A Message From the President and CEO February 2019

Happy New Year! 2019 marks the 30^th year of Exemplar Global if we include our legacy organizations RAB and QSA before they merged to become RABQSA. Allot has changed in 30 years, yet auditing remains as important as it was then—arguably more so.

When I started auditing almost 30 years ago, I was registered with QSA and there was only one main standard—the precursor to ISO 9001—and auditing was a very attractive career option. Since then, numerous standards have emerged, audits have become complex, qualifying for various schemes has become more difficult, and maintaining experience in all areas has become a greater challenge. Not to mention liability and perceptions of inconsistency and lack of competency have made an auditing career seem less attractive.

Back in those days, our audit aides were a notebook, pen, a checklist perhaps, and maybe a copy of the standard. We drafted reports for the typists to type and posted them to arrive two weeks after the audit. Now we have technology at our disposal—online tools and instant onsite reporting, access to real-time support, and emerging techniques and tools that will continue to change the world we work in and how we do the work.

Exemplar Global believes that auditing continues to be a career pathway that can attract the very best professionals and provide them with a satisfying and challenging career that contributes to and makes a difference in the world—particularly in the sectors that we serve. But, we have to work together as a community to acknowledge what we do well, what we can improve, and harness the technologies that continue to emerge.

To that end, Exemplar Global has developed new products and services for certification bodies, training providers, engineering colleagues, and new customers in both current and new sectors. These products and services include group certification programs for auditors working for certification bodies and a suite of services to help training providers enhance their training courses. At the same time, we aim to work with certification bodies and training providers to identify where we, collectively, might have training needs or gaps so that training providers can build the right courses to bridge the gaps and make sure our population of auditors are prepared for current and future demands.

This may seem like a tall order, and it is. But if we work together we can make a difference. Work is already underway on these initiatives and you may have seen the launch of some of these new products and services on social media and on our websites. This year will be our third Online Auditor Expo. We are also holding periodic webinars on a variety of topics looking to auditing in the future, and March will see our first Food Safety Expo. This, like other events, will be a virtual event that you can attend online any time of night and day, and with an excellent range of speakers and topics. This event complements our work to build a library of material that our certified auditors can draw upon as part of their ongoing professional development. We are finding new ways to provide valuable information and resources for current and prospective auditors, in an affordable, accessible way that fits your busy lifestyle and the lowest possible cost.

2019, our 30^th year, is full of exciting challenges and we hope that you will join with us to make auditing a great career option and make your businesses—be it certification or training—even more successful. Our role is to work with you to help find ways to do that. Please feel free to contact us at any time to discuss ways we can do that for you.