Certification on Assessements and What it means to be "certified"?

I am often asked about how to get certified on various instruments and assessments.  Many vendors insist on some sort of "qualification" process, certification program and / or training.  This recent posting by Gary is a great overview to the concept of certification and he has been kind enough to allow me to post it here.

What it means to be "certified"?

By: Gary Lear

I was extensively involved in the certification process for criminal justice personnel in Florida, so I'd like to share some of my thoughts with you on this concept. First, let me deal with the issue of liability, as that's really easy.

I don't think you increase or decrease your liability one bit by having or not having a certification program. Issues might change, and how you would go about defending might change, but the ultimate issue of being sued and potentially being held liable isn't going to go away.

With that being said, there are a variety of reasons why an organization might pursue certification for its employees. Some are good reasons, and some aren't so good. I think your organization first must identify why exactly it wants to pursue certification for employees in a particular area, and what the business impact by doing it will be. Remember, a certification itself doesn't mean anything. It only means something if your organization, your people who obtain it, and your customers all believe that it has value.

There are some issues regarding setting up your program that you should be aware about. First, certification is usually conducted in several stages. There is the training phase, the application phase, and the testing phase. You really need to map out your entire certification process in addition to determining what objectives you will want to insure are mastered.

The tougher the certification process is, the more value everyone will place on the certification. However, the tougher you make the certification process, the more it will cost, and the higher your chances are that you will see a significant failure rate. However, don't confuse a long and difficult multiple choice test as being a tough certification process. The more real-world applicable you can make your testing, the more value there will be in the certification.

In regards to your in-house certification process and testing, there are ways to get around the issues other have shared and increase the credibility within your own organization and with your customers. You can simply contract with an outside test administration firm to administer all of your tests. This keeps your testing process impartial.

For example, Inscape Publishing, at the request of several of its larger customers, has recently instituted an optional certification process for its distributors who deliver training on DiSC. The process includes some in-depth training followed by application of the knowledge, and then you can take your exam. It is a one-hour, one-on-one oral exam with an outside testing organization. I must say, it was one of the toughest exams I've ever taken, and I know the material forwards and backwards. But for me, that tough exam with that impartial outside agency makes me proud of my certification, especially since there are less than 100 of us world-wide that have achieved it so far in the two years it has been available.

One other thing you need to keep in mind. Good certifications expire, and you need to build this into your process, requiring ongoing training to insure that everyone is up to date on trends and enhancements in what ever area that you are certifying. You need to maintain as tight of a control over this training as you do the training to prepare for your certification. It doesn't mean you have to provide it, but you need to approve what will or won't be acceptable for recertification.

Also, there needs to be some way to revoke certification. That means someone doesn't maintain their ongoing training, or perhaps they act in some way that is contrary to good practice. You will have to determine how you want to handle this: if you want to revoke certifications, and how you will go about doing it, such as hearings, etc.

The bottom line is that if you can justify the business case for certification, build it right so that it actually means something, and insure that it provides value to your organization and its customers, then it can be a worthwhile, albeit, costly, endeavor. If it doesn't provide value, or if the powers that be don't see that value up front, then it will only get some lip service, and it will be just a huge hole that you are pouring money into, and will probably eventually fall by the wayside.

Certification is a long-term commitment, it is a huge expense, and it really does need to be something that the organization is willing to commit to in order to achieve any value in the long-term. It is a strategic decision, not a tactical one. Once it is made, then make your certification process as tough and thorough as you can so it really will provide value. And remember, it is going to take awhile to design and develop, and it will also take some time to work out the bugs. You aren't going to see any return on this process for awhile.

Gary Lear,
President & CEO Resource Development Systems LLC
Managing the Human Side of Business (sm)

(c) 2006 Used with permission from a personal posting.