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Some certifications are created in response to an event, such as a lawsuit or the loss of a major customer. Others are implemented to gain a competitive advantage or to prevent employee disputes by helping managers make better personnel decisions. Many certification programs are the result of external pressures on organizations to ensure that their people perform to standard. Itās important to be clear and in agreement on just what the driver is, because the driver is the platform on which everything else is based. The driver shapes the programās design and determines the requirements candidates must satisfy to earn the credential. The design, in turn, determines what the program will cost to implement and maintain. The driver also provides the criteria against which the program will be evaluated and updated. Agreement on the driver should result in three outputs: (1) a clear goal statement, (2) the measures that will be used to judge the effectiveness of the program, and (3) agreement on the target audience and stakeholders.
One of your first tasks in designing a certification program, then, is to find out whether there is a valid driverāa problem worth solvingāfor it and if a certification program or another type of credential is indeed the appropriate solution. Based on that information, you can design the credential so that it will fulfill stakeholder expectations. Once the program is designed, you can plan how it will be managed, marketed, and implemented so that it will continue to add value to the organization.
WHY ORGANIZATIONS CERTIFY
In the past, most certifications were developed by professional societies and certifying boards to protect the safety, health, and welfare of the public. This is still a main driver for many professional societies, such as credentials offered by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, the American Board of Industrial Hygiene, and the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics.1 Today, in addition to protecting the public, professional associations develop certifications to attract members, to help certificants be competitive in the marketplace, to encourage participation in their educational programs, to pressure academic institutions to tailor programs for their constituents, to counter regulatory pressures for licensure that may restrict practice, and to drive universal standards. However, some certifications are created just because there is a market for themāthat is, there are enough people who will seek the designation that it becomes profitable for an organization to offer it. Indeed, the driver behind most certifications is economic, whether this fact is stated or not.
Corporationsā rationale for credentialing is different from that of professional societies. Corporations implement certifications to demonstrate due diligence to stakeholders, to promote continuous improvement, to increase productivity, and to maintain employee skills and knowledge. Businesses want to leverage their investments in research and development and in training and technology, and they want to reduce or avoid unnecessary costs. As a result, more organizations are turning to certification programs as a way to help them compete for and retain competent staff; establish uniform performance standards so they can rapidly deploy workers; outsource work to capable contractors and third-party providers; raise the level of core competencies across the organization; apply a multi-disciplined approach to solving complex problems; better integrate products, supply chains, and processes; and comply with local and international regulations. The following paragraphs discuss these goals in greater detail.
Protecting the Public
Protecting the public is still a primary reason organizations affiliated with the healthcare and medical fields either offer or require certifications, for example:
- The province of Ontario, Canada, certifies approximately 80,000 servers of alcohol annually through its Smart Serve Ontario program, established jointly by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and the hospitality industry in that province. The goals are to reduce accidents due to over-consumption of alcohol and reduce serversā liability through responsible alcohol service.
- The National Restaurant Associationās Education Foundation offers a similar credential called ServSafe AlcoholĀ® for servers and bartenders in the United States and another credential called the ServSafeĀ® Food Protection Manager Certification for workers in restaurants, cafeterias, and other food service providers.
- Health Communication, Inc., offers the TIPS (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) certification. This organization trains servers, sellers, and consumers of alcohol on how to prevent intoxication, drunk driving, and underage drinking.
All three of these organizations provide training to promote responsible service, sale, and consumption of alcohol. Their certifications require passing a test for which the questions were derived from a job/task analysis. The evidence of effectiveness will depend on the number of incidents of āoverā service that resulted in accidents or incidents that threatened peopleās safety; the number of lawsuits establishments were able to counter because of the certifications, the impact on liability insurance premiums, and the confidence level of the insurance industry and Ontario the Gaming and Alcohol Commission.
Reinforcing Professional Stature and Promoting Universal Standards
Medical boards and associations are particularly interested in promoting universal standards as a way to establish the legitimacy of a medical specialty.
- The American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery2 (ABOMS), certifies oral and maxillofacial surgeons. It is recognized by the American Dental Association, Council on Dental Education and Licensure, as one of the nine dental specialty certifying boards. The legitimacy of its certification is acknowledged by many hospital staff, medical licensing and accrediting agencies, and third party insurers. The Mission of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery is to help set the standards for the confluence of education, training, and experience for the specialty of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery to assure the public of an acceptable level of attainment by those who are āBoard Certified.ā To this end the Boardās mission includes examination and certification of candidates, and recertification of Diplomates. The programās effectiveness measures include the number of dentists seeking and successfully earning the certification; the number of dentists who maintain the credential; the number of hospitals, licensing boards, and accrediting agencies recognizing the credential; the impact on liability insurance premiums; the continued confidence of the American Dental Association and the Council on Dental Education and Licensure.
