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BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT
Gary Ruffhead, Directorof GPR Professional
Services Ltd, UK
Gary Ruffhead, Director ofGPR Professional Services
Ltd – a quality and audit
consultancy firm in the UK –explains why staff should havea clear understanding of theiraudit and quality management
processes, particularly during
times of change
What does quality mean to you
and your business?

After spending over two decades
working with business standards acrossmultidisciplinary sectors (engineering,capital goods and business services),it always comes back to designinga management system that is fit forpurpose, by not over-engineering
the solution.
As a client-facing business, ourbrand and methodology are especially
important to us and have been built on
the following three pillars:• Quality – tailored solutions that are
fit for purpose.
• Subject matter expert – knowledge
and experience.
• Reliability – a go-to businesswith trusted advisors.

How do you encourage your staff
and customers to focus on quality
improvement?
We encourage businesses to createa culture of mentoring and coaching,with an emphasis on reinforcing
what quality means to their business.
This can be achieved by developing
your own personal brand and being
able to articulate it to ensure you’re
consistent with your messaging
in order to improve businessperformance and increase customer
satisfaction/retention.

How has your business beendelivering effective audits to meetclient needs and expectations,particularly during the pandemic?
We are listening to our client baseand constructively challenging theirperception towards risk; ensuring thatrisks are not just being identified but
are also evaluated correctly to exploit
any opportunities for growth. Havinginsight into their appetite/acceptancecriteria for risk is particularly important
here; aligning audits to this by following
relevant audit trails – not going off
on tangents – will ultimately increase
engagement from the auditees.

How have quality improvement
and quality processes benefited
your organisation?

Quality has made us an agile andprogressive business, where decisions
are now made easily by focusing
on the expected outcomes of ourmanagement system. Our quality
processes have enabled us to practise
what we preach by creating a value
chain that showcases how these areinstrumental to the success of ourorganisation, while reminding us of ourpurpose – the customer.

What challenges relating toquality assurance might you see
businesses face in future?

In times of economic recession,some organisations are tempted tocompromise on quality assurance
to reduce overheads. This is not asustainable solution, especially inmore practical environments whereoutputs cannot always be verified bysubsequent quality controls. Businesses
must endeavour to provide confidence
in assurance activities and notcompromise the quality controls acrosstheir products and services.

We are encouraged by the Industry
Position Statement (bit.ly/3m6DdRi)
on the use of accredited certification
throughout supply chains, which will
improve organisational resilience andbrand integrity for businesses.

What advice would you give toauditors who want to be heard bysenior management?
Be passionate about what you aredoing, especially if auditing is notyour main function; ensure thatyou understand the overall audit
programme’s objectives and validate
your audit against them; and be clear
about the scope and criteria, allowing
yourself the flexibility for it to becritiqued by the auditor.
Employees should use the audit tohelp disseminate topical issues (eg,management systems) by reinforcing
the importance and contribution that
quality and audit has throughout thebusiness; seek to understand whereother audits have added value andanticipate future audit trails.

How does your business plan toprovide better audits and quality
services to customers in 2021?

At the moment, it’s about CPD, CPD,
and more CPD because of the way
we are having to interact with people
remotely. Our communication skills andkeeping abreast of the latest thinking/guidance has become a main priority.
Identifying suitable webinars, allowing
for time and allocating a budget are
all key enablers for conducting audits
and providing quality services to ourcustomers during the pandemic.

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