The Accreditation Process for Business Change Professional Qualifications
The BPTGroup Approach
Our Objective – Achieving Recognition for Business Change Professionals
2.0 Authenticity and Validation of BPTG Approach to Accreditation
2.1 Background
Progressively, across the world, organisations are becoming aware of the value that business change professionals can deliver. Furthermore, awareness that their approach to change has to be specifically designed to meet their particular organisational needs and circumstances, underlines their need for internal professional business change expertise of the highest standard.
The increasing need for professional training in the field of Business Change Management has to be met by an approach that is
- Strategic in design but practitioner focused
- Competence driven, allowing for flexibility in content
- Modular in structure, geared to the needs of individuals and their organisation
- Linked into other professional qualification routes
- Led by a team of process and change management professionals
- Based on co-operative future development in partnership with the clients
- Strong on Continuing Professional Development in an area which is itself subject to frequent multidimensional change
2.2 The BPTGroup Approach
Our programs intend to span the breadth of material and competency required to achieve best practice in business change at all levels of the organisation. We seek to provide those who expand their skills through our programs with the recognition they have earned through internationally accredited certification, non-accredited certification and Continuing Education Units
From the beginning BPTGroup qualifications were designed and developed in conformance with known organisational requirements, always with the ultimate intention of delivering our training and accreditation in compliance with national and international standards.
2.3 Education and Competency Development
BPTGroup courses and training provide education, and develop competency, in the skills and thinking for all roles and responsibilities of even the broadest business change initiative. Our experience shows that while education is sufficient for some roles, there are others that require solid, practical skills. To meet this need we have included practical skill building in many of our programs.
2.4 Accreditation of Professional Education
While working with others to create an international accreditation programme for business change professionals the BPTGroup has ensured that its modules meet the exacting standards set by the UK’s leading accreditation agency. That agency is Edexcel which itself operates to the standards laid down by
the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) http://www.qca.org.uk/ which is the ultimate, government-backed custodian of educational standards in the UK.
The BPTGROUP developed “Advanced Professional Qualifications for Business Change Professionals” are accredited at level 7 in the QCA operational standards (known as NICATS), where 0 is entry level and 8 is the highest level achievable. Level 7 is awarded to qualifications that require that those certified
“display mastery of a complex and specialised area of knowledge and skills, employing advanced skills to conduct research, or advanced technical or professional activity, accepting accountability for related decision making including use of supervision.”
Edexcel are our UK Accrediting Body (www.edexcel.org.uk ), while Charnwood Management Centre are appointed by Edexcel to audit and verify our delivery standards. Although UK based, Edexcel have professional qualifications which are recognised world-wide - they are delivered in 93 countries and possess high credibility. Furthermore, they have
- an approach to learning which allows for immense flexibility within the programme
- quality control policies, procedures and practices that preserve the integrity of the qualification
- supportive policies towards Centres and a willingness to change to suit organisation and sector needs allowing for versatility in the programme
- progressive attitudes towards the continuing development of qualifications to reflect the evolving and changing needs of the profession thus ensuring topicality
Edexcel (the Foundation for Educational Excellence) is the UK’s, and one of the world’s biggest accreditation agencies. For background information see:
- Edexcel Home Page - http://www.edexcel.org.uk/home/
- The history and evolution of Edexcel is at http://www.edexcel-international.org/about/whatwedo/history/
- Edexcel International - http://www.edexcel-international.org/home/
Our qualifications are what are called “centre devised” – they are developed not by Edexcel themselves but by approved centres. The “approved centres” work to the same standards as Edexcel itself, being externally verified annually. Charnwood Management Centre, of which David Lyneham-Brown was once a director (and with whom he is still working to take BPTGroup qualifications into Russia) is an Edexcel Accredited Centre and the BPTGroup operates as a sub-centre to it. In summary, ours are centre developed qualifications, accredited through Charnwood by Edexcel and routinely verified by them.
If you go to Edexcel Qualifications - http://www.edexcel.org.uk/quals/ and search for the BPTGroup qualifications you will find no direct mention of them. Edexcel do not advertise on their web site other than their own internal qualifications but if you ring and ask about programme number K7135 they will confirm its authenticity.
2.5 BPTGroup Approach to International Training and Qualifications
The BPTGroup is actively engaged in developing a global accreditation system in the subjects of core interest to the business change professional. We are part of the International Association of Business Process Management (IABPM) and with them are seeking to link with organisations in North America and the Far East to deliver that global vision. As a linked part of that vision the IABPM is developing a Body of Knowledge for business change professionals and the BPTGroup website will be used to host it.
The IABPM is aiming to standardize BPM and related Certification for all members on an international level, ultimately confirming that our system of Certification meets the standards of ISO/IEC 17024:2003
“….. specifying the requirements for a body certifying persons against specific requirements, including the development and maintenance of a certification scheme for personnel”
The fact that we have Level 7 accreditation in the UK national qualification framework developed by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority should be sufficient, but given the tortured and indecipherable nature of much of international accreditation (£30 for a “degree” off the internet) we understand people’s concerns and are working to make sure our approach is as transparent as possible.
2.6 Change Programme Trainers and Coaches
Trainers and coaches were selected on the basis of their business change/ process experience and communication skills, and taken through a “Train the Trainers” development programme. The BPTGroup now has trainer/ coaches either active or under training in South Africa, Canada, United States, Middle East and Portugal. Our objective now is to complete the process of achieving “global accreditation” and extend the network of BPTG trainers and coaches
… In Conclusion
In the BPTGROUP we have set out to deliver a training and accreditation process that stimulates and recognises the role of the Business Change Professional in the modern organisation. As the role of the change professional becomes ever more important the need to establish its value and reliability can be in part met by ensuring that the training and accreditation standards are established with global credibility. The fractured nature of national and international training and accreditation standards presents a massive challenge and the profile of the IABPM “Global Accreditation” initiative is our current best attempt to address the issue.
