AMA Certified Professional in Management™(AMA-CPM™) helps individuals showcase their management competence, organizations leverage talent to achieve business goals

IOWA CITY, IA / NEW YORK, NY—ACT and the American Management Association, Int’l (AMA) have teamed up to launch a comprehensive management certification, the Certified Professional in Management™ (AMA-CPM™). The certification program will help individuals validate and showcase their knowledge and skills in management, while assisting organizations in identifying qualified managers who have met a set of recognized criteria.

"ACT is proud to collaborate with AMA, the premier experts in management, in the design, development, and ongoing implementation of the AMA-CPM program," said ACT CEO Janet Godwin. "ACT is a learning, measurement, and navigation organization, and this certification collaboration with the AMA reaches into each of these domains."

Nearly one in five employees in the U.S.—or 24 million Americans—are currently classified as “management.” Further, AMA estimates that more than 50 million aspire to hold a managerial title.

This certification can help employees stand out, particularly as the country faces high levels of unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In late April, AMA asked its members if the crisis had changed the way they work. Among the more than 500 respondents, an overwhelming majority—95%—answered yes. Nearly 70% had shifted to working remotely. During this time of transition and uncertainty, the majority continued to invest in professional training. Over 50 percent of AMA members surveyed identified as a manager or director.

Though AMA has provided professional development training for nearly 100 years, creating a standardized credential to measure competence in management was an essential next step for the association.

"Getting the job done on your own is very different from getting the job done through others," said Manny Avramidis, president and CEO of AMA. "Earning certification through AMA will ensure managers have the knowledge, skills and abilities to do this essential job effectively, and provide a differentiator that will enhance their careers."

The AMA-CPM program will focus on four major content areas:

• Professional Effectiveness: Mastery of personal awareness and interpersonal skills.
• Business Acumen: Understanding of business operations.
• Analytical Intelligence: Application of systematic thinking, analysis and data interpretation.
• Relationship Management: Ability to establish and maintain professional relationships.

The industry has long been asking for a validated standard of excellence in management. When surveyed, 84 percent of managers said that certifying managers would lead to increased efficiency, and better management. Seventy-seven percent of employers indicated the demand in their organizations for individuals with validated expertise.

"For the management certification process to work, the role of manager had to be clearly defined and measured; ACT Learning and Professional Services led that effort," said ACT President of Learning, Jonell Sanchez.

ACT took an active role as a trusted collaborator to AMA in the development of the program. Members of ACT’s Learning and Professional Services team leveraged their extensive credentialing expertise and followed best practices in guiding and developing the certification program. This included providing strategic guidance about policies related to education, experience, examination and recertification requirements. The team worked with subject matter experts to guide the development and content validation of the test questions and test forms that will be used in the certification assessment.

The certification test is 175 items long, and AMA-CPM candidates will have 3½ hours to complete the assessment. The first testing window, which reached maximum capacity due to eager early applicants, closes June 29, 2020. Applications for the next testing window that opens November 2 will be accepted beginning July 1. Testing centers are located across the globe.

Interested individuals are encouraged to apply for certification, prepare for the exam, and obtain certification. Visit https://www.amanet.org/certified-professional-in-management/ to learn more.

About ACT

ACT is a mission-driven, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people achieve education and workplace success. Grounded in 60 years of research, ACT is a trusted leader in college and career readiness solutions. Each year, ACT serves millions of students, job seekers, schools, government agencies and employers in the US and around the world with learning resources, assessments, research and credentials designed to help them succeed from elementary school through career. To learn more, visit www.act.org.

About AMA

American Management Association (AMA) is globally recognized as a leader in professional development. For nearly 100 years, it has helped millions of people bring about positive change in their performance in order to improve results. AMA’s learn-by-doing instructor-led methods, extensive content and flexible learning formats are proven effective—and constantly evolve to meet individuals' and organizations' changing needs. The world’s foremost organizations rely on AMA’s years of experience, expert guidance, vast award-winning learning resources and global capabilities. AMA supports the goals of individuals, organizations, and government agencies with a complete range of corporate talent transformation solutions, including public open-enrollment seminars and onsite group training, with both live and digital learning capabilities. AMA is consistently cited by industry sources as among the world's Top 20 training organizations. To learn more, visit www.amanet.org.