Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the term used to describe the supplementary learning that professionals undertake. This could mean honing current skills, it could mean developing them to a new level, or it could mean learning new ones that will allow a professional’s job role to expand or prepare them for potential promotion.
CPD activities can range from formal educational activities such as instructor-led training courses, workshops or seminars, to more informal approaches such as work-based learning or mentoring. CPD can also include self-directed study such as e-learning courses and structured reading.
By you engaging in CPD activities, you are making sure that neither your academic nor your practical qualifications will become obsolete, as CPD activities offer you the opportunity for upskilling, regardless of where you are in your career, your age, or even your level of education.
Apart from enhancing your skillset, engaging in CPD activities also prepare you to adapt to the ever-changing work environment while also showing your commitment to self-development and professionalism.
The benefits of CPD for individuals at a glance:
- Helps you stay relevant and up to date with changing trends;
- Helps you become more effective in the workplace;
- Helps enhance your knowledge and skill to supply a better service;
- Helps you keep pace with the current standards of others in the same field;
- Helps you to stay interested and interesting;
- Helps you stay competitive among your peers in the same field.
Benefits of CPD to an EmployerA
LinkedIn report in 2018 showed that 94% of employees would stay with their current employer longer if there was more investment in training. To keep staff engaged and in the business at such a high rate is a compelling argument for offering CPD to staff.
Your employer spends a lot of money taking on you and your colleagues, whatever the industry you are in. Conservative estimates say that
it will cost your employer, on average, around £3,000 to hire a new member of staff. That money can be better spent offering CPD and personal development for you instead.
Your employer is likely to already know the benefits of investing in having you and your colleagues CPD certified in a range of skills. Those benefits include:
- A better, more effective workforce with up-to-date knowledge and skills;
- A more engaged and happier team that feels rewarded for their work;
- Lower staff turnover as the team feels more committed to the job;
- Better employee retention because they feel invested in;
- Meeting legal and regulatory requirements in certain fields;
- A modern, skilled group of employees who can drive the business to success.
You can refer to this list of benefits if you want to approach your employer to ask them to send you on a CPD training course, too.