The ICF and ISO compliant credentialing
Saturday, October 3 | Posted in Coaching , News | 
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What is ISO and why would it be important for the International Coach Federation to become ISO compliant?
About ISO
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world’s largest developer and publisher of International Standards.
ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 162 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.
ISO is a non-governmental organization that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors. On the one hand, many of its member institutes are part of the governmental structure of their countries, or are mandated by their government. On the other hand, other members have their roots uniquely in the private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations.
Therefore, ISO enables a consensus to be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the broader needs of society. Read more >>>
The ISO standard sought by the International Coach Federation is ISO/IEC 17024:2003: Conformity assessment — General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons.
This International Standard aims to harmonize the various procedures used around the world for certifying the competence of personnel in different professions.
It will provide a global benchmark for certification schemes to ensure that they operate in a consistent, comparable and reliable manner worldwide, thus establishing an environment for the mutual recognition of schemes and facilitating the global mobility of personnel.
Today, thousands of certification programmes exist for personnel in practically every industry, in particular in the service sectors, from healthcare personnel and financial planners to safety professionals and non destructive testing operators, as a means of demonstrating their professional ability. One of the functions of the body carrying out certification of persons is to undertake an independent assessment of education/training, experience, demonstrated knowledge and skills applicable to the area for which the certification is awarded. This process is known as a “certification scheme”.
The new standard, ISO/IEC 17024, Conformity assessment - General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons, provides a uniform set of guidelines for organizations managing the qualifications and certification of persons, including procedures for the development and maintenance of a certification scheme. It is designed to help bodies operating certification of persons conduct well-planned and structured evaluations using objective criteria for competence and grading in order to ensure impartiality of operations and reduce any conflict of interest. Read more >>>
Update on ICF Credentialing and ISO
The following are frequently asked questions that the ICF has been receiving regarding potential changes to the ICF Credentialing Program.
There are many more details and specifics to be finalized and probably many more questions to be asked and answered. As such, four open calls have been scheduled in October (October 9, October 14, October 20 and October 22) to allow for a conversation around proposed changes. Please visit the ICF Event Calendar for more information.
Additionally, a special e-mail address has been created should you wish to forward a comment to ICF Headquarters regarding this topic. Please use isocomments@coachfederation.org.