Beyond project management certifications

Abstract

In the last few years project management certifications have taken on worldwide. An increasing number of companies and individuals, working by projects in various market sectors, invest in project management certifications at both company and personal level.

A research project recently carried out in Italy by the PMI^®-Northern Italy Chapter confirms this trend. Companies believe that project management certifications are a key asset for improving their market results and for effectively managing project-based organizational dynamics. Individuals show they understand that project management certifications are an essential step for their professional development, for increasing their self-esteem, and for coping with more complex project environments.

A shared vision upon the value of project management certifications is the “thread” that connects companies and individuals with regard to motivation and willingness to invest. Along this thread there are different knots. Each knot represents a connection focused on a specific issue (for example, company and individual priorities in obtaining project management certification). Knots must be tight: the connections must be well understood and at the same time well protected for balancing in the course of time the expectations and the results concerning project management certification issues.

But what happens after project management certifications have been obtained? The thread is often broken and an organizational vacuum occurs. On the one hand companies show inertia in their awareness and exploitation of project management certifications. On the other hand, certified individuals obtain significant professional results, but career prospects, earning expectations and other personal returns are limited and they feel sorry for themselves.

This paper aims to discuss characteristics and causes of the broken thread and, where and when it is broken, it suggests effective ways to re-knot it. The first part of the paper is focused on the framework and the main findings of the research project, highlighting the post-certification phase as a critical issue both for individuals and companies. The central part of the paper analyzes the possible causes for this gap, such as disconnections between staff and line functions within the organization, poor sense of community among certified project managers, limited consideration of project management assets inside the company human resource (HR) management system. Finally, the paper outlines specific actions to address critical issues and general guidelines for filling the gap from the top (company organization) and the bottom (certified project managers). Additionally, the contents of the paper may be used as a benchmark for analyzing critical issues of the project management post-certification phase, regardless of the specific geographical context.

The PMI-NIC^® Research Project: Framework and Findings

Project management is a field that is rapidly expanding worldwide. As a result, project management certification has experienced a sharp rise in recent years in terms of the different types of certification available and the number of certified individuals.

The Italian context also confirms this trend: an increasing number of companies and individuals that work on projects in the various market sectors invest in project management certification at both company and personal level.

What exactly is the current status and what are the current trends?

To answer these questions, the PMI^®-Northern Italy Chapter (PMI-NIC) promoted and implemented a project in late 2006 entitled “The importance, perception and meaning of Certification in Project Management.” The final report of this research is available on the PMI-NIC website homepage (www.pmi-nic.org) and on the PMI research on-line community (http://www.pmi.org/Resources/Pages/PMI-Online-Research-Community.aspx).

Research Framework

Objective

The objective of the research project is to gather, assess and compare the opinions of project management certified individuals and companies that invest in project management certification. Its purpose is not to make a comparative assessment of the major types of certification available on the market (IPMA^®, PRINCE2^™, PMP^®) but to analyse “project management certification” as a whole, as an element that qualifies project management profession, irrespective of whether one type of certification is chosen over another. Further, the research project has been limited to the Italian domestic market.

Scope

The research is focused on two investigation areas:

Volumes Handled

Approach

The research is based on two survey questionnaires, with multiple-choice closed-ended questions. For Area 1 – certified individuals, the questionnaire consists of 40 questions, 10 for each of the 4 issues. For Area 2 – companies, a similar questionnaire of 60 questions, 10 for each of the 6 issues. Each survey rates the investigations issues examining a specific variable. For example, in Area 1 certified individuals, in the survey issue “Motivation to gain Certification,” the variable that is examined is “Level of individual motivation,” with the following scale limits: Min:= intrinsic motivation, self-generated, the certified Individual was convinced; Max:= extrinsic motivation, induced through imitation, external pressure on candidate.

Research Findings: An Overview

The profile of certified individuals may be summarized as following: the individual approaches the certification with a high motivation due to the need of enhancing project management competencies, the certification process is “sustainable,” returns from the certification are “good” in terms of individual improvement, but with wide margins in terms of career, organizational growth and professionalism, the expectation for the future is oriented to stability.

