People are essential to organizations. Organizational performance is dependent upon how people’s competences are used at work. Competence management and people development at the organizational, team, group and individual levels are required for organizations to be successful. Competence management and people development are clearly linked together: people development is part of competence management and competent people will require development. These two constructs are inter-related and, in many ways, inseparable.

Applying planned and systematic processes for competence management and people development makes an important contribution to helping organizations improve their capabilities, meet their strategic direction, and achieve intended results. Competence management has significant importance in enhancing the organization’s capabilities to create and deliver value.

The quality management principles underlying the ISO 9000 family of standards (of which the ISO 10001 to ISO 10019 family of standards forms a part) emphasize the importance of competent people and a culture that fosters growth and further development.

ISO 10015:2019 provides guidance to assist organizations and their personnel when addressing issues related to competence management and people development. It may be applied whenever guidance is required to interpret references to competent/developed people within the ISO 9000 family of quality management systems, or any other management systems standard, e.g. risk management, environmental management.