Certification is a critical phase to ensure the success of a training effort. When training participants are informed in advance that they will have to achieve a certain level of skill certification, to some degree this creates a "self-fulfilling prophecy" of training success. Participants know they will be tested and assessed after the training, so they tend to engage more fully and the training is more successful. But beyond this effect, the certification also help to pinpoint areas or individuals where additional training is needed, and ultimately ensures effective knowledge and skill transfer. The keys to an effective certification phase are to set specific performance standards that provide positive incentives for achievement and negative consequences for non-performance.