'People CMM is a model that can guide companies to become an employer of choice' - Dr Bill Curtis, Co-founder and Chief Scientist, TeraQuest Metrics Inc, USA

–Dr Bill Curtis,


Co-founder and Chief Scientist, TeraQuest Metrics Inc, USA. size="2" color="#000000">

align="right" border="0">Dr Bill
Curtis is widely known for his Software Capability Maturity Model (Software CMM), a
framework for the successful implementation of software projects. To incorporate changes
at the organizational level, he has propounded a new model-People CMM. The People CMM is a
framework for attracting, developing, motivating, organizing and retaining an outstanding
workforce. Apart from his above accomplishments, he has also directed research on advance
computing technologies, developed software productivity and quality measurement systems
and evaluated software engineering methods. Today, as the Chief Scientist at TeraQuest
Metrics Inc, USA, which he co-founded in 1993, he teaches management teams how to
orchestrate change and lead assessments of organization capability. In an interview to
DATAQUEST, Dr Curtis provided insights into the application of
People CMM and its benefits. Read on:

Can you summarize People CMM?

People have become the most important resource of any knowledge-based organization.
Organizations, specially in the software sector, are facing tremendous problems of high
attrition, due to the new 'raw material' of organizations. The People CMM defines
processes for managers to improve the capability and motivation of the workforce. It
directly impacts the capability of the people in an organization to apply their knowledge
and organize themselves to build superior products. It leads the companies to maximize the
integration of their pooled knowledge base to enhance organizational productivity. It
helps the companies to integrate improvements in process and workforce. Moreover, People
CMM looks at the `strategic business plan', identifying competencies to give a company a
unique value in the marketplace and tailoring all the practices and processes to develop
those competencies.

What are the fundamental
differences between the earlier Software CMM and People CMM?

When we devised the Software CMM, we incorporated the best practices for the successful
implementation of projects in software companies. So in essence, the Software CMM is a
'project-led' model for the professional processes of software development. On the other
hand, People CMM is 'activity-led' and lays down the guidelines for the whole organization
and not individual projects. These workforce activities are focused to increase the
capability and motivation of the workforce, resulting in superior end products.

However, as the base of both the models has
been the process maturity framework, there exist architectural similarities between these
models. The key similarity is that both these models are primarily a `process'
model-either for producing a good software project or a capable and
motivated workforce . Moreover, the broad guidelines for conducting
improvement programs are same for both the models like identification of competencies and
defining key process areas (KPA).

What are the initial steps required
to adopt People CMM?

First and foremost, the top management must stress on the importance of adoption of such a
model. It has to commit itself to the fact that the development of people in an
organization is a serious responsibility of the management. If the management is willing
to commit itself on these issues, then it can use People CMM to guide its efforts in
improving the workforce practices. The commitment should be followed by an assessment
regarding the fundamental problems faced by an organization. Following the assessment, the
management has to identify a set of problems and look for remedial measures.

l What is the significance of People CMM for the Indian software industry?

The software industry in India and elsewhere is characterized by a marked similarity-acute
shortage of software professionals. Moreover, future competition is expected to be
cut-throat and very brutal for this sector. To face competition, it is imperative for
organizations to achieve the 'preferred employer' status to retain, motivate and attract
the best talent. People CMM is a model that can guide companies to become an employer of
choice. I was surprised by the number of Indian companies asking for specific guidance on
the People CMM as they are implementing some aspects of People CMM in their organizations.

If an Indian company is assessed at
level 4 or 5 on the People CMM, how will this help it in getting more overseas business?
ISO certification and CMM assessments have helped, but will the People CMM assessment
provide marketing mileage?

Getting a level 4 or 5 assessment on the People CMM will contribute to attracting and
retaining the best software development talent. It will also contribute to improving and
aligning performance across the entire company. A reputation for employing and developing
the top talent is an important differentiator in competing for business. As the software
talent shortage worsens, those with a reputation for retaining highly competent software
engineers will find they are preferred as a reliable source of software development.

You have only mentioned the
software industry as a recipient for your model. Is the model equally applicable to other
industry segments as well?

We had designed the People CMM so that it can be applied to any
knowledge-intensive business. We have given special emphasis on the software segment
because of the acute need to stem out the high-attrition rate prevalent here. However, any
sector that believes that human talent is the key to its success can incorporate People
CMM model.

Identification of competencies and
defining KPAs are the mainstay of People CMM. Is it possible that with continuous
technological upheavals many of these will need to be redefined later on?

Well, the changes may not be as dramatic in People CMM as compared to the Software CMM. In
the Software CMM, any change in the technology would warrant a change in the process to
support the paradigm shift. However, the core of People CMM is continuous upgrading. The
organization needs to be constantly re-evaluating its competencies, training needs,
processes and should be continuously developing and updating them. A sharp focus on change
is an integral part of the process and would definitely help in managing any paradigm
shift.

