--London, 30 July 2014
Compliance with ISEAL's Codes of Good Practice is a cornerstone of what it means to be an ISEAL member. It is an indicator that a standard-setter embraces credible practices and can distinguish an organisation to standards users and other stakeholders. More than an additional "layer of certification", aligning with the Codes signals that there is a commitment to continuous improvement and that well-functioning systems are in place that are more likely to deliver positive social, environmental and economic impacts.
The evaluation, conducted through ISEAL's independent evaluation mechanism (IEM), provides impartial verification that an organisation's systems meet the requirements of ISEAL's Codes. It complements the other elements of the membership pathway - ISEAL Secretariat review and peer review - which help to ensure that an organisation is on a path to compliance. The independent evaluator makes a recommendation to the ISEAL membership committee based on the number and severity of non-compliances, which then makes a decision based on the completeness of the process followed. With this independent and formal evaluation process, standards systems can credibly claim to comply with the ISEAL Codes of Good Practice.
The independent evaluation for the Standard-Setting Code takes place when an organisation aims to transition from associate to full membership. Undertaking a successful independent evaluation against the Impacts and Assurance Codes is a condition of maintaining full membership in ISEAL. These are the first organisations to be independently evaluated against the Impacts Code, which was developed in 2010 and which members began to implement in earnest in 2012.
The Impacts Code provides the building blocks for an organisation to develop a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system that will enable them to track their effectiveness at achieving sustainability objectives and use results to drive better performance. The evaluation covered both baseline and improvement criteria, which for the Impacts Code include requirements such as clearly defining and making publically available the organisation's goals, strategies and intended impacts, as well as setting out indicators for monitoring outcomes and conducting regular impact evaluations.
Mature standards systems in ISEAL are often working to also achieve the aspirational criteria, which are optional and not a membership requirement. These criteria are designed to encourage innovative approaches to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of sustainability standards.
It is important to note that implementing the Impacts Code, as with all ISEAL Codes, is a gradual process oriented towards continuous improvement. While all members evaluated were found to be in overall compliance, a number of them had minor non-compliances which they will need to address through corrective action plans. This is not the final time that these members will go an independent evaluation against the Impacts Code. They will be re-assessed regularly to check for on-going compliance with the Codes, since members continue to evolve their systems and the Codes themselves are regularly revised. ISEAL's Impacts Peer Working Group is another platform where members are benefiting from each other's experience to become more effective.
ISEAL is committed to upholding transparency in its membership procedures and also to advancing shared learning amongst members. M&E system reports, which organisations were required to make public in order to comply with the Impacts Code, will soon be made available on the ISEAL website. Other resources resulting from the evaluations will be shared amongst the ISEAL membership to encourage them to seek out advice from one another on how to improve performance.
To learn more about membership and compliance in ISEAL, visit our Compliance hub page.