Continuous Professional Development plans – are they just a one off, tick box exercise?

Those of us who have taken any kind of professional HR qualification will have been asked to put together a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) plan, but how many of us have reviewed or utilised it since?

I am Anna Sheldon, HR Operations Manager in HR Path UK and I, for one, know that mine is sitting in a folder somewhere covered in dust! I have no idea what I thought would be important for my career growth all those years ago and in fact, that’s the whole point of continuous professional development…whatever I put on my plan back in 2019 is most probably not even relevant to today’s HR landscape.

Whether you are providing administrative support, or are delivering strategic HR decision making, keeping on top of ever-changing laws, regulations, best practices and technologies is vital. While it is easy to become immersed in our day to day tasks, teams and targets, ignoring our own professional development may ultimately devalue us as an asset to the business.

Being able to identify and rectify gaps in our knowledge not only enables us to provide up to date advice and guidance, but also ensures that we don’t fall behind in any potential career opportunities’. Being able to demonstrate that continuous professional development is an integral part of your focus may just put you ahead of the pack when looking for promotion or a new role.

So how do you go about reviewing and enhancing your continuous professional development plan?

CPD planning involves elements of self-reflection, starting with evaluating how you feel about your career at the moment and where you would like to it to be in the future. The next steps are identifying what you need to do and what skills you need to acquire to enable you to get there.

This may include training programmes and qualifications, however there are also many free resources available to us all. TED Talks, white papers, shadowing and mentoring are a great way to keep up to date with learning and development. HR Path regularly broadcast webinars and blogs and on Linkedin publish insights into trends that are current and important within the HR community.

Staying on track and regular reviews are what is going to prevent your CPD plan gathering dust! Being able to demonstrate all of the things you have done, and ensuring your document is an ever evolving plan of action will help motivation to keep on top of your goals.

If you would like for HR Path to provide your business with further guidance on continual professional development, or on any other aspect of HR, Admin or Payroll support, please contact us by emailing helpdesk.uk@hr-path.com and one of our incredible team of professionals will be in touch.