Aspeq leads in Quality & Compliance

Globally recognised quality

In 1993, Aspeq was one of the first organisations in New Zealand to successfully obtain ISO certification. Even before the standards became a globally recognised brand, Aspeq understood the importance of demonstrating its commitment to quality and compliance by benchmarking itself against international standards.

ISO certification means a businesses’ processes and services meet internationally trusted best practices in areas like quality, security, and privacy.

Aspeq has held the ISO9001 Quality Management Systems certification for over 25 years, and also holds the ISO27001 Information Management Systems standards, which is globally recognised as the required standard for information security. It has a Safety Management System in place for robust risk management, and projects are delivered through the PRINCE2 methodology to ensure consistency in approach and quality.

Auditing is a very regular process at Aspeq. ISO certified businesses are subject to regular external audits by independent third parties. In addition, Aspeq frequently carries out internal audits on every one of its business units. Aspeq’s CEO Hamish Findlay says Aspeq welcomes audits because it sees the process as a terrific way to ensure the company is staying at the top of its game.

“Quality, security and privacy is everyone’s job at Aspeq, and everyone plays an important role in maintaining our high standards. I’m proud of Aspeq’s commitment to quality and compliance, and of our ability to demonstrate this to our clients through our various certifications and systems.

“We recently passed our ISO 9001 re-certification with ‘no findings’ - meaning the auditors didn’t find any parts of our processes that could be improved.  We also took the initiative to successfully migrate to the new ISO27001:2022 certification more than a year early, as our auditors recommended that we were ready to do so. This is an excellent outcome and one that only a small number of organisations in New Zealand have achieved.

“For our clients, having an external, independent party regularly validate that our internal processes meet high international standards means they can trust we walk the talk on privacy, security and quality,” says Hamish.

Above and beyond question

Above and beyond its certifications, Aspeq implements its own quality control processes and procedures.

Aspeq’s in-house statistician delivers valuable insights to Aspeq’s clients and customers through bespoke and comprehensive analysis and reporting. This includes providing all clients with post-examination analysis of how their candidate groups performed compared to other groups within their organisations and comparable training organisations nationally and internationally.

The company’s Manager of Quality and Compliance, Adila Bajema, explains how these reports support Aspeq’s clients’ business planning.

“Clients can see whether their candidates performed exceptionally well or poorly compared to other groups, and hone in on problem areas where additional training may be beneficial. It can also help detect suspicious patterns in exam results that might indicate something is amiss.

“For candidates, we offer bespoke reporting on their individual performance, which is a fantastic tool to guide their future learning.”

If suspicious behaviour is detected, it is promptly investigated by Aspeq’s Quality and Compliance Manager, who shares the detailed findings and analysis with clients.

Aspeq also conducts regular ‘mystery audits’ of its extensive network of examination centres. This is based on the Hawthorne effect, explains Aspeq’s Manager of Quality and Compliance, Adila Bajema.

“People will behave as they normally do when they don’t know they’re being watched, which is why Aspeq staff regularly turn up to exam centres unannounced and incognito. We sit the exam just as candidates would, and ensure the centre and invigilation service is performing up to our standards,” says Adila, adding that any findings are reported and promptly acted on to improve processes.

As Aspeq continues to embrace its long-held tradition of commitment to quality, security and privacy, Hamish is optimistic about the future.

“There are a lot of exciting innovations in this space that we can embrace to further enhance the efficiency and efficacy of our internal processes. Along with our Quality and Compliance Manager, we have an in-house Innovation Specialist who is constantly reviewing our processes to look for how things could work better for our people, clients and candidates,” Hamish says.