The development of corporate
intranets has not particularly helped in the deployment of knowledge management systems.
Will People CMM facilitate this process?

If an organization wants to deploy the knowledge management systems on an intranet, it
requires a tremendous amount of commitment. The effectiveness of deploying knowledge
management system depends on the process maturity level of the organization. Immature or
level 1 companies are too chaotic to capture and retain much information. Mature or level
4 and 5 companies will disseminate information widely. Mature organizations will capture
information and use it to maximize productivity.

Under what circumstance do
organizations move up the maturity ladder and what is your Indian experience about the
same?

From my experience, I have found that organizations, at least in the US, realize that
something needs to be done only after they have courted disaster with the current
processes and setups. Companies that are fed up with the resulting chaos realize that if
something is not done quickly then their very existence may be in jeopardy. However, I
think the Indian companies are a step ahead in avoiding the pitfalls that their US
counterparts have encountered. I am struck by the extent to which Indian companies are
implementing the basic processes without debating every little issue. Unlike Indian
software companies, US companies tend to spend more time debating the issues raised by the
model. Indian companies have identified the actions necessary to become a professional
software developer and are not waiting until disaster strikes to initiate preventive
measures.

The Economic Value Added (EVA) is
another model incorporating qualitative changes in an organization and also quantifying
the benefits. Is it possible to quantify the benefits of People CMM?

I believe you can. We can quantify the capability of the workforce and the efficiency with
which things get done. Unlike EVA, People CMM does not define a formula for quantifying
the benefits of the model. However, it has to be kept in mind that EVA formulae derivation
uses well-defined accounting practices. Standard defined measures are not available in the
areas covered by the People CMM. The organizations implementing the model have to decide
on how best to quantify the benefits of People CMM. One measure that has been very
important to companies adopting the People CMM is the voluntary turnover rate. One company
that has successfully deployed the People CMM reported a reduction in its voluntary
turnover rate. We also want to measure the level of skills across the organization and how
we are deploying these skills? This could help in quantifying the capability of the entire
workforce and the performance level of the organization. We also want to measure the
alignment of performance at the team, unit and organization levels. Nevertheless,
reductions in the turnover rate is a good measure to start with to quantify the
qualitative benefits or harms due to implementing People CMM.

Theoretically, how long will it
take for a company to progress from level 1 to level 5?

It is very hard to pin down the progression from one level to the next, as it is entirely
dependent on the people and the organization implementing the model. For example, an
ISO-certified company, maintaining its consistency might be able to progress faster than a
non-ISO certified company. So the upward movement will entirely depend on the management's
focus and can take anything between one to two years. This success or failure of not only
People CMM but also any model like TQM, BPR, Team Empowerment and et al will depend
heavily on the management's commitment to the objectives.

Can you summarize the environment
in the level 4 or level 5 companies?

Organizations that reach higher levels of People CMM have a tremendous knowledge
about the capability of their workforce and they know how to convert capability into
performance. They have a very clear understanding of skills in a given competency. These
organizations have clearly defined the progression of employees in terms of training
needs, career development and other activities. They have developed the measures to manage
the growth of skills to achieve the set targets. Very sophisticated training practices,
flexible compensation strategies and the likes are the hallmarks of highly mature
organizations. They are continuously evaluating quantitatively the practices to see if
they are working and generating the required skills. They are focused on growing skills of
employees and converting these skills into performance.

How do the job roles of astronauts
and aircraft pilots relate to level

4 and 5?

The organizations utilizing the skills of an astronauts and a pilot have very
sophisticated people management practices to accomplish the high level of performance that
they have been credited with. Like mature organizations, they feel that these are critical
practices to support the improvement of the processes that they are implementing.

How does business success and
implementation of People CMM correlate?

For the success of any organization it is necessary that there exist efficient processes,
the technology and a pool of talented people. The full understanding and successful
integration of these forces can result in the creation of a strong and powerful
organization. The People CMM provides the necessary framework for ensuring that an
organization maintains the skills to execute its strategic business plan.

Can an organization flounder even
if it has integrated these three forces?

Definitely. If an organization has wrongly defined its business strategy, even a
successful integration of the three forces cannot avert a disaster. If the company does
not have a right strategy, the right product or the right direction, then no model can
save the company. All these tools can only complement executive leadership, they cannot
replace it.

Which are the companies
implementing People CMM?

There are a number of companies in the process of implementing People CMM. Citicorp was
the first company to implement the model giving us the confidence in the approach. Other
companies that have conducted the People CMM improvement activities include GDE Systems,
Boeing, Ericsson Research Canada, US Army Logistic Center at Fort Lee, Nova Nordisk in
Denmark, Motorola and the Software Engineering Institute where the model was created.

YOGRAJ VARMA and ARUN
SHANKAR,

in New Delhi.