The last issue of our newletter was, in the fashion of Jiří Střelec, devoted to searching for our own way. Apart from his other activities, Jiří Střelec, too, assists companies in implementing the ISO system which introduces certain standards to production and management of the entire company, and can help improve the internal communication as well. Yet the implementation alone, on the other hand, can pose a great challenge to the internal communication.
„The ISO system is a company management system designed to create quality products. It is not a one-off package of documents that the company produces out of a filing cabinet during an audit. It is a system the company´s employees are supposed to work with. We preset a management system so that no redundant activities can spring up. Each added value or quality has to be documented with specific results, otherwise it loses its sense,“ says Jiří Střelec as he explains the reasons why introduce the ISO. The ISO determines the product´s quality along with the quality of management.
ISO certification at school
Chemical High School in Pardubice (SPŠCH) acquired the ISO 9001 certification on December 10, 2008 as the very first school in The Pardubice County. For not just companies can work to the ISO system, but also schools and other organizations. „We want for our school to be preparing students for the practice and to be open,“ says Miroslava Katzerová, the school´s principal, as she is pointing out why they embarked on the ISO implementation, and adds: „the quality system certification is a pillar of our school´s existing assets in the sphere of education, and is an essential prerequisite for any successful future working. Viewing it from the perspective of the school´s management effectivity, it is indeed one major step forward. Thanks to the ISO, we have succeeded in simplifying and harmonizing a number of diverse processes. The ISO represents a quality guarantee for our students, parents and companies that hire graduates from our school.“ ISO permeates all the school´s educational activities. In lab test reports, for instance, each of the teachers used to demand their own specific requirements. As part of the ISO certification, those requirements were unified, so that all lab test reports in all the diverse subjects would look the same. „Initially, however, we needed to take all the school´s workers through what it takes to introduce ISO and what their own share of the work will be like. We were taking it up quite thoroughly,“ recalls Katzerová. At that time, the chemical high school even successfully managed the internal communication aspect of implementation, yet many problems could have arisen, had ISO been implemented without prior consultative staff meetings.
In terms of the internal communication, employees absolutely have to be briefed on changes that will touch them or effect, in some way or other, their work. The ISO implementation represents one such change.
