ISO certification: inside a great vocation

Meet Niko Tovia, who has been a Leads Assessor and Business Improvement Agent for two years.

Niko works out of Melbourne and is part of our Citation Certification Division.

February was an excellent ‘slice-of-life’ month for Niko as he organised International Standards Organisation (ISO) assessments for around a dozen businesses.

In the last few months, Niko has worked on projects for a fascinating range of industries, including:

• A water pipeline infrastructure company, sought a detailed assessment report as well as a personalised assessment plan. Creating this required meetings with team members throughout the organisation across several project sites and branches in New South Wales and Victoria. The thorough assessment took nearly nine working days. “It’s a business improvement partnership,” Niko says. “We personalise certification assessments for each and every business and we emphasise that we are continuing with a plan.”
• Animal welfare monitoring business sought ISO 9001:2015 to certify its quality processes. This type of assessment was a Surveillance Assessment, observing whether quality is embedded into day-to-day operations. “Think of it as a medical check-up where we take a sampling of the management system clauses,” Niko explains.
• 10 other businesses which underwent certification, surveillance, or recertification with Niko included a husband-and-wife-owned plumbing business with just one employee, an electric vehicle charging solution provider, an architecture design consultancy business seeking ISO 9001 (Quality), as well as an asbestos removal company undergoing a surveillance assessment towards ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO14001 (Environmental) and ISO 45001 (Safety Management).

A great work-life balance and a taste of many industries

A quarter of Niko’s time working is spent onsite with clients and the rest involved assessments partly delivered from home – a work-life balance which worked in the favour of Niko, the clients, and Citation.

“Before coming into the role, my work history involved working in a shipyard, infrastructure, and bus manufacturing, so I’ve worked with many people of diverse backgrounds,” Niko says. “I’ve got to know many trades, professions, regulatory bodies, management styles, unionised and nonunionised workforces, experienced leadership changes, business restructuring, and undergone training in continuous improvement – so if this sounds like your sort of background, you could be an excellent fit for working in certification.”

“Being raised in a large Polynesian family, where service to others is emphasised, has helped me develop a sense of humour and empathy in all that we do. I consider being curious, establishing rapport, active listening, using appropriate questioning techniques to seek further information or to check my understanding of their process to be important assets in my day-to-day interactions with clients.”

Why certification could be your next great vocation

In both Australia and New Zealand, unemployment is low, demand for staff is high and the opportunity to help businesses thrive through ISO assessments is huge – which makes it an exciting time to join the booming certification industry.

After all, as economic forces increase pressure on manufacturing, science, and technology sectors, smart businesses realise that optimising their automation, and quality and digital upskilling should win them increased business through successful tenders – especially if they can demonstrate ISO accreditation such as ISO 27001 (Information Security), ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environmental), ISO 45001 (Safety Management), or ISO 55001(Asset Management). Each of these ISO standards can be assessed through Citation Certification.

Meanwhile, because 573,000 Australians take part in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which generates around $29 billion of economic activity, there is strong demand from disability services providers to pass an audit for NDIS registration, and lots of need for great Lead Assessors within Citation Certification.

Busy times indeed.