People CMM — P-CMM

Introduction

P-CMM is part of the CMMI product family of process maturity models. It describes a progression for continuous improvement and process improvement of the HR processes for managing and developing human workforces.

The P-CMM framework enables organisations to incrementally focus on key process areas and to lay foundations for improvement in workforce practices. Unlike other HR models, P-CMM requires that key process areas, improvements, interventions, policies, and procedures are institutionalised across the organisation — irrespective of function or level.

Therefore, all improvements have to percolate throughout the organisation, to ensure consistency of focus, to place emphasis on a participatory culture, embodied in a team-based environment, and encouraging individual innovation and creativity.

Process Maturity Rating

The process maturity rating is from ad hoc and inconsistently performed practices, to a mature and disciplined development of the knowledge, skills, and motivation of the workforce.

Traditionally, process maturity models like ISO/IEC 15504 or CMMI focus on organisational improvement with respect to operational (Product) Development Processes. PCMM in contrast focus instead on the three prominent factors for operational capability to deliver successful products and services:

1. People
2. Process
3. Products, Technology

Thus, these 3Ps of PCMM are comparable to ITIL's 4Ps: People, Processes, Products (tools and technology) and Partners (suppliers, vendors, and outsourcing organisations). P-CMM is characterised by a holistic approach to people-related issues. Instead of looking at traditional Human Resource interventions in a reactionary scrappy fashion. The P-CMM framework enables organisations to incrementally focus on key process areas and to lay foundations for improvement in workforce practices.

Unlike other HR models, P-CMM requires that key process areas, improvements, interventions, policies, and procedures are institutionalized across the organisation — irrespective of function or level. Therefore, all improvements have to percolate throughout the organisation, to ensure consistency of focus, to place emphasis on a participatory culture, embodied in a team-based environment, and encouraging individual innovation and creativity.

P-CMM Maturity Levels

Like other staged maturity models of the CMMI product family developed at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie-Mellon University, the P-CMM consists of maturity levels that establish successive foundations for continuously improving workforce competencies.

These range from initial (Level 1), where workforce practices are performed inconsistently or ritualistically and frequently fail to achieve their intended purpose, to the optimised level (Level 5), where everyone in the organisation is focused on continuously improving their Capability and the organisation's workforce practices.

The five maturity levels of the People CMM are:

1. Initial.
2. Repeatable. The key process areas at Level 2 focus on instilling basic discipline into workforce activities. They are:
   • Work Environment
   • Communications
   • Staffing
   • Performance Management
   • Training
   • Compensation
3. Defined. The key process areas at Level 3 address issues surrounding the identification of the organisation's primary competencies and aligning its people management activities with them. They are:
   • Knowledge and Skills Analysis
   • Workforce Planning
   • Competency Development
   • Career Development
   • Competency-Based Practices
   • Participatory Culture
4. Managed. The key process areas at Level 4 focus on quantitatively managing organisational growth in people management capabilities and in establishing competency-based teams. They are:
   • Mentoring
   • Team Building
   • Team-Based Practices
   • Organisational Competency Management
   • Organisational
   • Performance Alignment
5. Optimising. The key process areas at Level 5 cover the issues that address continuous improvement of methods for developing competency, at both the organisational and the individual level. They are:
   • Personal Competency Development
   • Coaching
   • Continuous Workforce Innovation

Further Readings