Consultant Certification Policy

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Consultant Certification

Policy

Version 1

May 20, 2013

Report Title Goes

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GMS Consultant Certification Policy. Version 1. May 21, 2013

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1. Purpose

This document sets forth the policy of Grant Management Solutions (GMS) for certification of consultants providing technical support to countries and institutions benefiting from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (the Global Fund).

2. Background

2.1. GMS provides urgent, short-term technical assistance through teams of 1-5

consultants in assignments of up to 90 days in-country over 1-12 months to resolve urgent bottlenecks and systemic problems blocking governance and Global Fund grant performance.

2.2. During the first phase of GMS between 2007 and 2012, several hundred consultant teams supported principal recipients (PRs), subrecipients (SRs) and country

coordinating mechanisms (CCMs)—all beneficiaries of Global Fund grants—in 78 countries. During that phase, the notion of a “GMS consultant” emerged, as GMS experts came to be recognized and known for the skills, knowledge, approaches, and performance they used when providing short-term technical support.

2.3. Building on the strong performance of the first phase of GMS, the second phase of GMS, 2012-20151, has a wider scope than the first phase: to the original mandate (see section 2.1) have been added two new objectives, one of which is to increase the capacity of local and regional entities and individuals to deliver this type of high-quality technical support.

2.4. GMS certification will formalize this notion of a GMS consultant, enabling GMS and other clients, technical support agencies, and Global Fund stakeholders to identify those that GMS certifies as meeting its standards.

2.5. It is expected that consultant certification will contribute significantly to meeting the project’s capacity development objective (see section 2.3) through establishment of standards based on technical skills, GMS practice and successful consulting

experience with clients.

3. GMS Consultant Certification: Definition

3.1. GMS consultant certification refers to the project’s formal process of recognizing that an individual meets GMS’s high standards for consulting practice on GMS

assignments using GMS approaches and tools.

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The project has a current mandate through September 30, 2015; USAID may accord the project one or two one-year extensions through September 30, 2017.

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3.2. The GMS consultant certification program reflects a philosophy of capacity in action. Certification is based on clearly defined core competencies (see annex 1 for list) representing knowledge, skills and abilities whose application is required during GMS assignments to resolve concrete, functional issues affecting performance of CCMs and PRs.

3.3. These core competencies combine technical and Global Fund-related knowledge, applied to the four GMS technical areas (see section 6.1), with additional skills, professional behaviors and characteristics associated with the GMS style of delivering technical support. Capacity in action also refers to the fact that without mastery of this range of additional skills, expertise within a technical specialty is not sufficient to ensure high-quality results on GMS consulting teams. Each core

competency represents a cluster of skills and abilities that closely correlates with performance on a GMS assignment.

3.4. The core competencies have been defined through analysis of the GMS1 assignments and through formal discussions with GMS team leaders, technical managers, and stakeholders, including clients and Global Fund secretariat staff. The approved set of competencies is updated periodically, at the end of each project year, and is explained in detail in the GMS Consultant Certification Operations

Manual.2

3.5. GMS assesses evidence of consultant core competencies in two settings: consultant training sessions and GMS assignments. A certified GMS consultant has achieved successful performance in two areas of work: 1) formal training by GMS and 2) completion of a specific number of field assignments in the technical specialty. 3.6. On completion of the GMS consultant certification requirements (see section 7),

consultants will receive a certificate stating that GMS recognizes they have met these requirements.

4. Levels of GMS Certification

4.1. There are two levels of GMS certification, each with distinct requirements:

 First level: consultant (or team member) in a specific technical specialty

 Second level: team leader

4.2. The requirements for consultants and team leaders are defined by GMS. They are established in consultation with experienced consultant practitioners as well as specialists in capacity development and technical oversight of GMS assignments.

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4.3. Individuals must first be certified as consultants to be eligible for team leader certification.

4.4. GMS will also approve (but not certify) team leader-trainers who achieve team leader certification and demonstrate mastery in delivering training and coaching. (Since GMS is not a master-training organization, certification of trainers is outside its purview.)

5. Technical Specialties of GMS Certification

5.1. The technical specialties available for GMS certification are governance and oversight (CCM), PR management (PRM), procurement and supply management (PSM), and monitoring and evaluation (M&E).

5.2. The certificates GMS issues state in which of these technical areas a consultant or team leader is being recognized. Consultants and team leaders may be certified in more than one technical specialty and will receive a separate certificate for each. 5.3. The area of M&E may include expertise in the practice of working with PRs to

establish and report to CCMs using grant oversight dashboards. Many grant dashboard teams, while administratively labeled as CCM teams, include an M&E expert. While dashboard experience is not required for M&E certification, dashboard assignments will be counted towards the requisite experience of M&E experts seeking certification in M&E.

