Corporate Partner Case study – Amey Consulting
What sector do you operate in and how long have you been a corporate partner of APM?
As a business Amey Consulting operates in the engineering consultancy sector working primarily on providing high quality consultancy services in rail, highways, power, asset management, environmental, sustainability and geotechnical. The focus of the corporate partnership with the APM, which started in Aug 2020, is initially in the rail sector as this is currently Amey Consulting’s largest market for project management. Once Amey Consulting has achieved Corporate Accreditation status with the APM it is planned that this partnership will continue to grow to the other sectors within the Amey Consulting business.
Why did Amey Consulting become a Corporate Partner of the APM?
Amey Consulting has grown significantly over the last 4-years. It has realised that to continue strong growth in the future it needs to put project management as a core discipline and invest in improving project management capability. The first step that Amey Consulting took was to create a new role to lead the discipline which it called the Technical Director of Programme and Project Management.
The first step for the Technical Director was to align Amey Consulting to industry best practice and establish a vision and Business Plan articulating the route-map for improving the discipline. To demonstrate Amey Consulting’s project management professionalism and commitment to providing the best services to its clients it is fully committed to achieving Corporate Accreditation with the APM by the summer of 2021.
The reason why Amey Consulting became a Corporate Partner was to give the business access to material, guidance and mentorship as to how to align itself to the APM’s Five Dimensions of project management professionalism and ultimately obtain Corporate Accreditation.
What challenges or opportunities have the APM helped with/overcome?
On completing an internal project management maturity assessment, it became evident that the first challenge for Amey Consulting was to create a formal career path and competency framework for its project managers. The APM helped by taking time to explain the courses and qualifications which was particularly applicable due to the changes around the Project Professional Qualification. This enabled Amey Consulting to create a career path structure that aligned specific roles to the right APM qualifications and membership status.
In addition, the APM provided a copy of their competence framework which Amey Consulting tailored to the needs of the business as well as aligning it to the levels of competence expected for each role. The combination of the two has now enabled Amey Consulting to provide its project managers with a structured approach to career progression, training, competence management and ultimately leading to all of its project managers working towards or attaining chartership with the APM. As a result, in 2021, Amey Consulting is planning to have unprecedented levels of investment in improving its project management capability which includes a significant volume of training for its project managers. This investment in its people will improve competence, motivation and ultimately the performance of the business so that Amey Consulting can delight its customers.
How does the corporate partnership programme benefit Amey Consulting employees?
Although Amey Consulting has only recently joined the corporate partnership programme it has already provided benefits to employees in several ways. First, the APM has provided access to key digital material such as the APM Body of Knowledge 7. This is now being used as a core reference document to enable a common language and set of process to be developed to supplement existing Amey Consulting project management processes. It has also offered to provide a series of webinars to help educate project management employees on the APM, what each of the qualifications entail and how individuals can maximise their membership through things such as the APM’s learning portal. Finally, the APM has also provided some great information on continuous professional development opportunities to help project managers improve their knowledge and deliver their projects more efficiently.
Why would you recommend that other organisations within your sector become a Corporate Partners of the APM?
The resources are great and the individual allocated from the APM performing the role of Corporate Partner Manager is excellent. The individual is knowledgeable, quick to respond, and provides effective mentorship in terms of maximising the benefits of the Corporate Partnership as well providing advice as to how the business can maximise its chance of obtaining APM Corporate Accreditation. Amey Consulting looks forward to continuing its close corporate partnership with the APM in order to improve its project management capability and achieving Corporate Accreditation status by the summer of 2021!