The purpose of the Foundation certification is to confirm that a candidate has sufficient knowledge and understanding of Change Management to work as an informal member of a team working on an organizational change initiative. The Foundation certification is also a pre-requisite for the APMG Practitioner certification.

The new syllabus samples a wide range of knowledge regarding the theory and practice of change management including:

• Change and the individual
• Change and the organization
• Communication and stakeholder engagement and;
• Change practice

The purpose of the Practitioner certification is to confirm whether the candidate has achieved sufficient know-how to apply and tailor Change Management guidance in a given organizational change situation.

A successful Practitioner candidate should, with suitable direction, be able to start applying the Change Management approaches and techniques to a real change initiative - but may not be sufficiently skilled to do this appropriately for all situations. Their individual Change Management expertise, the complexity of the change initiative, and the support provided for the use of Change Management approaches in their work environment will all be factors that impact what the Practitioner can achieve. Successful candidates will have fulfilled the knowledge requirements for Change Management Institute accreditation.

Change and the Organization

• Drivers for change
• Developing a vision
• Culture and climate
• Emergent change and life-cycle
• Organizational metaphors
• Models of change
• Roles required for change

Stakeholders

• Principles
• Identification
• Analysis
• Influencing and listening
• Emotion and demonstration
• Communications
• Cognitive biases
• Remaining people-focused
• Improving Communications
• Communications channels
• Collaboration
• Communications Planning
• Larger workshops

Change Impact

• Assessing impact
• McKinsey 7 S
• Stakeholder impact assessment
• Assessing change readiness
• Large change “ how to staff
• Building a change team
• Preparing for resistance
• Building team effectiveness

Individual Change

• Learning theory
• Motivation
• Change Curve
• Personality differences

Change Impact

• Levers for change
• Levels of adoptions and critical mass
• Reinforcing systems

Exam Preparation

• Change Management Practitioner exam preparation
• Change Management Practitioner exam

Although there is no mandatory requirement, ideally candidates should have at least two years of professional experience working in a process environment. The Change Management Practitioner would suit candidates working in the following professions or areas:

• CxOs
• IT Managers/ Directors
• Senior Project Officers
• Project & Program Coordinator/Managers
• Operations Managers
• Quality Managers
• Business Analysts
• Engineering Managers
• IT Infrastructure Managers
• Internal Consultants
• Professional Consultants

This qualification is aimed at anyone working within a changing environment that has responsibilities for identifying, assessing, planning, or managing improvement activities, or reporting on continual improvement activities across the organization.

The above list is a suggestion only; individuals may wish to attend based on their own career aspirations, personal goals, or objectives.

There is no prerequisite to attending this foundation course, although it is recommended that candidates should have a good understanding of business practices. The change management foundation certificate is required to sit for the practitioner level exam.