AMCI Accreditation: It’s good for business. It’s good for management.

Author: Mike Reitelbach, CAE, RCE, IOM President, Organization Management Group

Frankly, I cannot point to a single client association and claim that we earned their business strictly through accreditation.  But then I never really thought that we would.  I can say that OMG did get some opportunities because of being accredited that we might not have otherwise received.

The real value of AMCI Accreditation lies in the process.  The outputs from working through accreditation (and reaccreditation) are good for my business and good for my management.  Accreditation advances structure and controls.  Risks are reduced for your AMC and for your clients.

The initial accreditation forced me to pause and write out our policies and practices.  That forced me to think through many aspects of running my AMC.  It helped me define who we are and who we are not going to be.  It provided me with checklists, decision criteria, definitions, and best practices.  It clarified benchmarks and filled in some gaps.

OMG has completed its fourth reaccreditation cycle.  Reaccreditation is valuable because it forces us to reread each policy and procedure document.  It forces us to take time to focus on what has changed and what needs to change.  It forces us to examine what is really happening in the business and to reconcile each point with the goals and standards. 

Ongoing accreditation compliance triggers training topics for the monthly staff meetings.  It brings every employee into some measure of discussion about industry best practices and OMG’s operations.  It leads us to regularly review client expectations and performance.  It creates teachable moments on topics ranging from insurance coverages to accounting guidelines to IRS requirements to member relations. 

Accreditation may look daunting when you first read the Standard.  However, I would be willing to bet that you are already doing much of it.  Know, too, that there are plenty of resources available to help you.  AMCI volunteers are willing to advise.  Sample documents are available on the AMCI website.  Workshops are offered.  Reviewer training is provided.

Your feedback about AMCI’s Accreditation program will always be appreciated.  You even have a voice in rewriting the Accreditation Standard every four years.  Get started.  The first step is the hardest. 

To paraphrase another adage…the accreditation journey is as valuable as the destination (if not more so).  Whether a small AMC or large, accreditation will be good for your business.