A Customized Approach: Celebrating the impact MSLLC & PCS have had on project controls education  

What does education have in common with eyeglasses, a helmet, and a tuxedo?  

A custom fit is best. 

In 2020, when Management Solutions launched Project Controls Solutions as a workforce development and recruiting firm committed to cultivating the next generation of project controls professionals, we made a commitment to customized education. 

A major facet of customization on a client-by-client basis is flexible delivery. We strive to meet our partners’ unique needs and understand the need to limit overhead costs. Therefore, our Academic Certificate in Project Controls and our professional development courses can be delivered through a variety of delivery models customized to the needs of our clients. 

Just as the delivery method is tailored to our clients’ specific needs, the learning program is designed to fit each individual student. Like a tailor, we start with a ‘fitting’ – an assessment. 

 First, we assess each project controls professional’s current knowledge and experience levels using our proprietary Project Controls Maturity Assessment (PCMA)©. This assessment is designed to help individuals and their managers better understand their current project controls competencies and create a development plan to expand those competencies. The report assesses individuals’ knowledge and experience across 25 core competencies split into three primary areas of project controls, which are: technical, behavioral, and contextual.

Understanding one’s strengths and weaknesses in these three areas will lead to personal and professional growth as well as higher levels of employee and employer satisfaction. The Project Controls Solutions team performs a gap analysis to identify which capabilities the employee needs to advance to his or her learning goal. A report is then generated on their current level of project controls expertise and customized recommendations for each student to reach his or her development goal. The result of the gap analysis is an individualized training program for each student. 

Once the training program is completed, Project Controls Solutions creates a customized recruiting/placement process for each client that will save time and money by delivering work-ready employees able to make an immediate impact, allowing the company to remain focused on their mission, not hiring and training. 

Customized training can also add value by reducing the human capital footprint needed to support a project.

Project Controls Solutions offers holistic training to ‘upskill’ both new and seasoned employees to broaden their skillsets.

For example, an employee might have 15 years of scheduling-only experience, and then by teaching them to be holistically trained with the PCS program, they would have the necessary skills to tackle a wider range of tasks. 

In addition to being certified by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), Project Controls Solutions is also a licensed certified provider of ECITB (Engineering and Construction Industry Training Board) training courses in the UK.

Our course for the ECITB Certificate in Project Controls takes 9 months to complete and teaches the skills, standards and qualifications for the development of the engineering construction workforce of Great Britain.    

Christine McLean, Project Controls Solutions' UK Office Managing Director and Director of Project Controls Training says, "Engineering organizations can choose to use Project Controls Solutions as a preferred training provider knowing that their capability has been assessed and that they will deliver excellent training.

 Our data-driven approach to training enables organizations to quantifiably track the progression of each student; thus, reducing any risks associated with traditional training assumptions of one size fits all." 

McLean has a long-standing interest in bringing the highest quality project controls training to as many people as possible. She serves as a route panel member for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IFATE), which is a government body whose vision is for a world-leading apprenticeships and technical education system that equips people from all backgrounds for skilled occupations contributing to increased economic productivity. 

“To date over 200,000 individuals have started on apprenticeships during my tenure,” added McLean.

 “I’d like to think I have played a small part in changing the lives, careers and social mobility for each and every individual.” 

The Importance of Affirmation in the Workplace 

Often leaders think of affirmations as just a feel-good practice that doesn’t have a substantive impact on their employees or their team’s performance. However, the reality is that positive affirmation has profound effects on both employee performance and development. As a result, it’s a vital tool for leaders and something that’s an integral part of the most high-performing teams.  

Here’s why positive affirmation is so important and how the best leaders integrate it into the DNA of their teams.  

Benefits of Positive Affirmation  

Affirmation in the workplace has clear benefits not only for building relationships between leaders and their teams, but for developing each employee.    

According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, verbal affirmations are key for building trust and solid relationships between leaders and employees. They play a critical role in establishing a supportive and secure workplace culture. Further, they make employees feel appreciated and help them to feel good about themselves. 

Additionally, positive affirmation helps employees to develop because it takes the guesswork out of what’s expected of them. By letting employees know what they’re doing well, they have a better understanding of what’s expected and can consistently get better at their roles.  

Further, consistent affirmation leads to improved morale, increased engagement, and a healthy workplace culture. All of this leads to increased productivity, increased employee retention, and better outcomes.  

Despite the clear benefits, a recent Gallup Poll found that 2 out of 3 people receive no workplace recognition. Not surprisingly, a U.S. Department of Labor survey found that the number one reason people give for leaving their job is that they “don’t feel appreciated.”  

The takeaway here for leaders should be that affirmation has clear and concrete benefits, yet it’s a practice that is underused by too many managers.  

How the Best Leaders Affirm Their Teams

The most effective leaders have learned how to integrate positive feedback and affirmations into their team’s culture. While there are a number of ways to provide team members with positive feedback, verbal affirmation is thought to be the most effective and efficient way to do so. 

As you consider ways to incorporate more positive affirmations into your culture, here are some things to keep in mind: 

 Be specific. It’s important to let team members know exactly what they did well on a specific task. Providing specific feedback helps to let employees know that you’re truly paying attention to their contribution, and it helps to provide them with helpful guidance on what to do well in the future. Specificity is vital for ensuring that affirmations help employees constantly develop and provide clarity about what’s expected from them. 

Be authentic. While regular affirmation is important, it’s vital that managers are authentic when providing this type of feedback. If you’re not being genuine, employees will be able to tell, and the feedback will end up having negative impacts. Instead, always be authentic and honest when providing positive affirmations. 

Be timely. When a team member does something well, provide them with timely feedback. Waiting too long makes it less meaningful and beneficial. 

Find the right quantity balance. You don’t want to provide too many positive affirmations, as they’ll lose their meaning. At the same time, it’s important to regularly provide all team members with positive feedback. This can be a difficult balance to strike but finding the right frequency will make the affirmations more impactful. 

Why the MSLLC Team Values Affirmation 

MSLLC is proud to have a high-performing team that consistently offers excellent delivery to clients. One of the ways we’ve developed such an impressive team is by following the research on affirmations and appreciating the role that positive affirmation plays. We’ve seen firsthand the impacts it can have on individuals and teams and encourage all leaders to commit to incorporating positive affirmation into their company culture this year.