BCM Institute | Blog

What is Competency and Expertise Level?

Written by Moh Heng Goh | May 26, 2021 11:11:54 AM

Linking closely to the BCM Body of Knowledge, there are two building blocks to support our participants' learning journey.  One is the Competency Level or CL, the other is the Level of Expertise or Expertise Level.

Competency Level

Each BoK is further divided into three level of competency or CL. They are the:

  1. Foundation (leading to "Planner" certification);
  2. Intermediate (leading to "Specialist" certification; and
  3. Advanced (leading to "Expert" certification.

The only exception is the BCM Audit course which starts from:

  1. Intermediate leading to "Auditor" certification; and
  2. Advanced leading to "Lead Auditor" certification.

Hence, in BCM Institute's course offering, our courses are often, referred to as "Foundation", "Intermediate" and "Advanced" level courses.

It useful to determine which level of competency that you are attending.  You can find out more by asking "What is My BCM (CM, CC, DR & Audit) Competency Level?"

 

Upon understanding how Competency Level (CL) is developed on how knowledge is acquired by the potential candidates. 

Expertise Level

All training syllabus within BCM Institute has been designed to assist professionals in upgrading their competency using the "Know, Do and Manage" Expertise Level.  This expertise level is applicable to the respective areas within BCM Institute's five domain of discipline.

KNOW

For professionals who would like to be acknowledged for their fundamental understanding of a given discipline.  It usually include personal who is involved in the project or programme but is lead by a designated BCM professional (For example, the Business Unit BCM Coordinator at the department or division level and for senior management being led by the Organisation BCM Coordinator))

DO


For professionals who would like to be acknowledged for their understanding and training of the intricacies and maintenance of their organization's plans be it for BCM, CM, CC or DR.
To obtain any of the disciplines’ (BC, CM, CC or DR) Specialist certification, one has to have at least one year of experience in the discipline of choice, pay an application fee and pass the relevant qualifying examination.
MANAGE

For professionals who are tasked to oversee and manage the organisation’s plans and would like to know how to implement, manage and maintain the plans.
They will be given the Expert certification only upon passing the appropriate qualifying Expert examination, have at least three years of experience and pay an application fee.

 

Level Expertise Level Competency Level Certification Level
1 Know Foundation Planner
2 Do Intermediate Specialist
3 Manage Advanced Expert

The Competency Level (CL) is a set of building blocks for BCM Institute's training and certification requirement. Each subject domain is broken into three distinct levels:

  1. Foundation (CL 1)
  2. Intermediate (CL 2)
  3. Advanced (CL 3)

There breakdown for each of the domain are as follows:

  • [A] [BCM Audit] CL 1B, CL 2A and CL 3A ;
  • [B} [Business Continuity Management] CL 1B, CL 2B and CL 3B;;
  • [C] [Crisis Management] CL 1C, CL 2C and CL 3C for crisis management domain
  • [CC] [Crisis Communication] CL 1CC, CL 2CC and CL 3CC; and
  • [DR} [Disaster Recovery] CL 1D, CL 2D and CL 3D.

 

   Expertise Level Know Do  Manage
Domain (Discipline) Course Code Competency Level (with Code)
Audit A CL 1B CL 2A CL 3A
Business Continuity B CL 1B CL 2B CL 3B
Crisis Management C CL 1C CL 2C CL 3C
Crisis Communication CC CL 1CC CL 2CC CL 3CC
Disaster Recovery D CL 1D CL 2D CL 3D

The arrangement of the tiers represents the increasing level of specificity and specialization of the BCM audit (A), business continuity (B), crisis management (C), crisis communication (CC), and disaster recovery (D) skills and knowledge content.

 

1. Foundation (CL 1)

You can view the summary of the terms used in BCM Body of Knowledge during the preparation of the examination here:

Course name You should be reading:
BCM-200  CL 1B
CM-200 CL 1C
CC-200 CL 1CC
DRP-200 CL 1D

 

2. Intermediate (CL 2)

You can view the summary of the terms used in BCM Body of Knowledge during the preparation of the examination here:

Course name You should be reading:
BCM-300  CL 1B CL 2B
CM-300 CL 1C CL 2C
CC-300 CL 1CC CL 2CC
DRP-300 CL 1D CL 2D

3. Advanced (CL 3)

You can view the summary of the terms used in BCM Body of Knowledge during the preparation of the examination here:

Course name You should be reading:
BCM-400 / BCM-5000  CL 1B CL 2B CL 3B
CM-400 / CM-5000 CL 1C CL 2C CL 3C
CC-400 / CC-5000 CL 1CC CL 2CC CL 3CC
DRP-400 / DRP-5000 CL 1D CL 2D CL 3D

 

You are strongly advise to read competency levels based on the course you are attending and attempt the practice exams questions before sitting for the actual exams.