60 Seconds With Judith Hargreaves

30 October 2019

Judith has been a Regional Assessor with NQA for the past 2 years and has brought with her a wealth of skills following her role as a Combat Medical Technician in the Royal Army Medical Corp.

What is your role?

I am a Regional Assessor and have worked for NQA for 2 years. Prior to NQA I have worked in a variety of industries; military, fitness, teaching, HR, Law and business management – advising a variety of industries from engineering to artists.

Most memorable moment at work?

Whilst discussing staff welfare on an ISO 9001 audit I was blown away by how positively the company reacted to a member of staff opening up about mental health struggles and the support and charity work they have committed towards for male mental health in particular.

I was deeply touched that they showed such pride around this. They wanted to book the next audit to coincide with their next awareness campaign, although I politely requested we book for a few days after they intended to parade in their underwear in a football ground.

Favourite things about working for NQA?

As a member of the NQA team I can definitely say that we are very well looked after! There are a number of great things about working for NQA:

Plenty of training opportunities to allow me to progress and grow
A hands on management and directorate team
We regularly receive ‘thank you’ gifts throughout the year, it's nice to feel appreciated!
Autonomy to grow within the business or maintain current level and much more!

I also really enjoy listening to clients and working through the Standards to help their business improve and leaving feeling that I’ve hopefully added value to their company. It's so rewarding returning to clients and seeing the improvements they have made following past audits and knowing that they are actually looking forward to their next audit because they recognise the value it brings them.

Top tip for people looking at certification?

Identify what you want to get out of your certification; tender opportunity, client requirement, compliance, process improvement, then engage everybody who will be required to use the system. The better the engagement the better the buy in, and improvement will automatically follow.

How might you be able to help our readers?

As an assessor I have to be impartial and cannot consult however I am always happy talk over the phone or email with any of our clients about any pre audit worries or to share best practice I have seen in their industry whilst maintaining confidentiality.