- The Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists, Inc.3 (BRPT), certifies technicians who work in sleep disorder clinics. The BRPT administers the Registered Polysomnographic Technologist (RPSGT) and the Certified Polysomnographic Technician (CPSGT) exams. This is a newly evolving field, and educational programs are beginning to address the need for competence in multiple disciplines related to the study of sleep disorders, specifically respiratory care and neurodiagnostics. The board wants the professionals who conduct sleep disorder studies and the clinics that hire them to understand the legitimate need for cross-discipline training. The board also wants to distinguish professionals who are qualified to conduct sleep disorder studies from professionals trained only in a single discipline. The BRPT fosters ethical practices and requires the continued competence of those who successfully complete the RPSGT and the CPSGT exams. Its vision is to set the professional standard worldwide for the credentialing of technologists and technicians in the field of sleep medicine. The programās effectiveness measures include the number of hospitals and clinics that recognize the credential and give preferential treatment when hiring to technicians with the certification.
Preparing People for Jobs Requiring Competence in Multiple Disciplines
A major driver behind the increase in credentialing is the growing complexity of jobs. It is a rare job that has been untouched by advances in technology, specifically electronics and computing. Jobs have also become increasingly complex due to changes in legislation and local codes, advances in science, and the adoption of quality principles, specifically self-directed teams, the focus on streamlining work processes, and being data driven. One consequence is employersā demand for multi-skilled workers because many jobs require people to be competent in more than one area or knowledgeable about more than one discipline (due partly to an increasing need for an interdisciplinary approach to solving problems in business). Therefore, for many employees, companies are requiring either cross-training or additional training in new areas. In addition, organizations are providing new development pathways to certify people whose jobs require these multi-disciplined competencies.
Here are some examples:
- A major research facility hires scientists and engineers to manage complex research projects on behalf of the defense industry. It has found that as projects become more complex the scientistsā and engineersā ability to bring the project in on time and within budget fails. It decided to develop a program to certify its scientists and engineers in the management of what they classify as Type II and Type III projects. Type II projects are characterized as quasi-experimental in that the task is to test out a hypothesis that may require modifying procedures. Type III projects are described as ones for which the goal is clear but the procedures are lacking and need to be developed. The certification programās effectiveness measures are the frequency Type II and Type III projects are carried out within the given timeframe and budget, and either answer the research question or establish a set of procedures that can be replicated for future projects.
- A manufacturer of equipment for the defense and nuclear industries decided to certify its buyers at two levels, tactical and strategic. The drivers behind the decision to certify were the increasing complexity of the supply chain and the recognition that buying decisions affected the efficiency and integrity of the supply chain; the increase in costs due to products not meeting specifications; the need for buyers to better manage risks and assess suppliersā ability to withstand environmental and political threats; and the desire for buyers to be commodity experts so they are better able to take advantage of market variables. The programās effectiveness is measured in cost savings, product quality; supplier consistency; and management confidence.
Protecting Jobs and Enhancing Professional Stature
Another driver is pressure on associations to prevent job loss due to encroachment of other disciplines because the required skills cross disciplines or to ensure the competency of members. For example:
- The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) joined with the Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing (Center) to form Roof Integrated Solar Energy, Inc. (RISE) to evaluate and certify solar roofing professionals. RISE certifies roofers who manage the installation of roof-mounted photovoltaic (PV) systems, also known as rooftop solar energy systems. The driver behind the credential is to ensure roofing contractors and workers maintain a key role in roof-mounted PV installations. When roof-mounted solar energy systems were introduced in the marketplace, building owners typically contracted with electricians or solar integrators to do the installation. Over time it was shown that these installersābeing unfamiliar with roof system technologies and applicationsāwere damaging roof systems, voiding warranties, and causing roof leaks. Building owners were suffering significant consequences from having unqualified personnel working on their roofs. NRCA also noted that a few states had already adopted legislation requiring licensed electricians to do this work. In response, NRCA decided to develop a certification and a training curriculum. The NRCAās position was that, given a proposed rooftop photovoltaic system design, the solar roof professional will apply essential knowledge, skills, and abilities to advise estimators, contractors, and sales professionals, and plan, coordinate, and supervise the installation of a low-slope or steep-slope rooftop photovoltaic system that complies with applicable codes, standards, and regulatory requirements; maintains the weatherproofin...
