CAPITALIZING ON HUMAN CAPITAL: INTERNATIONAL GUIDANCE ON COMPETENCE MANAGEMENT JUST UPDATED

Ensuring people have the right skills for the job is a key element of an organization’s success. A recently revised and revamped International Standard will help integrate competence management into its daily work.

In a rapidly changing and increasingly globalized world, most companies have a wealth of varied skills and experience within their workforce, representing a significant opportunity for personal and organizational growth. A competence management system allows an organization to capitalize on this talent and expertise in order to reduce risks, improve its capabilities and help meet its strategic objectives.

ISO 10015, Quality management – Guidelines for competence management and people development, helps organizations address issues related to competence management by taking a quality management approach. It has recently been revised and expanded to align it more closely with the ISO 9000 family of standards for quality management and provide greater support and clarification on the determination of competence needs.

Gustavo Pontoriero, Chair of the ISO subcommittee that developed the standard, said ISO 10015 is designed to support ISO 9001, Quality management systems – Requirements, and now offers clear and systematic processes for competence management and people development.

“Using this standard effectively can bring a number of benefits to companies, including greater customer satisfaction, staff well-being and a more efficient working environment,” he said.

By Clare Naden