Earning Credentials

1. What’s TKMG Academy’s philosophy about learning credentials?

We believe that it’s important for people to receive validated recognition for committing to learning and development.

However, we don’t believe that people need to receive formal certifications or “belts” to be highly successful leading improvement and organizational transformation. In fact, many of the most knowledgeable and successful improvement leaders we’ve met are not “certified” nor have they received a belt. The opposite is also true—we meet people with many letters behind their names who lack fundamental understanding about key concepts or have never applied the classroom learning they received.

We also believe that every frontline supervisor, middle manager, senior leader, and executive needs to know how to build a continuous improvement culture, how to design effective and efficient work systems, and how to solve problems scientifically.

That said—because we recognize that continuous learning is a powerful career booster and that proof of learning is an important means to demonstrate one’s commitment to continuous learning—TKMG Academy learners receive a signed and numbered Certification of Completions after completing our courses and passing a final exam with a score of 80% or greater.

They also receive Achievement Badges—which include verified digital credentials—to share on LinkedIn and other social media channels, add to their LinkedIn profile, and provide to their Learning & Development department to demonstrate their commitment to learning.

2. What’s the difference between Certification and a Certificate of Completion?

Many so-called “certification” programs are not true certifications. The most respected authority on the subject is the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE).

Established in 1977, ICE (formerly the National Organization for Competency Assurance) is dedicated to promoting excellence in credentialing worldwide. It’s the leader in setting quality standards for credentialing organizations and through its division—the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA)—has provided more than 30 years of accrediting services to the credentialing industry. ICE is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a developer of American National Standards.

True certification programs are typically overseen by an independent, formal, governing body comprised of recognized and respected experts in the industry. They are often granted by professional associations versus academic institutions or private companies. The governing body oversees all aspects of the certification process. Certification exams are also subjected to rigorous reliability and validity testing to assure the test is unbiased and accurately reflects the degree of proficiency one has. Many certifications also require proof of ongoing continuing education to maintain one’s certification.

3. How do I view and/or download my Certificate?

Learners who pass a course’s final exam with a score of 80% or higher receive a personalized, dated, and numbered Certificate of Completion. You can view and download the Certificate from the Achievements Page on your Learning Dashboard.

4. What are Achievement Badges and how do they benefit me?

Our Achievement Badges are digital credentials that verify you’ve completed a course and have passed a final exam with a score of 80% or higher. The digital credentials associated with each badge provide:

  • Employers and peers with concrete evidence of your accomplishments
  • A distinctive and visual means to demonstrate your commitment to continuous learning
  • A way to share your abilities online in a way that is simple, trusted, and can be verified in real time

As a value-add service to Academy learners, we partner with Credly.com, a respected source for issuing and managing digital credentials. Credly provides learners with an easy and trusted way to receive real-time verification of their accomplishments and and easy way to share their learning progress online. The badges can also be downloaded to add to resumes or post in a workspace.

Learners can also access their Achievement Badges on the Achievement Page of their TKMG Academy Learning Dashboard.

 

5. How do I view and/or download my Achievement Badge?

Within 24 hours of completing an Academy course and passing the final examination with a score of 70% or higher, you’ll receive an email notification from Credly’s Acclaim Platform (sender is admin@youracclaim.com) with instructions for establishing a free account and accepting your Achievement Badge.

If you don’t receive notification from Credly Acclaim within 24 hours, please check your junk folder. We recommend you add Credly Acclaim’s URL (www.youracclaim.com) and/or sender email address (admin@youracclaim.com) to your white list.

6. What should I do with my Achievement badge?

A wonderful benefit of our Achievement Badges is that you can easily add them to your LinkedIn profile, share them on LinkedIn and other social sites, and add them to resumes and email signatures—all of which validates the fact that you are committed to continuous improvement.

To access the badges, register for a free account on Credly.com and accept all the badges you’ve earned. Once accepted, the badge can be shared on LinkedIn and other social media platforms. You can also use the link provided to share it anywhere else you’d like.

Finally, you can download the Achievement Badge as a PNG image.

if you have questions or need help, please contact us at support@tkmgacademy.com.

7. How do I add my Achievement Badges to my LinkedIn profile and/or share it on other social media platforms?

Once you accept your Achievement Badge on Credly.com, you’ll be connected to a screen that allows you to post your badge on LinkedIn and other social media platforms—or send an announcement via email.

You’re also able to add your accomplishment to the Licenses and Certifications section of your LinkedIn profile (which we highly recommend).

Consider sending the Credential URL to your Human Resources, Learning & Development, or Training Department and ask them to add it to your record to demonstrate your commitment to learning.

You may also accept your badges and share them with others via the Achievements page on your TKMG Academy Learning Dashboard.

8. Does TKMG Academy offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or similar designations?

Each professional association, professional licensing agency, or accreditation board has its own requirements for the type of learning and content that qualifies for CEUs, PDUs (professional development units), PDHs (professional development hours), and similar designations.

Many of the organizations who require a minimum number of CEUs or similar to maintain a license or professional designation include a self-reporting category of learning that qualifies for CEUs (e.g., Project Management Institute, American Society for Quality, etc.). Learners can include our courses in this self-reporting section of the documentation they need to submit.

TKMG Academy is eager to meet the needs of its learners. We invite enterprise customers with people who need CEUs to contact us with the name(s) of the professional association, accreditation, or licensing bodies involved so we can research the organizations’ requirements and process for qualifying our courses.