have satisfied customers and motivated employees. The company's culture is characterized by continuous improvement and forward thinking.
As CEO, you have more time to focus on strategic work and plan for the future of the company. You are strongly supported in ISO 9001, which helps you keep quality and efficiency at the top, while giving you the peace and quiet to focus on what you do best: leading your business towards its vision and future success.
ISO 9001 is more than just a standard. It is a proactive game plan for success, helping you solve multiple problems at once and also prevent problems before they arise.
By implementing ISO 9001 early in your growth phase, you can create a strong and sustainable business and avoid the pitfalls that many growing companies encounter.
This will not only help you gain the trust of your customers, but also give you the peace and quiet to focus on what you do best: leading your company towards its vision and future success.
