Benefits of Continuing Professional Development (CPD): Career Ladder Awaits

There are numerous benefits of Continuing Professional Development. CPD courses and training can go a long way in reshaping and making a whole new career for you. It pinpoints all the lacking in an individual and fixes them through training and online courses. This article focuses on the essential elements of the benefits of CPD and how it is linked to career development. 

CPD Standards

The full form for CPD is “Continuing Professional Development”. As the name suggests, it is advantageous for any individual willing to develop themselves and their personal skills. Not only that, CPD helps reform poor work ethics too. It is considered a tool to brush up on your skills and knowledge. It also means glamouring your current skills and develop them to reach a new level. CPD courses make you look more desirable to employers. It opens up an opportunity for you to upskill and show more potential.

You could also expect promotions at the workplace after gaining skills through CPD certified courses. Moreover, most professions have a requirement for CPD. They prioritise professionals who are driven towards their personal development too by acquiring new and more polished skills. CPD has gained immense popularity in the UK as well. Well-structured CPD courses provide good training to individuals and help them bring better ideas into the workplace. 

Therefore, employers are very fond of it. And, some professions such as medicine, biomedical science, accountancy, law, etc., have to keep their CPD licence updated every year in order to practice legally. CPD courses vary to an extent. They can be either formal educational courses led by a professional tutor. Or, they can be professional training courses, workshops, seminars, etc. 

Mentoring students, workplace training- can also be considered as CPD. Thus, CPD comprises both formal and informal learning methods. One can take CPD on their own and learn at their own pace. Similarly, training can be given at their workplaces by trainers, coaches, etc. Workplace CPD training can be for various reasons. It can be done to make employees more efficient or due to a change in the business. 

 Types of CPD

There are 3 main types of CPD learning with their own corresponding benefits of Continuing Professional Development. Three types of CPD are- Active CPD, Passive CPD, Self-directed CPD. The differences between these are:

1. Active CPD

It involves learning in a more interactive way. It includes participation, opinion-sharing, brainstorming, and engaging with one another. So, if you choose to learn CPD in this way, you would have to attend training sessions, professional workshops, physical classrooms, conferences, etc. 

2. Passive CPD 

It does not involve any participation or engagement with one another. In this form of CPD, you only read several CPD certified articles, watch videos, stay up to date with industry information, etc. 

3. Self-directed CPD

This learning involves activities that you have to do on your own. It includes reading newspapers, articles, professionals newsletters, etc. Thus, the main idea is to keep yourself up to date with all professional news and keep an idea of what others from the same profession are doing.

Benefits of Continuing Professional Development

As mentioned above, CPD has numerous benefits for every individual. It brings in an advantage for any employee or even a CEO. At the workplace, CPD helps an individual to grow within a company or in their career. It not only teaches academic knowledge but also injects a lot of interpersonal and technical skills in an individual to do better in their chosen career path. 

Additionally, if you want to register yourself as a member in any professional recognising body such as CPA, FBA, or ACCA, having certified by CPD will make them value you even more. Usually, these professional bodies collaborate with CPD certified institutes and training centres. As a result, when they come across a professional who has done any sort of CPD, they automatically think that person will leave a fruitful contribution to that regulating body.

However, among these numerous benefits discussed, here are some of the other benefits that CPD will bring to you and help in your career path:

• Open new employment opportunities to even bigger organisations.
• Increase chances for a potential salary increase.
• Fill in the knowledge gap and brush your true potential.
• CPD professional training acts as an internship for most professions.
• Increases employer’s trust in your abilities. 
• Instil confidence and trust within oneself.
• Give professional recognition.

Therefore, the benefits of Continuing Professional Development are vast. CPD plays an important role in ensuring that you are always competent and efficient in your chosen profession. It also ensures that you are aware of all the new changes and developments in your profession. You can get to learn about any changes in your profession very quickly. In reality, it gets very difficult to do that in our hectic schedule, but CPD has made it possible for the ones undertaking it. 

CPD and Career Growth 

CPD and career are interlinked. Self-improvement for a person is the best thing for their career. And, this improvement comes from CPD to an extent. It would be wrong if we think that everyone will improve at the same pace. But, one can feel better thinking that they are at almost the same level as others in the same profession undertaking CPD. CPD would also allow your skills to be in the best position to showcase to the world and your employers. Thus, it would not only benefit you or your employer but will also benefit your future clients. 

Moreover, with CPD, your interest level remains the same in your profession. You remain more focused and have that curiosity to know more about the profession in general. You also tend to figure out your lacking and work on them accordingly. As a result, your efficiency at work increases too. This is because you start thinking that work is interesting and find certain tasks less monotonous and boring. So, you tend to show more interest at work and show more passion. Always keep in mind that interest and passion raise efficiency and gives a better end result. 

For self-employed individuals, CPD plays a role in your career and business growth too. It helps a business stay up to date with recent changes in legislation, government orders, etc. If any particular knowledge is required to make your business more profitable, CPD could do that too. CPD professionals are also well-trained to satisfy all regulatory organisations or government bodies’ standards and criteria. An individual business owner can improve their personal growth as well as make the business more extravagant to the public by using knowledge and ideas from CPD.

Final Thoughts

The benefits of Continuing Professional Development are proven and widely accepted by employers across industries. CPD is a very useful learning platform for all individuals. It not only gives your career a dramatic boost but also stays with you constantly in guiding you towards the right career path. So, it is irrelevant to which profession you belong to; being associated with any of the CPD learning platforms would take your future career to great heights.