Advancing quality management through collaborative engagement

The CQI Council 

The Council performs an important role in advising the CQI Board of Trustees on strategic direction. It supports the CQI to deliver on its Royal Charter purpose: to promote quality management for society’s benefit and elect trustees.

The CQI Council represents a significant advancement in our strategy and product offerings, marking an exciting evolution for our organisation. As we operate within a broader ecosystem that positively impacts society, it is crucial to have a platform that integrates external insights and connects with the diverse communities of quality, certification, accreditation, and improvement. This is key to our continued success.

Rashad Issa, Chair, CQI Board of Trustees

Council members

The new CQI Council is made up of ordinary members elected by voting CQI members and - recently introduced - stakeholder members elected by them. Stakeholder members provide input and insight from allied quality bodies, professional bodies, trade associations, regulators, government, and academia. You can see a list of members here. 

2024 CQI Council meeting   

We held the first annual meeting of the CQI Council in July. Our focus was on how we make the connection between the challenges and opportunities facing economies, sectors, and organisations (productivity, competitiveness, trust, innovation, sustainability etc.) and quality management. We held in-depth discussions on two strategic topics: positioning quality management as a strategic tool and developing quality management culture and capability. 

Key takeaways   

The Council confirmed many of the barriers to positioning quality as a strategic asset and therefore to developing quality culture and capability within our organisations. These common barriers identified ranged from the perception that quality is seen as a compliance activity to the challenge of competing topics, such as security, safety, and sustainability.

The Council agreed on several responses to overcome these barriers – many of these are key areas of focus in the next phase of our 2030 strategy. At the core of these responses is the need to escalate our outreach and advocacy to drive engagement. This underscored the input we had from CQI and IRCA volunteers and members while developing our 2030 strategy.  

There was strong support for the CQI to balance its focus between the profession and on advocating for quality management with policymakers and industry. One of the key messages that the CQI was keen to get over to stakeholder members was that the CQI cannot achieve its Royal Charter purpose alone. This requires the ecosystem of quality and associated bodies. As our CEO, Vince Desmond highlights in his recent UK election response, we have a world-class quality ecosystem in the UK and globally. We were delighted that stakeholder and ordinary members supported this collaborative approach. 

The first annual meeting was exceptionally informative and engaging. On behalf of the board, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to all stakeholder members for their invaluable contributions and collaborative spirit. This progress would not have been possible without the dedication and commitment of our passionate ordinary council members, who have driven the council’s evolution and ensured it continues to deliver significant value. 

Rashad Issa, Chair, CQI Board of Trustees

Next steps   

The CQI Board of Trustees will be reviewing the detailed advice and suggestions from the Council at its next meeting as part of its ongoing strategy review. The feedback is especially pertinent to how we achieve our vision of quality management and the quality profession (see below). In the meantime, we will be following up with stakeholder members on more immediate opportunities.  

Thank you

We would like to thank the ordinary and stakeholder members who gave up their time and provided their valuable experience and expertise for the 2024 meeting. We look forward to turning these critical discussions into actions through continuous collaboration.