Book Review: People CMM 2nd Edition

Authors: Bill Curtis, William E. Hefley & Sally A. Miller

People Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM)   is a  Human Capital Management framework developed by Carnegie Mellon University. This framework is based on the best practices of diverse fields like human resources, knowledge management, and organizational development.
The purpose of this  framework is to help organizations to establish and characterize the maturity of their workforce practices and align these practices with their business objectives. P-CMM  also serves as a guide for an organization’s continuous workforce development  program .
There is no denying the fact that success of an organization is largely dependent on the talent of its workforce.  An effective implementation of P-CMM will enable the organization to attract, develop, motivate, organize and retain its talented people.
This book describes the  People Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM) in totality and is the single authoritative and valid reference for internal assessments and SCAMPI appraisals based on this model. It is a very significant contribution to the Human Capital Management literature.

The book is structured in two  main parts.
Part One  – Rationale and evolution of the People CMM; process maturity concepts; model’s  structure ; interpretation of the model’s practices; case studies of People CMM implementation.
Part Two – Key practices (the individual, managerial, and organizational practices that contribute to maturing workforce capability)of all the process areas identified in People CMM .

Though the book is very well structured, it is not an easy read . Moreover it is written in a very generic bureaucratic language with lots of repetitions throughout the book. This is to some extent understandable since the book has evolved from a technical report and is  meant to be used by process experts , auditors and assessors.  But the rest of the readers will have difficulty in interpreting this framework in the context of their organization. They will require professional help !

Nevertheless this is one book which line managers should refer to for structured implementation of the effective business value-adding workforce practices .

Publication Details: Published:2009; Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional ;  Hardcover: 694 pages.

Links:

  • People CMM – Explored: A Quick Overview – This presentation provides a high level overview of the People CMM® model. This presentation can be used for gaining an initial awareness of key features of the model, and to understand the set of benefits that can be expected. I highly recommend going through this presentation before you start reading the book.
  • People Capability Maturity Model Version 2.0, 2nd Edition – This technical report covers more than 80 % content of the book. It does not contain experience reports and case studies discussed in the book.
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One Response to Book Review: People CMM 2nd Edition

  1. Rajesh Naik says:

    Thanks for reviewing this book. I am sure it will be useful to folks wanting to improve their people management systems.

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