What is Continuing Professional Development?
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is a long-term commitment to enhancing your competence. Maintaining your CPD is a requirement for all CIBSE members and those who hold Engineering Council registration. CPD is a way of improving and broadening your knowledge and skills. It is about learning and putting into practice new competencies, an investment in your future. Every time you face a new challenge, find out about a new component, or read the technical press, you are engaged in learning.
When you change job roles or move employers there is an even steeper learning curve which is also part of your CPD/development. Often a new job brings increased responsibility for the work of others, and demands a rapid and systematic upgrading of your management skills. Increasing seniority will require leadership skills, as well as training, developing and mentoring others. This demands new learning on your part. Any organisational change will always provide, at a personal level, important CPD and includes the legislation that matters i.e. bribery, security etc.
Why is CPD important?
CPD will build your knowledge and understanding to help you deal with the emergence of new demands and priorities in the profession, changes in the law or regulations, and new challenges at work.
It should be used to maintain your professional competency and fill in the gaps in your knowledge, while building on your strengths.
What you know about your own strengths and weaknesses will strongly influence the direction you take; sometimes an annual performance appraisal will prompt this kind of self-examination.
This should help to ensure that building on your strengths drives some of the development activities you choose.