Knowledge management (7.1.6)

I recommend thinking about clause 7.1.6 together with clauses 5.3 and 7.2.

Start with clause 5.3, determine which functions are relevant for your quality management system (QMS). Then, for each function determine its authorities and responsibilities.

Now, go to clause 7.2 (immediately after 7.1.6), and for each relevant function of your QMS determine if there are any competence gaps. How can you determine competence gaps? Before evaluating competence, you must determine what is required in terms of organizational knowledge for each function to perform authorities and responsibilities properly.

So, for the first part of clause 7.1.6 that is how I work, determine the knowledge required to perform a particular relevant function and include that in the job description. For example, if your organization starts onboarding a new employee what kind of training and experience must be provided to operate competently? For example, that new employee must learn to work with the company’s software, must learn company’s products codes and references, …

For the second part of clause 7.1.6 I invite you to see this answer that I wrote that also include links to articles about this topic - https://community.advisera.com/topic/iso-9001-organizational-knowledge/