Certified individuals identify the certification as an instrumental way to enhance, nurture and maintain their professionalism in project management.

The profile of companies may be summarized as following: the companies approach the certification with a “tactical” level of motivation, certification acquisition and maintenance processes are rated as “ordinary,” the appreciation of certified individuals needs improvement, internal returns are low and business returns are very low but with some initial improvements in terms of relationship with business partners, expectations are well above the “ordinary” value. The interest of companies in project management certifications is confirmed and even identified as a competitive factor for their projects in the future.

Companies Judgements

On one hand:

But on the other hand:

As a consequence of this, from a company perspective, during the post-certification phase the thread is clearly broken. The undoubted advantages of having project management certified Individuals inside the company runs the risk of remaining “on paper,” wasting the company's investments in project management certifications and eventually leading to the paradoxical phenomenon of an exaggerated turnover of project management certified Individuals. This condition could be only contingent due to the recent and low maturity level of Companies in Italy concerning project management certifications. At the same time this condition could become worse due to chronic difficulties of companies in coping with the complexity of project management certifications issues.

PM Certified Individuals Judgements

On one hand:

But on the other hand:

As a consequence of this, from an individual perspective the thread is again broken during the project management post-certification phase: high motivation and high awareness toward project management certifications do not translate into tangible returns in terms of role visibility, professional development, business opportunities and self-empowerment, in absence of upstanding behaviours that project management certified individuals, both at personal and team level as a key company stakeholder, should put in action regularly and effectively.

Based to these findings we believe that the thread is doubly broken: both companies and certified individuals equally contribute to foster this paradoxical condition instead of taking action to re-fill the gap.

Findings: Types of Certified Individuals

The research classifies project management certified individuals according to “types.” Each “type” describes a particular situation experienced by project management certified individuals. The aim is to identify a few categories that represent the majority of individual cases and thereby provide interpretations of the ways in which the project management certified individuals perceive their “PM certification experience.” The “types” are obtained by correlating in pairs three survey issues: Motivation for Certification, Results to date, Future expectations. This correlation produces 12 “types” of project management certified individuals: Rewarded (M+ R+), Frustrated (M+ R-), Surprised (M- R+), Detached (M- R-), Satisfied (R+ F+), Positive pragmatic (R+ F-), Negative pragmatic (R- F-), Confident (R- F+), Disappointed (M+ F-), Distant (M- F-), Enthusiastic (M+ F+), Converted (M- F+).

The “types” are used to cluster the sample of 241 project management certified individuals who joined the research.

The analysis of the sample using the 12 types of project management certified individuals highlights a light predominance of satisfaction over dissatisfaction, as can be seen in Exhibit 1.

Exhibit 1: Individual Satisfaction vs. Individual Dissatisfaction towards project management Certifications

Picking up the broken thread image, with reference to the 12 “types” just described, we can argue about the limited presence (less than 30%) in the research sample of strongly satisfied project management certified individuals. It is important to point out that most of the individuals demonstrate substantially neutral positions along the satisfaction/dissatisfaction continuum.

This situation highlights an unfinished path in regard to the several organizational and professional chances resulting from the formal achievement of a project management certification.

In summary, all key research findings point out a gap between organizations and their certified project managers. On one side companies show inertia in exploiting the project management certifications both inside the organization and towards the market. On the other side certified project managers show inertia in undertaking effective actions to assert and to develop their organizational role. Additionally, the classification of project management certified individuals based on the 12 types, shows the existence of a limited population of really satisfied certified project managers.

The Broken Thread: Diagnostic Elements

The outcomes of the research project supply many cues for discovering and explaining the reasons for having a broken thread.

Low market results to date: context plays an important part. Companies are undergoing a transformation and project management is not yet perceived by the company structures that are in contact with the market (sales, for example) as a real added value. This is responsible for the low value of perceived market results. Project management certification cannot be correlated with an immediate market result, the process must be better assessed; the market results improve if the internal project management level improves. In companies today, the focus is on lower costs and not on quality.

