ISO 9001 Clause 4.2 – Understanding the Needs and Expectations of Interested Parties

In December 2021, the International Organisation for Standardisation (the main ISO body) reported over a million valid ISO 9001:2015 certificates awarded to date around the globe. Since then, this number continues to increase year on year for many and varied good reasons.

But there’s one not so small catch… ISO 9001 might just be the most confusing documents in business history!

The good news is that this series of articles and accompanying free factsheets are purpose designed to:

• Cut through the jargon
• Debunk the myths
• Make smoother sailing of your journey to certification

So, without further ado, let’s dive straight into ISO 9001 Clause 4.2 – Understanding the Needs and Expectations of Interested Parties.

What Does “Understanding the Needs and Expectations of Interested Parties” in ISO 9001 Clause 4.2 Mean?

Interested parties are people or organisations that influence how you meet your quality and regulatory requirements. They’re often commonly referred to as ‘stakeholders’, quite simply because they have a stake in your business, whether that’s financial or otherwise.

By incorporating their needs and expectations in to the process, your management system will help you to:

• Identify risks and opportunities
• Avert quality issues

In the specific context of quality management, ISO 9001 Clause 4.2 defines an "interested party" as more than just your customer base. Your customers might be a major source of "significant risk to organisational sustainability if their needs and expectations are not met."

Interested parties are people or entities that:

• Believe they affect your business
• Are affected by your business
• Could be affected by your business

It’s a sweeping definition that can include an enormous range of entities. So, let’s take a closer look at who these groups of interested parties might typically be.

Who are your Interested Parties?

Your customers and employees are pretty obvious candidates. But your overall range of interested parties needs to be more extensive under ISO 9001 Clause 4.2. You see, your customers and employees are fundamental to your business. But they’re far from the only ones that have an interest or a stake in your past, present and future.

With that in mind, your list of interested parties might include:

• Suppliers
• Investors
• Business owners and / or board members
• Landlord and / or neighbours
• Industry regulators
• Local community
• Sector specific and / or generic trade bodies, e.g. membership organisations
• Trade unions
• Contractors

Give careful consideration to everyone who could have an impact on your business and whose requirements you must meet. Build a list to ensure you capture all of your interested parties. It’s an effective first step to developing your interested parties register.

What are your Interested Parties Needs and Expectations?

A simple list of interested parties isn't sufficient to meet the requirements of ISO 9001 Clause 4.2. This is because a list alone doesn't call for any understanding of the needs and expectations of identified parties. 

Bear in mind that any interested party might affect your organisation's ability to provide services or meet legal requirements. So, you need to understand and evaluate:

• the relationship each interested party has with your organisation
• what each interested party means to your business

In simplistic terms, it’s not just that they matter. It’s why they matter.

For instance, your customers buy goods or services from you. Their needs and expectations might revolve around factors like:

• Pricing
• Product quality
• Reliability
• Delivery times

On the other hand, your staff’s stake in your business might include factors such as:

• Access to the necessary resources to produce your goods or services
• Training
• Compensation
• Appraisal
• Job stability

Working through your list of interested parties enables you to really drill down into and document their needs and expectations. 

How to decide which interested parties are relevant?

The aim of ISO 9001 Clause 4.2 is to solely incorporate interested parties that are relevant to your quality management system (QMS). There isn’t any need to include interested parties that aren’t relevant. So, it’s up to you to decide if the individual requirements of each interested party apply to the QMS or not.

A simple but effective way to do this is to assess the relationship with an interested party in the following contexts:

• Influence: Can the interested party halt your operation or alter your products and / or services?

• Risk: How much risk does the interested party create for your organisation? Do you rely on the interested party for ongoing success?

• Opportunity: Does the interested party provide or create opportunities for your business? 

If you answer yes to any of these questions, the interested party might be relevant to your QMS.  In which case it’s worth including them in your analysis, and addressing their needs and expectations within your QMS.

Summary

Let’s quickly recap the four fundamental steps of ISO 9001 Clause 4.2 – Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties -

1. Make a list of all the interested parties related to your business
2. Determine the requirements of the interested parties
3. Decide if the requirements are relevant to your QMS and explore further
4. Monitor and review regularly, bearing in mind that the needs and expectations of your interested parties may change over time

Next Steps

Found this article useful?

You won’t want to miss our accompanying free factsheet, which includes –

• Further examples of interested parties, their needs and expectations
• Different methods you can use to better understand the needs and expectations of your interested parties

You can download this invaluable free resource here.

And if you need any help or advice as you develop and evolve your management system, I’m here for you. Simply give me a call or drop me a note.