Creating a professional certification for the sustainability practitioner:

Transcription

1 Creating a professional certification for the sustainability practitioner: UPDATE: Nov 10, 2015 Update on the applications and exams ISSP-SA and ISSP-CSP Hiring Manager Survey Next Steps Maureen Hart, ISSP Executive Director

2 Listen to the recording of the June 2015 Certification Update Webinar for more details on the history and background of the process

3 ISSP Sustainability Professional Certification Two levels both requiring on-going professional development to maintain the credential ISSP Sustainability Associate (ISSP-SA) Code of Ethics Declaration Pass ISSP-SA Certification Exam (Topic 1 in Job Task Analysis) ISSP Certified Sustainability Professional Meet ISSP-SA requirement Pass ISSP-CSP Certification Exam (Topics 2-6 in JTA) Educational qualifications Work experience

4 ISSP-SA Beta Certification Candidates Geographic Distribution Americas 81% Asia-Pacific 10% Europe & Central Asia 4% Mid East& North Africa 2% Africa (excl N.Africa) 3%

5 ISSP Beta Certification Application and Testing Process ISSP-SA Process 153 people took the Beta test Changes made to registration and application system Next steps: Calculating cut score (passing grade) Announce 1 st ISSP-SA cohort Dec 15 ISSP-CSP (must already be registered for ISSP-SA) 80 registrations received Applications due by Oct 2 nd Test window October 19 Nov 15 Results in December

6 ISSP Sustainability Hiring Survey What we wanted to know: What skills and attributes are organizations looking for when hiring a sustainability professional? Why we wanted to know it: Guidance for our members: aspiring and seasoned professionals Learning objectives for training and education Validation of ISSP professional certifications Relationship to ISSP 2010 Competency Study

7 Methodology Target audience: Sustainability hiring managers and HR professionals Web-based deployment: summer/fall 2015 Distributed through membership, partner organizations (e.g. AASHE) and LinkedIn networks (e.g. Sustainability Professionals 100,000+) Sample Size: 213 Administered in English only Supplemented with one-on-one interviews

8 Organization Types Respondents Education Sustainability Consulting Government Geographic Distribution Services N Africa-Mid East Retail Manufacturing Non- Governmental Organization (NGO) Europe Position of Hiring Manager Asia-Pacific HR or recruitment professional Nonsustainability Manager Other Sustainability professional Latin America Africa Canada United States

9 Top hard skills desired Strategic planning Project management Sustainability reporting (e.g. using GRI framework) Systems thinking 68% 62% 55% 54% Project management, innovation, try and try again, and engagement are most important. Financial analysis (including life cycle analysis) 39% Auditing (e.g. sustainability, GHG) 35% Scientific expertise (e.g. climate change, toxicology, chemistry) 30% Risk assessment 28% Green building systems and processes Policy expertise Supply chain and vendor management Process management (e.g. management systems, Six Sigma) 13% 27% 25% 24% Top skills from 2010 ISSP Competency Study: 1. Strategic planning 2. Systems thinking 3. Project management

10 Top soft skills desired Communication 67% Influencing Change Problem Solving Team-building and collaboration Motivating and Inspiring Others Networking 51% 50% 63% 62% 62% In an academic environment it is of critical importance that a sustainability professional is able to engage others on a voluntary basis, using a grassroots approach. Flexibility and adaptability 44% Innovating the business Consensus building 36% 43% Top skills from 2010 ISSP Competency Study: 1. Communication 2. Problem Solving 3. Motivating and Inspiring

11 Education Minimum Education Level Doctorate High School Most Common Area of Study Master's Degree Urban Planning Sustainability Social Sciences Bachelor's degree Marketing Environmental Sciences Engineering Economics Communications Business Architecture Agriculture With the growth of sustainability programs at the undergrad and masters level across the country, we are seeing more and more qualified candidates with masters degrees, PhDs, and very interesting work experience. It's competitive.

12 Certification Certifications as Hiring Criteria? No 71% Yes 29% Require Certifications for Staff? No 79% An ISSP CSP certification wouldn't automatically put someone on top of the list of candidates, but it would definitely help tip the scales in differentiating from other potential candidates. Yes 21% Sustainability Certification as Hiring Criteria? Most Likely 17% 29% 29% Least Likely 8% 18%

13 Hiring Plans Within next 12 months Within next 6 months 16% 26% The key to hiring a sustainability professions is finding the person with the right attitude and aptitude, along with a passion for change, inclusion and flexibility in the work environment. Within next 3 months 23% No plans currently to hire sustainability professionals 34%

14 Preliminary Conclusions Change management is key. We can train them in subject matter, but we cannot train them to be good communicators Don t forget the soft skills, especially communication! Education is important coupled with experience and passion Certification nice to have Passion and ability to influence change are key

15 Next steps September- December ISSP-SA Exam cut score ISSP-CSP Exam testing and cut score Survey of Beta Participants Revise/improve application and test process Initial cohort awarded ISSP-SA and ISSP-CSPs Educational Partners Program Initiated Launch Dates TBD Following the results of the survey Stay tuned!! Longer term Rolling applications and testing Continuous improvement: application and test process

16 ISSP Contact information Maureen Hart Declarations of support: JOIN US!

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