Inadequate retention of project management certified individuals: Almost the majority of the companies confirm that a significant part of their project management certified individuals have left due to multiple reasons, while in the meantime almost the majority of the certified individuals confirm that the certification was not instrumental to taking advantage of any particular job opportunity. A suggestion is there that project management certified individuals leave their company to take new job assignments, even outside the practice of project management (Caccamese, 2006). Project management certification is not established as a key component of the career path for project managers.

Inadequate use of certified project managers by companies: The delivery structures require high quality project management whereas the staff structures behind it (usually HR) are slow to understand the added value of certified project managers for business results. In addition to delivery, there is also a strong need for project management when dealing with customers and internal relations. Certified project managers are used in more critical or important situations (if a tender is won, for example). For normal projects, a non-certified individual is typically used. The companies state that post-certification could, and should be, better managed by better integrating project management certification into the overall human resources management system.

Long time for a return on company investment in project management certification: why do the companies believe in project management certification despite the poor market results to date?: “Bubbles of excellence” as tangible improvements in market results and relations with customer organizations in the development of projects exist and are drawn attention to. For multinational companies in particular, project management certification is seen as a management tool for internal dynamics (collaboration between different groups, both inter-functional and remote). Certification is the basis for constructing a project management system and is therefore seen as a starting rather than a finishing point, a tool that can be used to organize a project management system. Results are measured according to project outcomes and as a result, are not instant; initially, they are low but they improve with time. The “bubbles of excellence” are effective for making improvements; the best people get certified.

The motivation that drives people to gain project management certification is predominantly intrinsic: Are we all really so virtuous? Absolutely – project management certified individuals show that they understand that it is a “professional” certification and is therefore essential for reaching a specific level in project management. certification is also seen as a tool for increasing self-esteem and preparing to tackle the complexity of projects. It is also seen as an important source of “tried and tested procedures” in an extremely dynamic context such as project work. On the other hand, certification is a formal part of a more difficult process of gaining experience. It is essentially an element of knowledge but also provides an ideal opportunity for exchanging experience and contacts within the company (especially if it is a multinational) and in the external project management community.

Proposals to Re-knot the Thread

The research data clearly shows that post-certification is a critical phase. In other words, the investment made by the company and the individuals to achieve project management certification is at serious risk and, paradoxically, the undeniably positive effects of the presence of certified project managers within the company risks remaining purely theoretical.

This critical phase must be faced and improved by a global approach balancing different contributions from the top (company organizational perspective) and from the bottom (project management certified individuals professional perspective).

Based on this approach, we have two main proposals: the company project management community and the project management HR management system.

Company Project Management Community

A professional community is a group of people that share the same professional characteristics in terms of reference models, role profiles, objectives to be achieved, situations to be dealt with, recognizability both inside and outside the company, lines of development and frames of reference for specific topics. Therefore, a professional community is a transverse network of practitioners, regardless of hierarchical and organizational positions. A professional community can have external value (for example, a professional association) or internal value within an individual Company (for example, the Community of project managers in a project-based organization).

A company project management community is a corporate centre of excellence for all project management related issues (Meloni & Villa, 2007). As a centre of excellence, the community systematically acts as a contact stakeholder for other company and external contacts. When a company decides to invest in a company project management community, it is vitally important to draw an ideal “contract” between the company and the people who are part of the community.

A company project management community should cover four main areas:

Inside the Company

The company project management community should display contributions to specific assignments that occasionally come directly from management (at various hierarchical levels) or central staff functions. Each assignment refers to a key company project management issue that the community has to tackle and resolve independently or with the other stakeholders (resolution of critical issues concerning the use of the current project management system and reduction of inefficiency in project time/costs/quality).

Outside the Company

The company project management community should display contributions outside the company to project management issues. These contributions can be prompted by other stakeholders or be promoted directly by the community itself (participation in professional project management associations, conferences, research groups on project management issues).

