CSMAP Practitioner Certification

What you'll learn

Apply the assessment criteria to organizational practices reflected by key documents.

Select the right audience for maturity surveys and aggregate results.

Calculate and interpret maturity levels.

Structure findings, conclusions, and recommendations into effective assessment outputs.

Skills you'll gain

Document review and evidence extraction Scoring accuracy & consistency Quantitative & qualitative data analysis Professional report writing Prescriptive reasoning / prescriptive problem solving

Specialization Tracks

Choose the track that best fits your professional background and interests. While it is not mandatory, we strongly encourage learners to expand their skills and select more than one specialization track. Recommended bundles include: Strategy Planning, Performance Measurement, and Performance Improvement | Performance Measurement and Performance Improvement | Employee Performance and Performance Culture.

C-PAP-SP - Strategic Planning

Dive into strategy fundamentals, business planning, and strategy adaptation! Great fit for Strategy Planning Professionals, Strategy Consultants, or Executives.

C-PAP-PI - Performance Improvement

Evaluate how reporting, decision-making and initiatives management support strategy execution! Targeting Strategy Planning and Corporate Performance Management Professionals, Performance Management Consultants, or Executives.

C-PAP-PM - Performance Measurement

Navigate through scorecards, dashboards, and performance measurement tools! Targeting Strategy Planning and Corporate Performance Management Professionals, Performance Management Consultants, or Executives.

C-PAP-EPM - Employee Performance Management

Analyze the policy, procedures, and logic structure of the individual performance management system! Suited for Human Resources Professionals, People Performance Officers, HR Consultants, or Executives.

C-PAP-PC - Performance Culture

Discover the social context, the habits and tools that foster or hinder a performance culture! Suited for Human Resources Professionals, Organizational Culture Specialists, HR Consultants, or Executives.

C-PAP-OP - Operations Performance

Examine the performance management processes and tools used to drive performance for a functional area! Fits best to Department Heads, Managers and Strategy & Corporate Performance Professionals

Certification Process

To become a Certified Strategy & Performance Maturity Assessment Practitioner, candidates must complete the following steps:

1. Practitioner Simulation - Independent completion of a structured, real client engagement simulation (~40 hours), covering documentation scoring, survey data analysis, and assessment reporting.

2. Portfolio Submission - All simulation deliverables are compiled into a Practitioner Portfolio and submitted for evaluation.

3. Portfolio Review - Evaluated by a GPA Unit Accreditation Mentor across four competencies: Document Review & Scoring Accuracy, Analysis, Interpretation & Report Writing, Recommendations Formulation, and Professional Conduct & Methodology Adherence (a behavioural competency assessed throughout the experience).

4. Practitioner Interview - An online discussion of your submission with the evaluator to review the work and receive feedback.

5. Certification Award - A minimum score of 4 out of 5 in each competency area is required to receive the Practitioner certification for the chosen specialization track.

Participant Benefits

Certifications awarded upon completion:

A Certified Practitioner diploma for each specialization track you complete (e.g., C-PAP-SP, C-PAP-PM).

Certified Strategy & Performance Maturity Assessment Practitioner (C-PAP) - the additional credential for candidates who complete all five core tracks.

GPAU Authorized Assessor credential - issued per capability, recognizing competence to conduct GPAU Maturity Assessments.

Additional benefits:

One-time access to PerforAssess | QuickScan for the capability of your chosen track.
Eligibility to conduct PerforAssess | Diagnose assessments if there is a corporate partnership agreement with the GPA Unit.
A discounted license fee for PerforAssess | Diagnose or Recognized, applicable within your organization.

GPAU Accreditation Mentor

GPAU Accredited Assessor - Master Level, GPA Unit

Doina Popovici

Head of Assessment and Accreditation Services

Doina leads complex organizational maturity assessments under GPA Unit's proprietary maturity model evaluation frameworks, while shaping and reinforcing the assessors accreditation framework and its practical application across engagements. She brings extensive expertise in evaluating organizational maturity, ensuring that assessments are conducted with rigor and methodological integrity.

As an Accreditation Mentor, she is responsible for evaluating and accrediting candidates, while expanding and supervising the assessors' faculty and wider network of qualified assessors, ensuring full adherence to the Institute of Standards and Accreditation requirements. In this capacity, she safeguards the end-to-end quality of the assessment process by maintaining high standards in both assessor qualification and the rigor and reliability of assessment outputs.

Works with government, semi-government, and private sector organizations
Led over 10 maturity assessments in the past 18 months

GPAU Accredited Assessor - Expert Level, GPA Unit

Cristina Mihailoaie

Head of Innovation & Product Design

Cristina is the Head of Innovation & Product Design at the Global Performance Audit Unit, and a GPAU Accredited Assessor - Expert level.

Her professional views are shaped by over a decade of practice in research, advisory, and training in this field. Concerned with the development and application of maturity models, she has published academic papers and developed several maturity model iterations to ensure a relevant methodology for business practice.

Since 2014, when she became a Master Trainer authorized by the Association for Talent Development (USA), Cristina has designed and delivered training programs to executives around the globe on subjects related to KPIs, Balanced Scorecard, and GPAU's Maturity Models.

Certified Strategy & Performance
Maturity Assessment Practitioner

Who is this certification for?

What you'll learn

Skills you'll gain