{"id":1675,"date":"2023-11-07T12:46:25","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T12:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gravitashr.co.uk\/?p=1675"},"modified":"2023-11-07T12:48:36","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T12:48:36","slug":"continuing-professional-development-burden-or-benefit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gravitashr.co.uk\/blog\/business\/continuing-professional-development-burden-or-benefit\/","title":{"rendered":"Continuing Professional Development \u2013 Burden or Benefit?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When people think of Continual Professional Development<\/em> (CPD) they often see it is a burden or annual chore to be completed. However, there are undoubted benefits to CPD that are hard to ignore. For some businesses CPD is a requirement, and for others a choice, but in either case it can be very useful to employers.<\/p>\n

What is CPD? <\/strong><\/p>\n

In general terms, CPD is an activity that develops the individual in relation to their profession or trade. What those activities are, can vary. Development comes in many forms. Training is probably the most obvious activity and \u00a0probably the most common one. However, it is a mistake to only think in terms of formal training. CPD is about development and that may not always be about sitting in a classroom. As long as the activity is clearly and measurably developing the professional in some way related to their job, it could potentially be considered as CPD.<\/p>\n

The problem is how the individual proves they have undertaken CPD and how much each activity is worth. The validity of what can be claimed as CPD has been a bone of contention in the past and, in the worst cases, can result in professional paying lip service to it rather than acting in the spirit of the process.<\/p>\n

What constitutes good continuing professional development?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In some professions, such as legal and financial areas, continual development is a demand of the governing body.<\/em> In those cases, the need is pretty cut and dried, but again what constitutes CPD, and how much it is worth in terms of the annual requirement, varies. One of the easiest ways to deal with these variables is to stick to activities that have been allocated points by a CPD accreditation service. That is not to say that other activities are automatically less valuable, but just as with a formal qualification the CPD approval means the activity has been checked and approved against set criteria. The CPD Group have a good example of what they consider appropriate training content for CPD on their website here<\/a>. The framework they have in place to check the quality of training in relation to development means all training bearing their CPD mark and number has been reviewed and approved as being worth the points.<\/p>\n

Other activities you may see besides training are slightly more difficult to assess for CPD but should still meet an appropriate standard. They could include:<\/p>\n