Ronald L. Goss, CPM
The number of professional designation, certification and accreditation opportunities are ever increasing as well as the number of people earning them. Why? Because the value of professional designations continues to grow as business, in particular, and society becomes more complex as bodies of knowledge expand. In turn, demand has accelerated for more independent confirmation that the alleged professionals hired are knowledgeable, competent and ethical. The consequences of incompetence obviously are particularly dire in managing commercial, industrial and multifamily real estate.
Individuals, business and property owners, corporate executives, government administrators and third-party players increasingly want assurance that their providers of professional services have some basic level of qualifying experience and ethical commitment verified by impartial third-party experts. As a result, a myriad of new certification programs are being established each year to meet the demand for people with independently established, profession-specific credentials.
As our industry’s data and experience base expands, such assurance of expertise and skill for coping with change certainly becomes all the more important. For example, events such as 9/11 and the recent Great Recession, and its aftermath, have focused a spotlight on the benefits of competent, nimble management of real estate properties in areas formerly not given all that much media attention. Not to mention the always-changing tax codes, civil rights regulations, employee-oriented governmental directives and other initiatives that real estate managers must grapple with routinely.
How To Show Competence
How then do individuals demonstrate their competence to handle new professional challenges and changes? An attractive resume is not enough these days. Twenty years of experience may mean 1 year repeated 19 times. The ability to respond appropriately to change must be documented.
Professionals who want to advance must show that they voluntarily are committed to life-long learning to expand their knowledge base beyond what their past jobs have required. Experience in prior jobs is no longer adequate to qualify for the new ones. Continuing education in pursuit of a certification and maintaining it generates a transcript of achievement that documents an individual's appreciation of what’s needed to cope with tomorrow’s challenges.
The practice of credentialing has long been required in many professions, which historically have been licensed by governmental bodies to protect the public interest — where serious dangers might accrue to personal safety and property. Notably, the so-called learned professions — medicine, law and theology — were the first in which the right to practice required meeting standards set by the government (most often with the counsel of established practitioners). The government’s purview also has been extended to such fields as architecture, engineering, barbering, accounting, real estate and other professions where inadequate performance could seriously threaten life or property.
The boundary defining the professions that were to be licensed by the government was pretty much drawn to exclude those where any inadequacies of their practitioners were not so threatening. Also, governments began running out of money to extend the reach of their licensing programs. But government was still concerned about the performance of programs it was funding. And the public’s concern with the ability of professionals to serve them responsibly was beyond its ability to evaluate.
The void has been filled by trade associations and professional societies who have set up certification programs outside of the realm of formal government licensing programs. Even the real estate profession has gone far beyond the scope of REALTORS® with the creation of many additional designations, again reflecting increasing complexity and knowledge requirements.
This phenomenon of certification outside the jurisdiction of government benefits the public, the practitioners and the non-governmental groups that provide certifications. Certifications become increasingly important to everyone as the consequences of incompetence rise.
Why For The Owners?
Industry-specific experience and education is especially significant for owners of industrial, commercial and multifamily properties simply because the stakes are so high. The certified moxie of professional real estate managers says to owners that their multimillion-dollar properties are in the best available hands. And if anything indeed goes awry, these managers are accountable for conduct that violates their ethical obligations.
Why would the value of designations be so great for owners? Because owners increasingly realize that they alone are not competent to evaluate the performance in advance of those offering real estate management services. Owners simply have an inadequate capability to judge. They are not competent to predict the quality of service to be provided by those they consider unless there has been third-party confirmation that they are adequately trained, experienced and ethical.
The letters following a practitioner's name say that their peers confirm that they are qualified to offer professional services. Designations tell everyone that these practitioners have documented experience and competence plus that they have invested in education specific to their segment of their industry.
Why For The Practitioners?
Why do practitioners value certifications? For prestige. For differentiation as professionals from non-certified practitioners. And, perhaps, for perceived increased earning power. Their certifications say that they have a level of sufficient experience, superior competence, commitment to continuing education and accountability for ethical practice above the ordinary as attested to by third-party authorities.
Many certified practitioners indeed do feel that certification results in higher income. Comparisons of earnings between certified and non-certified practitioners often show that certified practitioners earn a higher income. Certified practitioners generally are full-time, high energy and ambitious people who have developed sharper thinking, better communications skills and improved time management practices in the process of achieving certification. This demonstrates recognizable competence, commitment to their profession and their ability to provide their clients with superior service. Designations designate the best.
Perhaps most important to certified practitioners are the ongoing opportunities to sharpen their competence through networking and like-minded people at professional meetings and continuing education events. The camaraderie that develops during face-to-face experience sharing with peers adds significantly to knowledge and confidence that cannot be matched by formal training.
Why For The Certifiers?
Why do trade associations and professional societies value certification programs? Because they want to provide a public service and maintain standards so as to create member pride and, thereby, improve retention. Certification programs help set their qualifying members apart, to promote excellence in their industry or profession as well as to create a stable revenue stream. So associations and societies that offer certification programs to their members benefit greatly from them.
These programs elevate the respect that the public has for their members and thus makes them more attractive to members and prospects. They stimulate participation in the organization’s programs. Moreover, the continuing education requirements of most certification programs generate a dependable revenue stream for them that often is substantial.
Finally, experience shows that members who prevail over the rigors certification renew their memberships at higher levels than others — and that renewal rates improve among those who earn increasingly higher levels of certification.
So everyone benefits from certification programs — the public, those who are certified and the certifiers.
— Ronald L. Goss, CPM, is the 2011 president of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), which confers the Certified Property Manager (CPM), Accredited Commercial Manager (ACoM) and Accredited Residential Manager (ARM) credentials on individual real estate management practitioners who have earned them. Similarly, IREM's Accredited Management Organization (AM0) accreditation is the credential awarded to qualifying real estate companies. In addition to his position with IREM, Goss is president of RPM Management Co., Inc., AMO, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is also senior vice president, director and secretary of RPM Management's parent company, Rector Phillips Morse, Inc.