Certifying the Future: The Next Step In Strengthening the Field of Professional Foresight

In recent years, there has been explosive growth in professional certification across almost every field and industry - and for a very good reason: professional certification helps to advance the profession it serves. As practices change at an ever-increasing rate, a gap is formed between the critical theory provided by an academic education, and the practical application required in today's environment of rapid change and converging competencies. Robust certification programs exist to bridge this education gap. An individual’s achievement of professional certification documents their expertise and recognizes their personal commitment to their professional development. Certification benefits both employers and employees through evaluation of potential new hires, analyzing job performance, selecting professional contractors, marketing services, and motivating employees to enhance their skills and knowledge. Certification grants recognition of competency, shows commitment to the profession, and helps with career advancement. In other words, it’s a continuing stamp of excellence.

Organizational and Disciplinary Knowledge

Employers looking to hire want you to have knowledge, experience?and?certifications in your areas of expertise. Certification tells employers and your professional peers that you’re well-qualified and that you take your career seriously. It can help you find a good job, advance in your career and add stability to your long-term employment prospects.

Commitment to Excellence

Certifications don’t just separate job candidates starting out; they also demonstrate that you’re committed to your profession and are willing to invest in your future. One of the most important reasons to get certification is that it helps you stay ahead of the competition. If you truly want to succeed in your career, you need to stay current in the skills and practices that affect your profession. Always keep learning and you’ll have a knowledge base that will make you an asset to any employer far into the future.

Learning Dynamics

Several studies even show that students who earn certification have an increased graduation rate, higher G.P.A., increased post-secondary enrollment and improved confidence.?The Florida Career and Professional Education department?performance report?in particular shows an average G.P.A. of 3.09 for students with certification compared to 2.72 for students without certification.?An impressive 97.2% of students with certification graduate compared to 83.9% of students without. By offering the right balance of academic excellence and real-world skills, you can give students the confidence?and motivation they need to succeed both in school?and in a profitable career.?

Why Should There Be Professional Certification in the Field of Foresight?

Finance (CPA), Project Management (PMI), Product Development (NPDP), Human Resources (SHRM), and Strategic Planning (ASP) are just a few from a wide list of professions that have voluntary and/or mandatory certification. However, the field of foresight has yet to offer a rigorous certification available for practicing professionals that highlights continual learning and development, even though futures research was formally established as an academic discipline in the 1940s. There are various possible reasons for this lack of certification around professional foresight (i.e. an absence of standard approaches and methodologies from practitioner to practitioner; a variance of foresight job titles and departments in traditional organizations; a bias towards short-term vision and quick wins in business and government; etc.). However, groups such as the Association of Professional Futurists, the World Future Studies Federation and other foresight-related alliances have been working diligently over the past several decades to solidify the standing of the field across the world. The result has been greater recognition and a bevy of successes across organizations and governments, and the future looks very bright for the field of foresight. This continued recognition only increases the need for professional certification among those who are promoting it for impact and outcomes across all domains.?

Life-Long Learning

As the demand for foresight has escalated, so has the desire for more formal and life-long training. A number of excellent university programs in foresight and futures studies exist around the world, but most professionals are not inclined to pursue a graduate degree due to time, money, or the need for practicality vs. theory-based learning. As a result, more consultancies and trainers have begun offering workshops and programs designed around the mindsets, skills and methodologies needed to excel in applying foresight. Though many of these workshops and programs are outstanding in terms of content and delivery, they have only been able to offer a certificate upon completion indicating that an individual has gained the immediate knowledge offered and finished the specific training.

Certificate vs. Certification

Certification is a much more rigorous and valuable achievement where individuals apply for and gain a professional credential based upon an in-depth body of competency and knowledge. To earn such a designation, there are eligibility, educational and experiential requirements alongside successfully passing robust and rigorous assessments. Certification also requires that successful candidates must seek recertification on a regular basis, ensuring continuous learning and development in the field.?

The Launch of Professional Foresight Certification

Beginning in 2017, the team at The Futures School began work on a full-fledged professional certification for the field of foresight. For 20+ years, it has been the passion of those involved in creating this credential to continually strengthen the field of foresight across all domains of business and society.

After many weeks, months and years of hard work, we were happy to launch Professional Foresight Certification in the Natural Foresight? Framework in 2019 – a proven approach to applying Strategic Foresight in organizational and personal contexts. The PFC is offered in four levels, and each level adheres to the common body of competency and knowledge, personal eligibility requirements, rigorous assessments, and recertification learning standards.?

Further, Professional Foresight Certification was weighed against the four levels of training evaluation in the globally recognized New World Kirkpatrick Model. These levels - typically used to assure that programs (such as those offered through The Futures School) truly result in dynamic outcomes for participants and organizations - help us to gauge the reach and impact of certification in the field of foresight. The first level of Reaction is all about monitoring feedback to assess the degree of relevance, satisfaction and contribution from those who undertake certification. This assures that foresight certification is updated to meet organizational and community needs. The second level of Learning determines the degree to which participants acquire the intended knowledge, skills, mindsets, confidence and commitment to leverage their certification. The third level of Behavior examines the degree to which individuals apply the knowledge assessed through certification, and the fourth level of Results evaluates the degree to which certification leads to positive impact on career development, organizational practices and internal/external expertise.

Lastly, the Global Foresight Advisory Council - an international group of visionaries, future-oriented experts and foresight luminaries who are redefining their industries, intrinsically guided by an innate futurist mindset - act as an independent third-party accrediting body for the PFC, solidifying the credibility and integrity of the certification through on-going assessment, audit and established criteria evaluation. ?

Today, individuals from organizations across the world are pursuing the PFC, and the community continues to grow by the day!

Here are what some of the early adopters of Professional Foresight Certification have to say:

“As an executive charged with business innovation, strategy and development on a global stage, the biggest challenge I face is finding professionals who are equipped to see where we need to be in the future and build a road map to get us there. The Professional Foresight Certification ensures that my team has the skills, credentials and expertise necessary to guide our organization and industry toward the transformational opportunities on the horizon.”

Lori Heino-Royer

Director,?Daimler Trucks North America

“As the Chief Impact Officer at XPRIZE, I lead the foresight work that helps our partners map the emerging landscape to identify challenges, uncover opportunities, and spot breakthrough innovations for transformative change. As a member of the Global Foresight Advisory Council that endorses the Professional Foresight Certification, I can expand my ability to democratize the future, empowering individuals that wouldn’t normally interact with our organization with the skills and certification needed to create the future right where they are!”

Zenia Tata

Chief Impact Officer,?XPRIZE

“Obtaining the Certified Foresight Practitioner designation has proven to be a game-changer for me in my role as a professor and educator. On a professional level, certification has enabled me to anticipate challenges and seize opportunities in accordance with the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future’s UAE Future Foresight Strategy. On a personal level, this credential not only establishes me as a foresight practitioner within my organization but helps me to prepare my students for the new careers of the 21st Century.”

Hussien Alwedyan

Associate Professor,?Higher Colleges of Technology

We look forward to seeing the transformational impact that Professional Foresight Certification will have on the field as it continues to grow and impact our organizations, governments and society. If you are interested in joining those who are earning this important designation, and want to read more about all of the above details around the PFC, please visit www.thefuturesschool.com.