Academy Of Excellence
23 February 2010
Good project management may not entirely guarantee a
project's success, but bad project management will surely guarantee
its failure. In view of this, Costain has put so much emphasis in
recent years on improving the skills of the people at the sharp end
of contracts via its Project Managers' Academy (PMA).
As the 1 March closing date for applications to the Academy's
third two-year course nears, change is in the air: as well as the
Group's own candidates, it is now open to personnel from both its
supply chain and customers who want to improve their skills in this
most critical of areas.
The Academy aims to raise the capability of project
management across the Group, in particular the ability to work
across the whole life-cycle of projects and offer Costain's
customers a total solution.
Last year the Academy won the Construction News quality
award for training and it recently featured in Project
Management Today and the Association of Project Management
(APM) Project magazine.
One sign of the degree of commitment by academy candidates can
be seen from the fact that since its first intake 42 have joined
the Association of Project Managers (APM) and an examination pass
rate of 95% has been achieved.
The benefits of their time in the Academy has also been subject
to careful measurement. On average, delegates' whole-life project
management knowledge has increased by 19%.
Even getting on to the course is a challenge. Candidates have to
pass a series of tests, not only of their technical knowledge but
of more indefinable factors, such as behavioural traits, strength
of motivation and ability to cope with new concepts. Their
abilities in these fields are measured against a benchmark set by
eight of Costain's industry-leading Project Managers, whose skills
mixes were dissected to uncover precisely what makes them so
successful.
The Academy aims not only to further its candidates' technical
skills, but to give them the knowledge and capabilities to look
beyond site work if they choose to do so, into more
business-oriented roles.
Support for the candidates comes from the highest levels. Having
a cadre of top-quality, motivated PMs is "imperative", says Group
Chief Executive, Andrew Wyllie. "The Project Management Academy has
a key part to play in meeting this objective."
For further details see the attached
case study.