In early 2021, UKAS saw the culmination of an important project in which they re-launched their Purpose, Vision, Mission and Values, as well as updating their strategic priorities to align with the updated strategy.
Once launched, the challenge of the past year has been to live up to these values and statements, while delivering their strategic priorities.
UKAS’ values contained within their ‘PRIDE’ acronym
UKAS’ values are neatly contained within their ‘PRIDE’ acronym, incorporating a commitment to professionalism, respect, integrity, dedication and excellence.
It is their hope as an organization that all UKAS employees embrace and embody these values, and that they can all be confident of a supportive work environment, which enables them to execute their various roles to the best of their abilities.
The PRIDE values
The PRIDE values have equally supported one of their key priorities of the year
The PRIDE values have equally supported one of their key priorities of the year; that of recruitment and retention of staff.
UKAS has been highly successful in 2021-22 in increasing the staffing resources available to them and they are proud of the high levels of technical ability and knowledge that permeate every section of the assessment teams.
They have successfully progressed each of their five strategic priorities in the last year. In terms of exceling in areas of technical expertise and service, they have expanded their workforce to capture more skill and have also provided considerable training opportunities for all existing staff, including a four-day Technical Conference for knowledge exchange.
UKAS CertCheck - online database of accredited certification
With respect to being agile, enabling the organization to adapt and innovate, the development and roll-out of customer and assessment portals will streamline customer experience and the assessment process. They have also successfully deployed UKAS CertCheck, a free to use, online database of accredited certification.
In being perceptive in developing talent and building knowledge, UKAS also looks towards their extensive in-house training opportunities, which recently include access to eLearning modules created specifically for UKAS by an instructional design specialist.
Deliver financial stability and productivity
They have delivered financial stability and productivity even in times of national crisis
They have delivered financial stability and productivity even in times of national crisis and have also built-in contingency to deal with further consequences that might be presented by the outgoing pandemic, while simultaneously holding prices for their customers.
It is not really for them to say whether they are respected and recognized as the world’s foremost accreditation body, however with several members of the UKAS team having taken on key leadership posts in ILAC and IAF, as well as UKAS’s central role in the roll-out of UKCA - the UK’s replacement of the CE marking system, they can be confident that they are on the right track.
Process is one of continual self-assessment
As with the assessment process, it is not a case of achieving these goals once and moving on.
Instead, the process is one of continual self-assessment and ensuring that a golden thread of technical excellence, adaptability, learning and PRIDE runs through all that UKAS does as a body of individual employees, and that is the challenge they readily accept for the following years to come.
