1. Industry Debut: Category Management Training Standards & Certification
Bob Wong, Del Monte Foods
Steering Committee Chair

2. Our Mission General Guidelines Defined Skill Proficiency Certification
Provide the industry with three key deliverables
Organizational structure
Typical roles
General Guidelines
Expected skills sets
Typical skill progression
Defined Skill Proficiency
Establish standards
Recognition of proficiency
Certification
Our mission is three-fold:
First, to provide the industry with general guidelines on category management organizational structure and typical roles found within category management.
Second, to define the unique skill sets required in category management positions and the typical skill progression from beginner to accomplished.
And third, to provide the industry with a means to grant certification for skill proficiency and endorse those training programs that deliver against our industry standards.

3. Purpose and Benefits Standards… Guidelines… Certification…
provides common language
identifies education content
Guidelines…
provides framework on structure
as well as skill development
Certification…
ensures proficiency and rigor
recognition and retention
There are a number of reasons why we embarked on this effort…
The first was to establish a common language for the industry. Until now, if you received five resumes and each candidate claimed to be an expert at category management, it was quite possible that there were five different definitions of expertise. Standardization also helps universities identify appropriate classroom curriculum to prepare students for category management careers.
When it comes to thinking about category management organization structure, we wanted to be able to provide some flexible guidelines on the different levels and roles typically found. If you look at the third page in the handouts provided, you will see four basic levels defined – from entry level to executive level. What’s great about our framework is the flexibility built into it. For example, if your company is just starting out and you decide it’s more appropriate to start with a smaller organization, you might start with the first two levels – such as an analyst and a manager. On the other hand, if you are a larger organization and need to expand – no problem, simply within levels such as creating category analyst and senior category analyst positions.
Finally, we believe that certification will provide better developmental opportunities for category management professionals to not only increase their skill proficiencies, but also be recognized for their expertise. And if you think about it, those organizations who are committed to developing their most important assets will likely have higher retention than those who don’t.

4. Our Approach Steering committee… Sub-committee… lead with experience
ensure diversity, remove bias
create role & skills framework
establish certification process
Sub-committee…
leverage cat man and educator expertise
define levels of competency
create framework to evaluate training
The way we approached this effort was to establish a steering committee that clearly leveraged category management expertise within our industry. The members of our steering committee represent over 115 years of category management experience! We were also adamant about ensuring diversity on the committee. Our committee represents various businesses such as food and beverages, health and beauty care, pet products and other manufactured goods. And we also made sure that we have good representation from both large and small companies.
One of the most challenging aspects of this effort was to come up with an approach that would work across our industry. You can imagine the potential pushback if we had tried to identify a single structure. Companies would complain that the solution wouldn’t fit their needs. So given this challenge, one of the most rewarding aspects of this work has been the creation of a flexible framework that let’s companies tailor the guidelines to their organization and needs. I just mentioned on the previous slide the flexibility built into our model for organization structure. The other area can be tailored is the skill progression by role. Again, if look at the last page in your handouts, you will notice that the individual skill sets each have a progression path identified from left to right. The beauty of our model is you have the flexibility to slide that skill progression left or right, depending on your company’s expectations for performance within roles.
With the framework and process in place, our next step was to assemble a subcommittee that leveraged both category management expertise as well as educational expertise. I’m going to ask Dan Strunk from De Paul University to come up and share some perspective on how the subcommittee is working to define the various skill competencies as well as the framework for evaluating training programs that support the development of these skill proficiencies.

5. Defined Skill Proficiency
Roles & Skills
Organizational structure
Typical roles
General Guidelines
Expected skills sets
Typical skill progression
Defined Skill Proficiency

6. certification Simplistic approach Adaptable 3 levels
required fundamentals
plus recommended skills
Adaptable
flexible for companies, big and small
will improve over time

7. Certification Program
Dan Strunk, DePaul University
Sub-Committee Chair

8. Certification Evaluation Board
Certification Evaluation Board (CEB)
A business unit of the Category Management Association, established to objectively review and evaluate all industry course offerings and people
CEB actions include:
Grant certifications where standards have been met
Deny when standards have not been met, but provide remedial steps
Maintain records database

9. Certification Program Definitions
A Course
The most discrete element of a curriculum often focused on a single category management skill
Learning Programs
A single course or a collection of courses that impart proficiency for a specific category management competency
Learning Scorecard
A matrix that identifies standards for measuring competency performance at specific experience levels for category management professionals

