By David Jenkins
Global standard setting is critical to many industries, and asset management is no exception. The sector takes its guidance from the ISO/TC 251 series of standards.
Like all standards, the TC251 series is in a state of continual development and evolution to reflect changes in thinking and practice, and the TC251 committee recently reached the next stage in publishing updated guidance.
This is the culmination of an international collaboration between professional organisations across 36 countries. The updates relate to areas such as data, common terminology, and new guidelines on people.
The first edition of ISO 55012, “Guidance on people involvement and competence”, is – as of June 2024 – in the final stages and is on track to be published in the next few months.
This important and welcome development articulates a commitment to “engaging people in an organisation’s asset management system and enhancing their involvement and competence within it.”
There are specific objectives around culture, such as cultivating an awareness of asset management and support for achieving overall organisational goals.
The new standards will provide guidelines for “human factors which influence people involvement and competence and creates value that helps to achieve the organisation’s objectives.”
There are also guidelines on education and skills development, as well as on enhancing “involvement and competence to provide support for the establishment, implementation, maintenance and improvement of asset management systems.”
These guidelines resonate very strongly with IPWEA’s commitment to education and professional development, but they also raise another critical set of issues around organisational values and, ultimately, leadership.
The Global Forum on Maintenance and Asset Management (GFAM) has a section that deals with the way organisations create value for their stakeholders and makes the point that value is created by a set of drivers that begin with strategy and are then executed through systems and processes.
The GFAM implies but doesn’t say outright that culture is also a critical component in value creation and depends on the clarity and quality of leadership.
The leaders in an organisation determine strategy and articulate it to their people.
Leaders are responsible for aligning strategy and culture and ensuring that operations and processes can all combine to deliver on an organisation’s goals.
All leaders have different styles and approaches, and while modern leadership is more collaborative and willing to delegate responsibility and initiative than in the past, the leader still bears ultimate responsibility.
The new ISO 55012 guidance on people will only be successfully implemented if the commitment comes from the top and flows through the organisation.
At the same time, the GFAM’s Value Model can best be achieved if an organisation can execute on ISO 55012.
Influential leaders understand that their people are the ones who will deliver organisational performance and that they need the right cultural environment to do so.
I’m not sure if ISO 55012 will contain specific guidance on leadership when it is finally published, but I suggest it will be a valuable resource for leaders as they set their standards.
