Independent audit according to international CMS III standard: Cologne, February 2022 – OSK (Oliver Schrott Kommunikation) has been recertified according to the Consultancy Management Standard III (CMS III). This internationally recognized quality assurance certificate is specially tailored to the requirements of communications agencies and is awarded by the Association of Leading German PR and Communications Agencies, GPRA.
Already in 2019, OSK was among the first three German PR agencies to be certified according to CMS III through an independent four-day audit. Now the Cologne-based Top Ten agency has successfully achieved recertification. An independent auditor analyzed and evaluated OSK’s processes and working methods in eight categories. All departments and areas of the agency had to pass the quality check in three days and demonstrate that the high standards at OSK are not only maintained, but further developed and expanded.
“The agency has clear systems, an exemplary structure and demonstrably goal-oriented internal processes. Progress and future orientation define the agency’s mindset. Processes have been digitalized and digitalization continues to be developed step by step,” the independent audit report states.
“We are pleased with the excellent certification and take the biennial audits as an incentive to become even better and to continuously work on quality. Quality has always been part of our agency’s DNA,” said Oliver Schrott, founder and managing director of OSK.
„The initial certification showed that our quality management works. We have further developed despite, and also because of, the challenges of the past two years, which has now benefited us in the recertification. This applies to all fields within the agency, from continuous digitalization, process stability, human resources and customer satisfaction, to new business and sustainable financial planning,” said Managing Director Michael Kemme, who was responsible for OSK’s certification process.
The Consultancy Management Standard III (CMS III)
The Consultancy Management Standard III, CMS III for short, is represented worldwide by the umbrella organization ICCO (International Communications Consultancy Organisation). The ICCO tailored CMS III specifically to the requirements of communications agencies, whose work is becoming increasingly complex, diverse, and demanding. The framework in which creativity arises can be evaluated objectively, transparently, and comprehensibly with the help of the quality management system. In numerous countries, including the USA and Great Britain, membership in any given PR association requires CMS certification. This has also been the case in Germany since 2020, where the Association of Leading German PR and Communications Agencies, GPRA, has expanded the standard to incorporate its own criteria, including ethical and training-related ones. The GPRA awards this seal of quality officially and exclusively in Germany.