Among the certified enterprises, small and micro enterprises account for a large proportion, and there is an increasing trend. How to do a good job in auditing these enterprises is related to both the reputation of the certification industry and the effectiveness of the certification work. The author will share some opinions based on his own review practice.
Understand small and micro enterprises
Small and micro enterprises have their own characteristics. To do a good job in auditing small and micro enterprises, you must first understand them. Only by understanding can you grasp the scale and be targeted. The author always believes that auditors should come from the enterprise and then go to the enterprise, so that they can know what the enterprise needs, rather than what they think the enterprise should do from their own perspective.
Small and micro enterprises are small in scale. On the one hand, they have a simple organizational structure, weak management foundation, lack of talents, small product batches, many specifications, frequent abnormalities, and unstable quality. On the other hand, small and micro enterprises are mainly specialized in management, with experienced personnel, hard-working people, fast response speed, and flexible mechanisms. It can be said that small and micro enterprises have outstanding advantages and disadvantages. Auditors must be able to understand the operations of small and micro enterprises, understand the pain points of small and micro enterprises, be familiar with the industries and products of small and micro enterprises, and understand the core needs of small and micro enterprises.
Not many small and micro enterprises take the initiative to get certification. Most of them choose to get certification because of customer requirements or business expansion needs. People in most companies have basically no idea about certification. Many people just think that making some documents, coping with inspections, and getting the certificate is certification. Therefore, the certification risk for small and micro enterprises is very high. If you are not careful, certification will be regarded as a certificate.
Auditors must be more cautious when auditing small and micro enterprises, and especially do their homework. They must strictly abide by the certification audit process and requirements, so that small and micro enterprises can experience for themselves what real certification is, rather than just asking someone to prepare a set of materials for inspection. Such certification is tantamount to spending money to buy a certificate, which is illegal and meaningless. Based on the current situation of small and micro enterprises, it is necessary to point out what work is necessary, how to standardize management, ensure quality, and be feasible in the enterprise, so that the enterprise has a real sense of obtaining certificates and the existence of the system, rather than just making a bunch of documents and records to cope with audits, doing what is usually done, and not applying the system requirements to daily business work.
Auditors should guide small and micro enterprises through communication to establish a system that suits their own characteristics. They cannot be the same and cannot be copied. Otherwise, the established system will become a decoration and a mere formality. Not only will it not help the enterprise, but it will become a burden.
If you don’t understand the industry in which small and micro enterprises operate, are not familiar with the operations and products of small and micro enterprises, and do not understand the shortcomings and difficulties of small and micro enterprises, all they talk about are layman’s terms, and all they talk about are standard terms. In this way, it will be difficult to have a common language with the other party, and there will be no resonance. The result of this kind of review is just going through the motions and getting a certificate.
Many of our auditors always complain that the boss of the company does not show up during the audit, does not participate in the audit, or even does not attend the first and last meetings. In fact, the boss is lying when he says he is busy. I would like to ask which boss doesn’t care about his own business? Does he want his business to do well? The boss of a small and micro business is more pragmatic and will only do things that he thinks are valuable, meaningful and can produce benefits. Therefore, when you encounter a boss who does not pay attention to certification, instead of complaining about others, it is better to reflect on yourself. What makes company bosses unwilling to personally participate in certification work? This may not only be a problem for auditors, but also a problem for the entire industry to think about.
Respect small and micro businesses
All certified companies are our customers, regardless of size. The certification industry is essentially a service industry. Auditors must not only "deliver trust" but also "serve development." Therefore, auditors must adjust their mentality and position before entering the industry.Auditors must respect quality and rules, and have feelings for certification work. They must not be mercenary and cannot use auditing as a means and tool to pursue profits. Otherwise, it is easy to cause resentment among enterprises, or even conflicts, which will affect the reputation of the industry.
The companies we face are of all kinds. In terms of motivation for certification, some are just for getting certificates, and some want to improve management; in terms of system quality, some are doing well and some are not doing well; in terms of understanding of certification Some have no idea about certification at all, and some are familiar with certification requirements; in terms of reception, some are enthusiastic and some are not. Especially when encountering companies with low system quality and unenthusiastic reception, auditors must be calm and do not lose their temper or show off their faces, let alone take the opportunity to ask for cards. Speech must be reasonable and measured, which is also the most basic professional quality.
You must have a normal mind when receiving enterprises. Small and micro enterprises are small in scale, have few personnel, and have meager profits. No matter what the other party's attitude is, you must not lose your principles. You should be informed when you need to be informed, you should be supplemented when it is necessary, and you should be perfected when you should be perfected. Strictness means love and relaxation. Appropriate requirements not only avoid the risks of certification but also help enterprises achieve improvement. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.
Subtract from the system
The biggest pressure for small and micro enterprises is survival, the biggest risk is business, and the biggest fear is cumbersome management. People in small and micro enterprises generally value practice over theory, and certificates over management. Not many people understand standards, and even one person holds multiple jobs and is extremely busy.
When auditors go to small and micro enterprises, they should be guided by problem orientation, goal orientation, and effect orientation. During the audit process, they should understand what actual problems the enterprise has and which tasks are troublesome, and then guide the enterprise to try to solve them by using standard principles and means. On the one hand, small and micro enterprises are the most pragmatic and avoid big talk and formalism; on the other hand, they crave guidance from experts to get out of trouble, and sometimes even regard auditors as gods. Therefore, auditors must be pragmatic and prudent during the audit process, be based on reality, and speak words that the company can understand. The audit should not just stay at the level of documents and records, nor should the company be required to supplement certain documents and records just for the purpose of auditing, which are not used at ordinary times. Certification is essentially for the purpose of standardizing management and ensuring quality, not for making documents and records. Don't pursue comprehensiveness, but be practical. It must be able to solve problems and be feasible, especially for some small and micro enterprises with simple organizations, fewer personnel, and simple processes. We cannot complicate management and make processes cumbersome. Too many rules and regulations will not only fail to help the enterprise, but will become a constraint. We must subtract from the system of small and micro enterprises and revitalize small and micro enterprises through the operation and improvement of the system. In this regard, auditors must grasp the priorities.
combined with the actual situation of different enterprises, focused on reviewing some content that directly affects product quality and management level, taking the quality, delivery time, and cost issues that small and micro enterprises are most concerned about as a breakthrough point, and conducted key reviews and exchanges from the following aspects: whether the production equipment has fallen behind and aged, and whether daily maintenance has been done; whether the production personnel are proficient in operating skills, and whether training and testing on operating skills and quality awareness have been carried out Whether the equipment is fully equipped, accurate and regularly calibrated; whether the testing personnel are familiar with the product's quality standards and testing methods, and whether the independence of testing work can be guaranteed; whether the production operation standards have been established and implemented; whether the production process is feasible and advanced, and whether there are error prevention measures to reduce human errors; whether the on-site management is chaotic, whether 5S, fixed management is implemented; whether the business process is clear and smooth, etc.
Only by taking the weak links and concerns of the enterprise as the focus of review and communication with small and micro enterprises can we truly create value for small and micro enterprises and gain the respect of small and micro enterprises.
Original source China Certification and Recognition "A Brief Discussion on the Audit of Small and Micro Enterprises" Guangdong Quality Inspection Zhongcheng Certification Co., Ltd. Teacher Zhou Changqing
Management system promotes enterprise development!
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