IN THIS ISSUE |
Quality Assurance Certification for Hobart City Council
By Warren Nichols*
In January 2007, quality assurance certification was attained for all Hobart City Council’s functions However, the impetus towards certification really commenced years before, in the early 1990’s with the Federal Government, National Competition Policy and the introduction of a new Local Government Act requiring local governments’ to develop a more commercial focus. Two State Government initiated Boards of Inquiry undertook a review of councils with a view to amalgamation and modernisation. Hobart City Council was not immune to the changes that emerged from these initiatives and took an active approach through modernisation of their organisational structure. This approach included the introduction of quality assurance. As it was then anticipated that Civic Solutions (Council’s construction and maintenance division) and Tecton Consulting (Council’s then project management division) would compete on the open market for supply of it’s services, it was appropriate that both these divisions, acquire quality assurance certification, if for no other reason than to publicly show a desire to work within a structured management system, and for potential customers to have confidence in the services offered. Gaining quality assurance certification (in 1997), these divisions began to demonstrate ‘good practice’ premised upon meeting customer expectations, promoting employee involvement in improvement strategies, and ensuring ongoing periodic review and refinement of work processes. The revision and reissue (in 2000) of the quality assurance standards as a single document (AS/NZS ISO 9001:2000), gave the opportunity and impetus to amalgamate the separate Civic Solutions and Tecton Projects Group certifications, and a concurrent Process Improvement Program within a common documented system. By having already introduced the basics of a management system - management review, strategic planning, reliable records systems, document control, documented processes, and improvement processes – it became apparent that quality assurance could be implemented throughout the remaining parts of the organisation with relative ease. With AS/NZS ISO 9001:2000 placing an emphasis upon an organisation’s understanding and meeting of customer requirements, appreciation of added value, and use of measures for performance assessment and improvement, a clear connection with the objectives of The Australian Business Excellence Framework (also adopted by Hobart City Council) was established. Being mindful that sustained success is dependent upon having sound systems and processes in place, a deliberate strategy was to progressively extend the existing quality assured management system throughout the entire organisation. Defined as “part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled” (AS/NZS ISO 9000:2006), quality assurance provides a model for organisations to effectively introduce a management system reflecting processes and systems unique to a particular organisation. Whilst quality assurance on its own cannot possibly effect total cultural transformation, it does introduce a practical platform that is helpful to any organisation. Indeed, the themes of understanding and adding value to customer requirements, system management and continuous improvement ought to be accepted and acknowledged as being part of any organisation’s normal business. For almost 10 years, the Hobart City Council has progressively adopted deliberate organisational improvement strategies based upon adoption of the Australian Business Excellence Framework and implementation of quality assurance. The recent quality assurance certification, in conjunction with the Silver Award 2005 – in the Australian Business Excellence Awards, attest to an ‘improvement culture’ and shows that by continually challenging organisational behaviours organisations can meet ever-changing customer expectations. Hobart City Council is certified by NCS International with ISO 9001 Quality Standard *Warren Nichols is the quality improvement manager of the Hobart City Council |
