Ask The Auditor — ISO Insights Edition

Question

Our organization is certified to ISO 9001. The new revision mentions "quality culture." Does this mean auditors will evaluate our culture, and if so, what objective evidence will they expect?

Answer

The short answer is yes.

One of the most discussed changes in the ISO 9001:2026 revision is the increased emphasis on leadership's responsibility to foster and promote a culture of quality. While this may sound straightforward, it presents a unique challenge because culture itself is not something that can be directly measured or tracked via a metric.

This raises an important question: if quality culture cannot be directly measured, how can an auditor assess it?

The first place auditors are likely to look is the organization's quality policy. A quality policy should do more than satisfy a documentation requirement. It should clearly communicate management's expectations for product quality, customer focus, ethical behavior, continual improvement, and employee accountability. More importantly, employees should understand how the policy relates to their daily work. A policy that hangs on a wall, but is unknown to the workforce, provides little evidence of an active quality culture.

Communication is another key indicator. Organizations that cultivate a strong quality culture regularly reinforce quality expectations through employee meetings, training activities, management communications, recognition programs, and discussions of lessons learned. Employees should be able to explain how quality objectives affect their responsibilities, and feel empowered to identify and report problems without fear of reprisal. When quality concerns are openly discussed and addressed constructively, the organization demonstrates that quality is a shared value rather than a compliance exercise.

Management review activities may provide some of the strongest objective evidence of quality culture. During management reviews, leadership should not focus exclusively on operational performance metrics. Reviews should also evaluate whether the quality management system is achieving its intended outcomes, resources are sufficient, employee concerns are being addressed, and improvement opportunities are being identified and acted upon. Evidence of leadership engagement, decision making, and follow through often reveals more about culture than any employee survey.

Quality culture may be difficult to measure directly, but it is often easy to recognize. In organizations with strong quality cultures, employees do the right thing even when no one is watching. If your organization fosters a strong quality culture, the evidence will be apparent to auditors when they are present in your facilities and interact with your staff. Focus your energy and efforts on building a strong quality culture, and let your auditors figure out the objective evidence during their audits.

Engineering insight

A mature quality culture is not measured by the absence of problems. It is measured by how quickly problems are identified, communicated, and resolved.

Organizations that encourage transparency often discover more issues initially, but in the long-term, they are best positioned for success.