6. Standards of performance

6.1. Successful performance is characterized by depth of technical knowledge, quality of work, speed of delivery, and autonomy in one of the four technical specialties listed under section 4.

6.2. Performance in formal training: GMS provides virtual and face-to-face training. Performance in virtual training will be determined by successful completion of quizzes attached to each module. Performance in face-to-face training will be determined in two ways:

 Before and after face-to-face trainings, consultants will complete a self-assessment matrix.

 GMS trainers and technical managers will also assess participants for mastery of core competencies upon completion of training.

6.3. Performance during field assignments: during assignments, each team member (including the team leader) is assessed by GMS technical managers. Team

members complete individual assessments of their team leader and the team leader assesses each of them.

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6.4. All consultants, local or international (according to the terms of their contract), will be assessed in the same manner.

6.5. Performance of the entire team in terms of the results of the assignment is measured separately through the GMS results tracking process. GMS carries out a client

satisfaction survey at the end of each assignment. Client feedback on individual consultants is taken into account in performance assessments.

7. Requirements for Certification

7.1. Consultant (team member) certification will be awarded when the consultant has successfully completed one consultant orientation (“boot camp”) and field

assignments in two different countries.

7.2. Team leader certification will be awarded when a GMS-certified consultant has successfully completed assignments as team leader in two different countries and has demonstrated the requisite mastery of core competencies.

7.3. Certification in multiple specialties will be awarded to consultants who meet the above assignment requirements for each specialty area combined with the appropriate technical track for the boot camp (or its equivalent).

8. Duration and Maintenance of Certification

8.1. Certification will be valid for two years from the date specified on the certificate issued to the consultant.

8.2. GMS will specify and provide refresher training (face-to-face and/or virtual courses or webinars) as needed to allow consultants and team leaders to maintain certification. 8.3. In case of a two-year period of inactivity (no or incomplete GMS field assignments)

following certification, consultants will be required to satisfy GMS continuing education requirements and satisfactorily complete one subsequent GMS assignment to recover active certification status.

9. Certification of Consultants and Team Leaders (standard process)

9.1. GMS will carry out formal reviews of consultant performance on a quarterly basis. 9.2. Completion of requirements will be monitored by GMS on an ongoing basis.

9.3. Consultants and team leaders will be presented for review when they have

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9.4. A panel comprising GMS technical managers in the four specialty areas and GMS capacity development staff (Review Panel) will convene to determine who is eligible for initial qualification and certification through this process.

9.5. Minutes of panel meetings will be taken and archived at GMS and may be made available on request.

10. Initial Certification of Existing Consultants (“grandfathering”)

10.1. GMS will review the qualifications of individuals who were in its consultant networks on September 30, 2012. Consultants from GMS who (a) met certification criteria in the first phase of GMS, through September 30, 2012, and (b) are still actively consulting for GMS after October 1, 2012, will be certified through a one-time

opportunity called “grandfathering,” which means an exemption from prevailing rules based on pre-existing circumstances, thereby allowing these individuals to become certified consultants or team leaders or both after review and approval by GMS technical managers.

10.2. Consultants certified under the process described in this section 10 will subsequently be considered for team leader certification under the standard process described in section 9.

11. Initial Certification of Existing Team Leaders ( “grandfathering”)

11.1. GMS will review the qualifications of team leaders who were in the GMS consultant network on September 30, 2012, using the same process and requirements as described in section 10.

11.2. Individuals with experience as a team leader will be reviewed twice: as consultants in a technical specialty and as team leaders in the same technical specialty area.

11.3. Team leaders not awarded certification as described in section 10 will be considered for certification later, under the standard process described in section 9.

12. Communications Pertaining to Certification

Detailed standard operating procedures are outlined in the GMS Consultant

Certification Operations Manual. These will be tested and updated as required to

maintain an efficient and equitable process.

13. Communications Pertaining to Certification

13.1. Within two weeks of the review panel meeting, GMS will inform consultants awarded certification at either the consultant or team-leader level and inform applicable team leaders that they are approved as GMS trainers (see section 4.4).

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13.2. GMS will inform GMS partner institutions of the certification status of their consultants and will provide the partners with feedback on the performance of their consultants. 13.3. GMS may communicate the list of certified consultants to third parties or confirm

certification as deemed necessary. Detailed communications procedures on

certification will be included in the GMS Consultant Certification Operations Manual.

14. Questions or Appeals

Questions or appeals regarding decisions of the review panel or certification

procedures will be recorded and addressed in the documentation files, which will be updated and reviewed periodically by the GMS management team.

15. Review of GMS Certification Policy

GMS will review its certification policy on an annual basis to ensure it is meeting its intended purpose, and is being carried out in accordance with standard operating procedures outlined in the GMS certification manual.

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Consultant Certification Policy