If built and executed correctly, a credible certification can help brand an organization as the standard of \u201cexcellence\u201d for a profession or an industry. For example, the \u201cseal of approval\u201d synonymous with credible certifications can help pave the way for associations to proactively position themselves if regulation is proposed\u2014through certification, a model for setting, measuring and enforcing standards already exists.\u00a0 The stringent ethical requirements required of credible certification programs help support a \u201cculture of excellence,\u201d as the codes of ethics certificants must uphold are frequently more robust than the requirements of membership or regulation.<\/p>\n
Credible certification programs can create an industry standard where none had previously existed.\u00a0 This trend has been especially predominant in emerging and rapidly growing specialty areas such as health care, engineering and information technology.\u00a0 In these instances, certification has validated and defined a distinct set of skills and knowledge for an industry and the public utilizing those skills and services.\u00a0\u00a0 Certifications have also helped to redefine and refocus professions or segments of the workforce that have not remained competitive, or whose reputations have suffered through lack of accountability or wrong-doing. \u00a0Before a program can put itself forward as a \u201ccredible certification\u201d, it must meet best certification practices, including, but not limited to:<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0An independent governing body that minimizes conflicts-of-interest and makes decisions based on policy and an individual\u2019s ability to meet certification requirements<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0Examinations that are developed in alignment with best practices in measurement (psychometrics)\u2014you are confident that your exam measures what it intends to<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0Fair eligibility requirements\u2014none set to intentionally exclude categories of people<\/p>\n
4.\u00a0Recertification requirements based on continued competence and the purposes of the certification<\/p>\n
5.\u00a0A Code of Ethics and disciplinary program that investigates and sanctions violations of the Code<\/p>\n
6.\u00a0Policies, due process and fairness in all aspects of governing and administering the certification program.<\/p>\n
Whether a profession is emerging or re-tooling, a credible certification program has the ability to foster a culture of excellence for an association, create an identify for its certificants, and provide a level of trust to the public\u2014a value proposition that all associations and professionals should find beneficial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If built and executed correctly, a credible certification can help brand an organization as the standard of \u201cexcellence\u201d for a profession or an industry. For example, the \u201cseal of approval\u201d synonymous with credible certifications can help pave the way for associations to proactively position themselves if regulation is proposed\u2014through certification, a model for setting, measuring and enforcing standards already exists. The stringent ethical requirements required of credible certification programs help support a \u201cculture of excellence,\u201d as the codes of ethics certificants must uphold are frequently more robust than the requirements of membership or regulation.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11,77,79,66,78],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-certification-program","tag-credibility","tag-eligibility","tag-ethics","tag-examination"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proftesting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proftesting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proftesting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proftesting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proftesting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.proftesting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148,"href":"https:\/\/www.proftesting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions\/148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proftesting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proftesting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proftesting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}