The Importance of a Continuing Professional Development

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the process by which professionals continue to grow and learn. You can’t become certified in something by sitting at home. You have to go out and get an education. Professionals are usually those that are certified or licensed to practice in their respective fields. Lawyers, engineers, nurses, and social workers are some examples of professionals. With some professional designation, CPD is mandatory. If you do not keep up with the licensing requirements in some professional fields, you could lose your license. In other fields, the CPD is something that you simply attain to stay relevant in your field. Whatever your status, Continuing Professional Development is something that is recommended for all professionals.

What Exactly is Required to be Considered a Professional?

You will find that you can enact professional development through a variety of actions. You can go to school to upgrade your learning. For example, if you just have a degree and you want a professional designation, you might have to take a post-degree program in that field. You might even have to go back to school and take another degree. You will get credit for the time that you can transfer over, such as one- or two-year’s worth of coursework but will have to take the major classes in a field that are required to get that degree.

This cycle is usually the start of a profession. You can work in certain fields, such as HR, without an HR degree. However, more and more fields are becoming specialized. This is because there is certain technology and skills emerging that are just too difficult to teach on the job. People would rather hire others who have gone through the rigor of getting an education in that field.

Other fields, such as dentistry or law, require you to be certified in that area to practice. You have to belong to the licensing group in your country or state, or you cannot practice. You might be surprised by the industries that are regulated by licensing. Even hairstylists have to be licensed in their state after completing course work and an apprenticeship.

The Continuing Professional Development Cycle

Believe it or not, there is an actual cycle to CPD. This was developed to help simplify the process and categorize it. Some professionals just have to practice CPD on their own agenda. There is no regulatory body that is pushing them to develop their skills further. An example of this would be a freelance copywriter or journalist. While these people usually have education in their field, there is no continuing development for them. They might simply notice that they need to become competent in WordPress to get certain jobs. Some employers are willing to train, but there is nothing mandating journalists to go back to school to learn the digital landscape.

The cycle of CPD can be broken down into the following five categories:

1. Label your Plan

2. Start to Carve out your Actions

3. Reflection

4. Application

5. Disseminate Information Garnered

Step One: Label your Plan

To do this, you need to first see what needs improving. You can have a skills audit performed. Alternatively, you can ask for ideas and feedback from your boss or co-workers. Additionally, you may just have an interest in something and want to explore that career area further.

Step Two: Start to Carve out your Actions

You can do this either formally or informally. If you take the formal route, you will have to go to classes. You can always ask your employer if he/she is willing to pay the cost. You might though have to fork out the money and the time on your own schedule. Sometimes you can find some great evening or weekend classes.

In terms of informal training, you can easily do this on the job. You might be able to shadow someone. You can find ways to learn various aspects of the business. Keep in mind that you will not get recognition for this per say, but it might just improve your life. You might find you are more interested and feel more competent in certain areas that you shied away from before. You could even use it to apply for a better job in the future.

Step Three: Reflection

Not all learning has to be in a class or through instruction. You can keep a journal of your reflection time. Often nurses do this in their university course work. This is a lifelong learning skill though. You can specifically write down what you learned in a situation and how you might do it the same or differently in the future.

Step Four: Application

Learning is just the start. You start to implement what you discovered by action. In the unconscious incompetence stage, you just don’t know certain things. In the conscious incompetence stage, you do see there is a skills gap, but you are unable to bridge it yet. In the conscious competence stage, you are aware that you are doing something that you learned now. Finally, you enter the unconscious competence stage, where you have integrated a skill so seamlessly into your practice that you don’t even need to think about it anymore.

Step Five: Disseminate Information Garnered

This cycle is included by some experts. It’s important because you learn through sharing as well. Others might be able to give you tips on how to do it differently. All in all, the sharing will help others, but it will also help you fine tune these new skills.

Records

The most important part of CPD is records. You don’t want to go through all this progress in your field and not have it documented. For this reason, you should keep a journal of the time, situation, and skill that you learned. Make note of your certificates and photocopy them for easy reference. You can even make a note of your reading. The more notes that you have, the better that you can reference them. They also are an asset in job searching and interviews.