Change management is the process of preparing for and executing a smooth transition or transformation at the organizational level.
In this guide, we’ll provide an overview of the top five change management certifications available to business and product leaders today.
Change management is a loose framework designed to help business leaders handle and implement change within the organization. It deals with all aspects of people, process, and systems that are impacted by a given change.
Change management processes help decision makers identify the best approach to transition through organizational and product changes effectively while keeping the business running its day to day operations.
Change management certifications offer an opportunity to earn credentials that prove you’re equipped to successfully implement a change management process in an organization of any size or scope.
Put simply, earning a change management certification helps you build the requisite knowledge and skills to carry out a change management process in your organization. These programs provide training on the various aspects of change management, including strategy, planning, communication, and execution.
Certifications enable business leaders to further fortify their knowledge and credentials in terms of the process, phases, and best practices around change management. Getting certified better positions you to fast-track your career trajectory and growth in the field.
There are many change management certification opportunities available in the market. We’ll highlight five that stand out in terms of their content and the skills they help participants develop:
We’ll evaluate the best change management certifications based on the following criteria:
Prosci’s change management certification program is also a global certification but less popular among the participants. It is a focused, three-day program delivered in an experiential format.
The biggest downside to the Prosci certification is that, at $4,500+, it’s a bit expensive compared to the other change management certifications mentioned in this guide.
In this experiential training program, participants are coached to apply Prosci’s methodology and the ADKAR Model to an active project.
The Prosci ADKAR Model is one of the two foundational models of the Prosci Methodology, alongside the https://www.prosci.com/methodology/pct-model. ADKAR stands for awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement
The ADKAR model is used by thousands of change leaders across the world. It advocates that organizational change can only happen when individuals change.
The Prosci change management program is available in the format of both instructor-led and virtual training.
The Prosci change management certification program lasts three days.
This program is open to all kinds, including change management leaders, human resources professionals, organization development leaders, product managers, and project managers.
Pricing
The cost of the Prosci training varies depending on the format:
The Certified Change Management Professional (CCMP) certification is a training program offered by the Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP).
The CCMP certification is internationally recognized and comes from an industry-leading body. It’s affordable to boot and gives you the flexibility to complete the certification within a year after signing up.
The only notable downside is that the CCMP certification is not suitable for beginners. To participate, you need to have completed 21 hours of change management training in the past seven years from a Qualified Education Provider (QEP) registry.
The format is based on ACMP’s Standard for Change Management.
The Standard for Change Management is a repository of best practices that serves as a broad change management guide for all industries, organizations, and practitioners.
To earn a CCMP certification, you must complete and pass the CCMP examination within one year from the date your application is approved. You have a maximum of three attempts within that one-year period.
The application process for the CCMP credential is as follows:
For members of the ACMP, the certification costs $595. For non-members, it’s $745.
The Change Management Institute certification is also a globally recognized credential. Depending on your experience level, earning accreditation consists of a single-part or multipart process.
The Change Management Institute certification comes in three different accreditation levels based on the candidate’s change management experience. Candidates can start at the lowest level (Foundation) and then choose to move to the higher levels (Master and Specialist) once they have gathered the relevant experience. This accreditation does not have any requirements for renewal and does not expire.
This program is not available to non-members of the Change Management Institute; you must enroll to get access to the certification.
The Change Management Institute offers membership across three accreditation levels based on the candidate’s level of experience:
The Change Management Institute website only specifies the modules and the number of modules as part of the accreditation process; it does not specify the duration of each part of the process or the process as a whole.
Eligibility requirements for a Change Management Institute certification differ depending on the level you’re pursuing:
To gain Foundation-level accreditation, your capabilities will be assessed against the behaviors outlined in the Change Manager Competency Model – Foundation level, which verifies that you:
You will also have completed relevant change management education; either a Change Management Institute-endorsed course or another training course that aligns to the Change Management Body of Knowledge (CMBoK).
To gain Master-level accreditation, your capabilities will be reviewed against the behaviors outlined in the Change Manager Competency Model – Master level, which verifies that you can:
Finally, to gain Specialist-level accreditation your capabilities will be assessed against the behaviors outlined in — you guessed it — the Change Manager Competency Model – Specialist level, which means you:
The pricing of the Change Management Institute certification program also differs by accreditation level:
Note: Fees listed in USD only.
The eCornell change management certification is especially well-regarded. It’s best suited to more experienced change management professionals due to its emphasis on leadership development.
The main advantage that distinguishes the eCornell program from others on the market is that it’s delivered by an Ivy league university and a highly experienced faculty. However, the duration is a tad long compared to other certifications; spread over three months, the training requires at least 3–5 hours of effort per week.
Also, because it is an extended program, the eCornell certification is quite expensive compared to the certifications from CCMP and the Change Management Institute.
The program is 100 percent online and encompasses the following courses:
The program is spread across three months with each course lasting two weeks.
The eCornell certification is well-suited to:
The three-month program costs $3,900, or $1,300 per month.
Removing Barriers to Change in Organizations is available from the Wharton School’s Digital Leadership Certificate Program.
This rigorous and comprehensive program covers all aspects of change management such as stakeholder management, readiness for change, impact assessment of the change etc.. Given that it is a four-week program, it is very cost effective compared to the eCornell and Prosci certifications, which are of similar duration.
That said, if you’re looking for a certification program that is a bit more expeditious, you might be better off exploring the CCMP and Change Management Institute certifications.
Removing Barriers to Change in Organizations is a fully online program with a recommended time commitment of two hours per week.
The program consists of four modules:
This module aims to help participants develop competencies to become catalysts of change and overcome the barrier to change in organizations.
Courses:
This module focuses on the inertia effect of not embracing change through case studies and certain hypotheses, such as the endowment effect, as well as how to formulate effective change strategies
Courses:
Learn about strategies to ease uncertainty by way of multiple examples, such as confirmation bias and political polarization, as well as some levers to facilitate organizational change
Courses:
This module helps participants identify behaviors that prevent people from embracing change. By the end of this module, participants can successfully enable change strategies for themselves and the organization
Courses:
Removing Barriers to Change in Organizations is a four-week program.
This program is open to all change management practitioners.
The four-week program is priced at $599.
If you’re in any kind of managerial, non-managerial, or executive leadership role, it behooves you to be certified in change management because change is an integral part of any organization — from mergers and acquisitions, to business process changes and re-engineering, technology disruptions, ect.
Change management certification programs equip you to understand why and how to handle these shifts effectively, in terms of people, process, and systems.
Once certified, it’s important to understand the requirements to keep that particular certification active. It may require renewing the certification periodically and/or attending additional professional training sessions. And, of course, you’ll want to apply what you’ve learned to you day-to-day work.
Didn’t find exactly what you were looking for? The following change management certifications might be worth checking out:
Featured image source: IconScout
LogRocket identifies friction points in the user experience so you can make informed decisions about product and design changes that must happen to hit your goals.
With LogRocket, you can understand the scope of the issues affecting your product and prioritize the changes that need to be made. LogRocket simplifies workflows by allowing Engineering, Product, UX, and Design teams to work from the same data as you, eliminating any confusion about what needs to be done.
Get your teams on the same page — try LogRocket today.
Value has many forms outside of the exchange of money for products/services. It can be in the form of saving time, increasing revenue, etc.
Concept evaluation bridges the gap between what seems like an out-of-the-world idea and what users truly need.
Nick Ehle talks about minimizing dependencies by designing teams and organizations to be as empowered as possible.
Value-based pricing is about using the perceived value, also referred to as willingness-to-pay, to set the right price points for the product.