Free Continued Professional Development Model from deGRANDSON Global
CPD is an ongoing process essential for maintaining professional standards and enhancing career development. By systematically engaging in CPD, you can ensure you remain competent, competitive, and capable of providing high-quality services in your chosen field.
Definition and Purpose of Continued Professional Development
CPD refers to tracking and documenting the skills, knowledge, and experience you gain formally and informally as you work beyond any initial training. It records what you experience, learn, and then apply. CPD’s purpose is to ensure that professionals remain competent and can provide the highest standards of practice.
But why does CDP Matter so much?
Importance of Continued Professional Development
- Keeping Up-to-Date: Helps professionals stay current with the latest developments in their field.
- Competence: Ensures ongoing competence to perform professional responsibilities.
- Career Advancement: Facilitates career growth and opportunities for promotion.
- Compliance: Meets the requirements of professional bodies and regulatory authorities.
- Improved Performance: Enhances the quality of work and service delivery.
- Professional Credibility: Demonstrates a commitment to professional growth and lifelong learning.
Key Components of Continued Professional Development
- Self-Assessment and Goal Setting:
- Begin with a self-assessment to identify current skills and areas for improvement.
- Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals.
- A typical goal would be to achieve 20 CPD Units (or CSU Units) per annum, at least 50% of that total achieved through Active Learning Activities.
- Learning Activities:
- Active Learning (Structured): Interactive and participation-based study. Examples: attending training courses, workshops, seminars, conferences, and e-learning courses with examination.
- Passive Learning (Reflective): Structured format with no participant-based interaction. Examples include watching training videos and tutorials and attending non-interactive lectures, industry briefings, podcasts, case studies, and industry updates.
- Self-directed Learning (Informal): Unaccompanied and unstructured learning with no specific time frames. Examples include discussions in forums, reading books, articles, and publications, and short e-learning without examinations.
- Research & Publications: Unaccompanied and unstructured learning with project-driven time frames. Examples include industry-specific news, research into relevant fields, or writing professional or trade publications and articles.
- Documentation:
- Keep a detailed record of CPD activities, including dates, descriptions, and outcomes.
- Use CPD logs or portfolios to organize and reflect on learning experiences.
- Reflection:
- Reflect on what has been learned and how it applies to practice and achieving your career objectives.
- Consider the impact on professional development and any areas that need further improvement.
- Evaluation:
- Regularly evaluate progress against CPD goals.
- Adjust goals and learning activities as needed based on the evaluation.
Some professional bodies have mandatory and customized CPD programs; if you are a member of such an organization, you should follow the professional body’s instructions.
For the rest of us, mere mortals, a general-purpose CPD program is required, so we developed the deGRANDSON CPD Model.
No International Standard for CPD
Surprisingly, there is no ISO or other international standard for CPD. In developing the deGRANDSON CPD Model, we followed the best international practice and derived rules for assigning CPD Units (sometimes called SCU Units in North America). Details of scoring for differing types of learning activities are given in the CPD Logbook.
Your CPD Logbook
A CPD Logbook is essential for recording all the various activities contributing to your professional development. It also provides objective evidence to current and potential employers of your commitment to keeping up-to-date and maintaining competence.
Click on the button below to download a copy of our CPD Logbook for your personal use. The Logbook is an Excel xlsb file and includes instructions for use and Examples. Enjoy.
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