10. Certification Evaluation Scorecard
Category Analyst
11 required learning programs
Category Manager
15 required learning programs
Strategic Advisor
8 required learning programs

11. Certification Process for Individuals (Covers a 3 Year Period)

12. Certifications Levels for individuals
Certified Professional Category Analyst
(CPCA)
Certified Professional Strategic Advisor
(CPSA)
Certified Professional Category Manager
(CPCM)

13. certification process for individuals
Certification submission
Individuals can submit their credentials (resume and detailed training history) directly to the CEB
Companies may also submit employee’s records for certification
Certification process
The process includes verifying employment, training completion and validation of the candidates qualifications.
The CEB will then compare an individual’s experience and training history to the learning scorecard
Manufacturer’s
Employees
Certification Evaluation Board
Individuals

14. assessment and Record Maintenance
Based on its evaluation, the CEB will certify an individual at the appropriate level on the Scorecard and return the certification to the individual
Individual certification is a cumulative assessment of their experience meaning they are given credit for previous positions on the scorecard
Record maintenance
The CEB will also record the individual’s certification in the CMA database
The CMA will maintain your records for a 3-year period time
Individuals can authorize access to their records as necessary
Detailed Training History
Certification Evaluation Board
Category Management Data Base

15. costs for individual CERTIFICATION
Initial costs
An individual’s initial personal evaluation fee is $800
Covers all certifications and data maintenance for a 3-year period
Renewal costs
Renewal for an individual’s certification is $300
Covers an additional 3 years, including:
New training programs completed
Maintaining certification records
Updating certification level

16. Certification Process for Learning Programs

17. certification process for Programs
Certification submission
Both organizations and 3rd party vendors can submit their learning program(s) for assessment & certification
Certification process
The CEB will assess training curriculum, course materials and testing rigor
Following an on-site visit, the CEB will provide a formal written review either granting certification or providing remedial action
3rd Party Vendors
Certification Evaluation Board
Organizations
Category Management Data Base

18. learning program certification options
By level
most individuals will likely seek certification by level (i.e. CPCA, CPCM or CPSA)
By competency
some will seek across skill sets, especially 3rd party vendors
Entire scorecard
some organizations may elect to certify all learning programs

19. costs for Learning PROGRAM CERTIFICATION
Initial costs
Certification evaluation fee is $8,000
3-year period
Learning program certifications
Pre-certified ”off-the-shelf” learning program ($200 each)
Customized pre-certified ”off-the-shelf” learning program ($2,400 each)
Customized, internal proprietary learning program ($4,000 each)
Renewal costs
The cost for renewing certification are as follows:
Recertification for a comprehensive company training program will be $1000.
In addition there will be a $ charge to review and re-record each previously certified learning program.
For all new learning programs certified the cost per learning program will be as above.
The cost for recertifying people will be $ each subsequent 3 year period.

20. Certification Roll-out
Phase 1: third party vendor certification
remainder of 2009
establish foundation of certified learning programs
Phase 2: organizations and individual certification
starting 2010
begin certifying both company training programs and individuals
Annual symposium
stay current with best practices, future trends and technology advancements
renew training standards as appropriate
For further information
contact the Certification Evaluation Board (CEB)
extension 33

21. Thank you’s and certification roundtables

22. * also serving on sub-committee
Thank you!
Donna Frazier
Hope Mandel
CPG CatNet
Steering Committee
Bob Wong
Del Monte Foods
Bob Samples
Hormel Foods
Brad Anderson
Nestle Purina
Craig Hodnett
Dr Pepper Snapple
Dan Strunk *
De Paul University
Eric Hansen *
Johnson Controls
Jeff Inman *
University of Pittsburgh
Jon Troy
Johnson & Johnson
Ken Friedlander
Abbott Nutrition
Steve Zielonko *
Anheuser Busch
Tom Bennett
Colgate Palmolive
Sub-Committee
Dan Nosal
Colgate Palmolive
Frank Gambino
Western Michigan Univ.
Jeff Stachelek
E&J Gallo Winery
Jennifer Kraus
Dr Pepper Snapple
Joe Teller
Swedish Match
Kaycee Remick
Kellogg USA
Laura Lee Larson
Wrigley Jr
Lisa Tibey
Hormel Foods
Rui Zhou
Abbott Nutrition
Scott Peterson
Del Monte Foods
Steve Likes
Coca Cola N. America
* also serving on sub-committee