The Institute for Performance Management
Online performance management certification for business managers, assessed by examination.
We certify business managers in performance management. One course, eight modules, assessed by examination, with the whole syllabus published so you can read it before paying and a full module open before you buy.
Most managers were never taught any of this. They inherit a form, an annual deadline and whatever habits their own manager had. The certificate replaces that with a method, and an exam that proves you have it.
USD 950
How it runs
- Eight modules, about ten hours
- Fully online and self-paced
- Six months to complete it
- Video, case studies and ebooks
How it is assessed
- Online exam, 70% pass mark
- Up to six attempts
- Digital certificate on passing
- Carries the Certified Performance Management Professional designation
Your risk
- A full module free before you buy
- Full refund inside 30 days
- No reason required, up to module 4
- Help available if you are self funding
The eight modules
Introduction
The fundamentals, the terminology and the acronyms. It matters because the same words mean different things in different companies.
Strategic alignment
Connecting performance management to organisational goals, so what one person is measured on relates to what the company is trying to do.
The performance management cycle
The cycle models used to manage performance through the year rather than once at the end of it. This is the free trial module.
Goals and objectives
Writing goals that survive contact with real work, including OKRs and how they differ from KPIs.
Performance and development plans
How to build them, and how to help someone who is falling short. Includes a case study.
Planning and managing appraisals
Structuring the appraisal meeting, 360 degree feedback and self review. Includes a case study.
Managing underperformers
Diagnosing underperformance objectively before acting, and the strategies that actually work.
A culture of performance
Building performance into how a team operates rather than running a process once a year.
Approved by people who do the job
An Industry Advisory Council of nine senior business leaders reviewed and approved the syllabus before it was published, at organisations including IBM, BP, Dell, HP, Fujitsu, GoDaddy and Hitachi, alongside the deputy chair of the UK Statistics Authority.
Where the material did not match what they see inside their own organisations, it changed. That is the part that makes the certificate mean something outside this website.
Common questions
Who is this for?
Business managers and supervisors accountable for other people's output. It is written for commercial organisations rather than government or the charity sector, with particular attention to fast growing companies, where systems that worked at twenty people start failing at two hundred.
What do I actually get out of it?
Appraisals stop being an annual ordeal because there is a method behind them. Underperformance gets dealt with earlier, because you can tell a capability problem from a motivation problem from a badly set objective. And a team that understands how it is judged trusts its manager.
Are there prerequisites?
None. You do not need an existing qualification or a minimum number of years in management.
How long do I have?
Six months from purchase, for about ten hours of study. Most people spread it over a few weeks.
Start with the free module
Module 3, the performance management cycle, opens in full with nothing to pay.
Paying personally, or has your employer offered to cover only part of it? Write to info@certifiedperformance.org before you buy. Our primary goal is educational rather than financial.