Best Practices

The company project management community should display contributions to development of the company project management system, not necessarily under request of a PMO or otherwise according to any mandatory company policy (keeping up to date with project management trends and the experience of similar companies (benchmarking) and providing project management courses for colleagues). This area demonstrates the proactive nature of the community as a driving force for innovation, relaunch, and promotion of project management in the company.

Interchange

The company project management community should display contributions to the advantage of its own members. This involves considering the community as a professional network to be referred to for exchanging views, documentation, tools, and techniques for specific project situations. The community can therefore be seen as a lifeline for each of its members. The same should apply to issues concerning members of the community (role profile, certification, professional development, comparison with other company roles).

Project Management Human Resources Management System

In a fast-moving and complex international business environment “making project management indispensable for business results^®” delineates a strategic goal for project-based companies. Also, a project manager has professional responsibilities (PMI, 2004, p. 8) and project management itself needs to complete a transformational path into a profession (Wang, 2002). Companies with greater “organizational project management maturity” should expect to see tangible benefits and a potential competitive advantage. Project-oriented organizations need a close alignment of HR practices with organizational strategies and with the professionalism that is the ultimate goal of the individual project manager. HR management systems should focus on a competency-based structure that emphasizes the development and attainment of behaviours, knowledge, and skills compatible with and aligned to the organization's mission, and with a common set of work-related values and benefits.

Some elements that should be introduced in a HR management system follow:

Definition of a formal career path for project managers—

A well-defined career framework job description (PMI, August 2007), joined with organizational objectives, identifies skills, knowledge, competencies, education, experience and certification needed to achieve the role of project manager. In this way automatic and clear procedures are defined for appointing individuals to the role of project manager, in which project management certification is an essential part. A specific program should be set to develop project management capability, indicating specific learning steps that need to be taken to accomplish the learning goals. Specific objectives and qualitative and/or quantitative measurements against which each objective will be assigned should be the basis for a periodic program evaluation. The purpose of the program evaluation is to promote sound project management practices and encourage continuous improvement to fill the gap between the individual proficiency in a skill with the proficiency requirement of a job within the project management career path. Personal competencies as defined in the PMI^® Standard PMCDF – Project Management Competency Development Framework (PMI, 2002) could be a strong building block for this program.

Definition of a performance measurement suitable for professional project managers—

The compensation philosophy has to focus on the value of the total compensation, which includes salary and non salary benefits; the best compensation systems offer also non-monetary incentives that promote career advancement. For example, benefits in the form of training equip individuals with skills they can use for career advancement and HR departments can work proactively to identify educational opportunities to meet the individual career development needs. A project management certification maintenance programme is an effective means of career and skill development and provides benefits to both the individual and the company. Establishing project-based incentives that offer project completion bonuses or milestone completion bonuses is necessary, particularly for individuals that work on completing important projects. The performance measurement system should involve other peers (Wang, 2002), as representative members of the project management profession, so that any evaluation be based upon a set of professional criteria.

Support of project management Championship

Other than a career development framework, a HR management system should facilitate the surfacing of any project management champions, individuals who can show authority in project management practices so that they could actively work for and inside the company project management community. As an integration to the existing company roles and responsibilities, these individuals should act as internal reference points and mentors for certified project managers belonging to the internal professional community.

Conclusion

The project management post-certification phase is unquestionably critical. Building upon the results of a research project recently carried out in Italy by the PMI^®-Northern Italy Chapter, this paper has identified several areas where the shared vision upon the value of project management certifications is broken. The main reason for this is a poor perception of project management certification as a key driver for business success at company level, especially from both human resources and sales. But project management certified individuals also play a poor game in adequately representing the importance of their credentials. Hence, this paper proposes two complementary sets of activities that need to be carried out in both directions to re-knot the broken thread. From the bottom, project management certified individuals should work inside their parent company to establish a company project management community. From the top, the HR department should define a formal career path for project managers, establish a project management performance measurement system based upon evaluations coming from the community's peers, and foster and support the concept of a project management championship.