Pcmm

1.1 What Is the People CMM?

The People Capability Maturity Model® (People CMM®) is a roadmap for implementing

workforce practices that continuously improve the capability of an organization’s workforce.

Since an organization cannot implement all of the best workforce practices in an afternoon, the

People CMM introduces them in stages. Each progressive level of the People CMM produces a

unique transformation in the organization’s culture by equipping it with more powerful practices

for attracting, developing, organizing, motivating, and retaining its workforce. Thus, the People

CMM establishes an integrated system of workforce practices that matures through increasing

alignment with the organization’s business objectives, performance, and changing needs.

The People CMM was first published in 1995 [Curtis 95], and has successfully guided workforce

improvement programs in companies such as Boeing, Ericsson, Lockheed Martin, Novo Nordisk

IT A/S, and Tata Consultancy Services [Vu 01, Martín-Vivaldi 99, Miller 00, Curtis 00, Keeni

00]. Although the People CMM has been designed primarily for application in knowledgeintense

organizations, with appropriate tailoring it can be applied in almost any organizational

setting.

The People CMM’s primary objective is to improve the capability of the workforce. Workforce

capability can be defined as the level of knowledge, skills, and process abilities available for

performing an organization’s business activities. Workforce capability indicates an

organization’s:

❏ readiness for performing its critical business activities,

❏ likely results from performing these business activities, and

❏ potential for benefiting from investments in process improvement or advanced

technology.

In order to measure and improve capability, the workforce in most organizations must be divided

into its constituent workforce competencies. Each workforce competency represents a unique

integration of knowledge, skills, and process...