Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

 


Introduction

Continuous Professional Development is an ongoing process of improving, maintaining, and documenting the skills of professionals such as doctors, engineers, teachers, accountants, nurses, lawyers, HR, Marketing, and IT professionals (SkillsYouNeed, 2017).

Further, CPD can be explained as a process of tracing and recording the skills, knowledge, and experience those professionals obtain both formally and informally as they work, beyond their basic training (Johnstone, 2019).

Some professions are required to formally complete their CPD and record it on an annual basis when renewing their membership from a professional body or taking a license to perform in the field. In other areas, CPD is considered informal and professionals themselves are committed to learning and improving their skills in a professional capacity.

Importance of CPD

The world is changing every day, especially in economy, society, knowledge, and technology. To face these challenges, professionals should grow professionally and personally with new knowledge, skills, abilities, and strategies in respect of profession of competence and application of new technology, long and continuously from the beginning of the profession to continue until the end of life (Jovanova-Mitkovska, 2010).

CPD helps employees, employers, and industry to maintain and improve knowledge and skills and help to adapt to change. Employees can gain a new skill set that enables them to improve their prevailing skills which require in the work and it helps to boost confidence and empowers the individual to become more professional in their role. Further CPD helps individuals to adapt positively to changes in work or industry and motivates the employees. CPD helps organizations to improve their reputation and save time and money on training.

CPD Cycle

Figure:1 - CPD Cycle (SkillsYouNeed, 2017)

The process of CPD is designed to help to understand and act own development needs. CPD cycle is an interrelated process. There are five steps in the CPD cycle which explain below (SkillsYouNeed, 2017);

Identifying needs

The first of the CPD cycle is to identify the skills and knowledge gaps between current and future requirements. By Completing a simple self-assessment or needing an analysis to identify current weaknesses and any future areas which can be developed to improve professional skills and knowledge.

Planning

After identifying the skills shortage and areas needed to be developed then create a set of specific objectives and decided on activities to be done.

Acting/Doing

The next step is to attend various kinds of learning or training activities mainly including CPD accredited training, educational programs, participating events, online courses, webinars, and other training and development activities that help to achieve the learning objectives, improve, and develop weak areas and fulfill knowledge gaps.

Reflecting on learning

After doing CPD activities, it is required to reflect upon the success of that activity. Then it should be applied to practical situations and measure the success of the training.

Implement new learning

The final stage of the CPD Cycle is to apply new knowledge and skills to the current workplace, completing the full process of the CPD Cycle.

Conclusion


Continuing professional development (CPD) is a continuing process, as well as a cycle. Professionals are likely to continue to learn during their professional life. It is therefore a good suggestion to develop a process for it that works for individuals at an early stage of their professional career. CPD can be considered an investment made within ourselves as professionals, it is very important to plan development directly linked to practice. CPD helps to keep skills and knowledge up to date and prepares us for the next level. It helps to boost our confidence, strengthen professional credibility and become more creative in facing new challenges (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2022).

References

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, (2022). About CPD, London. Available at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/learn/cpd/about#gref (accessed: 01 May 2022)

Johnstone, L. (2019). What is Continuing Professional Development (CPD)?. Available at: https://career-advice.jobs.ac.uk/career-development/what-is-continuing-professional-development-cpd/ (accessed: 01 May 2022)

Jovanova-Mitkovska, S., (2010) The need of continuous professional teacher development. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), pp.2921-2926.

SkillsYouNeed (2017) Continuous Professional Development. Available at: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/continuing-professional-development.html (accessed: 01 May 2022)

Comments

  1. Rohitha Samarathunge4 May 2022 at 10:47

    Professional development is considered an essential element in enhancing the teaching and learning process to ensure student learning. Professional development can also be deemed as a cornerstone of teacher professionalism and quality. The governments and educational institutions invest significantly in Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to improve teacher quality and to meet the changing needs of the students

    ReplyDelete
  2. maduwanthisilva.blogspot.com5 May 2022 at 04:05

    In the constantly changing business world, continuing professional development has become essential component.It is a process of training and developing professional knowledge and skills through independent and interactive learning process to improve capabilities. CDP helps to learn in a structured and practical format.(LSBF, 2019)

    ReplyDelete
  3. sampathJ7 May 2022 at 04:30

    Irrespective of your company’s size, employees are your most valuable asset. To attract top workers and retain them, you need to invest in a solid employee training and development strategy tom improve organizational culture. This way, you will ensure that your employees have the skills your organization needs. Most importantly, you will boost their satisfaction, loyalty, and engagement. In today’s overcrowded market, where there are numerous businesses similar to yours, attracting top talent is challenging. To set themselves apart from competitors, many businesses focus on establishing a solid employer brand across multiple online channels, such as their website, paid ads, social networks, business review platforms, and so forth. Therefore, you could build an employer brand development strategy to tell your brand’s story, shape your brand message, and build relationships with the candidates that share your values.

    ReplyDelete

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