I guess I’m not average.
I classify myself as an early Millennial.
A typical millennial moves jobs after two years which means I should have moved on from APMG 17 years ago. But I guess I’m not average because I am thrilled this week to have celebrated my 19-year work anniversary.
Spending two decades immersed in the world of training and certification with APMG International got me thinking; How have things changed over the years? How have I changed?
I arrived at APMG as a bright eyed and bushy tailed 17 year old without any idea of the career I wanted and little interest in further education, just the knowledge that I needed to earn a wage to support my burgeoning shopping habit and my very expensive horse riding addiction.
I didn’t know at the time (not many 17 year olds know much) but I had struck gold, this was to be no ordinary office junior job. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a breeze, we worked hard (except the day after my 18th birthday, that day I didn’t work so hard).
We were a start-up working hard to get the market to adapt a little-known Project Management product
(I won’t use its name in case I breach any copyright). My first view of the training and certification world was watching the evolving delivery of this particular product.
We had led the field by offering exams every week, unheard of at the time! Training courses were predominantly UK based, always in the classroom, usually residential, very expensive and exclusive.
Going on this course was a big deal, a large investment from the candidate or their employer, high cost and high value. The exams themselves were always paper based, the higher level exam was a 3.5 hour written exam with a 12 week turnaround for results.
I can still remember piles of exam papers waiting to be shipped to examiners to be hand marked and then shipped again to another examiner if a candidate appealed.
It was hugely manual and took an age but the candidates expectations were that this high cost, high value exam deserved a serious assessment process and for that you just had to wait. There was no alternative.
Imagine these days being asked to write (yes with a pen) for 3.5 hours! Today I can barely manage a shopping list, and I don’t have to because I just tell Alexa and she does it for me!
It’s a fairly obvious thing to say but technology, even within the relatively short period of the last 19 years has absolutely shattered this way of working.
We had emails, texting (long text discussion with my friends) but no “free conference calls” or interactive web sites.
Today customer expectation is “now please, if not sooner”, can you imagine waiting 12 weeks for anything? No I don’t think so.
Results for our certifications are now instant for online exams and a maximum of 24 hours for the paper exams.
Oh, and not a pen in sight for most of them.
It’s definitely been an iterative process but slowly (it seemed frantic at the time) and surely the training and certification world has turned on its head. As with so many other industries the customer is now in charge.
Self-education is at an all time high, people are confident with finding solutions online, they help each other and they share information.
I know absolutely nothing about cars but recently when mine started making a funny noise (a rattle and a clonk) I popped onto google added the “symptoms” and the car’s make and model and up came a variety of explanations and even some helpful videos on how I could fix it myself.
When people have a simple problem now they turn to the internet for “diagnosis”. “Why is my car clonking?”, “How do I write a good project plan?”.
Learning and being assessed online is now common-place.
As I mentioned, outside of work I am a very keen horsewoman and alongside my faithful steed Brian (I know, I didn’t choose it!) we like to compete in some low-level dressage.
In my opinion assessing someone’s horse riding competence is about as practical as it gets but even this has been impacted by technology.
I have recently been competing at dressage online and it’s been a revelation, you ride the specific test at your yard while someone videos you, send off the video and a registered British Dressage Judge sits at home probably in their slippers with a cup of tea and decides whether Brian and I have the makings of the next Charlotte and Valegro (if you don’t know who they are shame on you, it’s worth a google!).
Amazing. In the world of training the combined advances in remote proctoring and online exams means the days of the high cost residential courses seem to be behind us as well as the days of putting Brian on the lorry and travelling to a dressage venue. I will certainly miss one of these!
I will leave you with two thoughts;
Candidates self-educating on what we in the biz (cringe!) would call foundation courses, or knowledge testing if you like, will only continue to grow.
Free of charge, online content available to download and study at the candidate’s pace is almost what is expected. If I want a new book I download it and away I go! You can see the shift towards this model in all kinds of areas, Praxis Framework and FitSM are leading the way in removing the barriers by making the basic information free of charge.
So where do the training organisations fit in if this trend continues? They definitely have a huge part to play in my opinion, I believe their job will be to bring their higher-level expertise to help their clients solve specific problem.
Our complex digital world brings with it complex digital problems and whilst I am happy tinkering with my car after the man from YouTube told me how to fix it, you wouldn’t catch me trying to fit a new gear box or build an engine. I think as customers we know our limitations, we know we can learn the basic principles ourselves and might not need to invest at that level but as you move further into a subject or it becomes a bespoke requirement you need that experience, and expertise from competent trainers/coaches to help you design and implement a solution.
From where I sit, customer relationships are key to any training provider’s success, being a trusted authority that an organisation can turn to for the things they cannot learn for themselves is hugely valuable. Bespoke solutions and long-term development plans coupled with high quality trainers cement these relationships. Out of the box or off the shelf delivery is just not going to cut it when a customer can get that for a dollar cheaper just round the corner or free of charge online.
My second thought is that culture is king.
I haven’t stayed with APMG for 19 years because I am lazy (or I hope unemployable!), I have stayed because the culture of this organisation encourages self-development and continuous learning. Over the years I have had a number of different roles within the company and been allowed the space to get to know my own strengths and weaknesses and to carve out a career (my parents will be so proud, and relieved) that has not only been extremely rewarding and interesting for me but (if my last appraisal is to be believed) has brought a lot of value to the company as well. Develop your staff, you will reap the rewards.
Generation Z has arrived at APMG. Just like 17-year old Ellie, they are bright eyed and bushy tailed, brimming with fresh ideas and a naturally curious and innovative mind-set which will lead APMG into the next 19 years.
