Why is CPD important?

With the rate of advancement for technology and the constant creation of new techniques, it is more important than ever for professionals to keep their finger on the pulse and progress their development at the same rate. 

Job specifications are adapting to the new landscape, and so should your skillset. 

Continuing Professional Development can help with this, but what is it, how does it work and more importantly, why does it matter? 

What is CPD? 

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is any type of learning that you take part in which increases your knowledge, understanding and experiences for your professional role.  

CPD is essentially a gateway into a lifetime of learning, growing and development. This can be as simple as taking a training course, brushing up on a skill or two, or as complex as taking an entirely new course to reach a new qualification. 

It can take from a few afternoons of online workshops to a whole year or more of intense studying, but the goal is always to help enhance your professional career. 

Why is CPD important? 

Continuing professional development can have different levels of importance depending on your job role and career aspirations. 

It also heavily depends on the sector. Certain sectors such as education and healthcare are advancing at a much higher rate than others and require a more consistent level of education to keep abreast of the latest changes. 

The most common reasons across all sectors are: 

CPD provides an opportunity to analyse skills 

Continuing professional development gives you the opportunity, incentive and drive to truthfully analyse your capabilities and confidence across the necessary skills to succeed in your role.  

Having a clear view of your strengths and weaknesses can be crucial in many situations whether it’s determining which projects you’re best suited for to achieve success or providing thoughtful answers in job interviews.  

CPD fills gaps in skillset 

Once you know where you need to improve your skills, the continuing professional development process can help you fill those gaps with detailed, subject-specific training. This can not only improve your overall abilities but also your confidence and efficiency. 

With the rise of AI, it is easy to form an over-reliance on the tools provided by LLMs like ChatGPT. These tools make it extremely easy to find information and get the answers to problems you are looking for. While we believe that AI brings many benefits to the efficiency of certain roles or can enhance studies and learning programmes, the confidence and knowledge built by CPD gives you a more thorough foundation to work from. 

If you are more confident and knowledgeable in your field, you can utilise tools such as ChatGPT to even greater effects. 

CPD updates and refreshes knowledge 

Many job roles, particularly those that handle various legal matters, require individuals to stay up to date with the latest rules, regulations and practices. Continuing professional development is one of the best ways to ensure that you stay up to date with these so that you, and your employer, can be compliant and effective regarding these matters.  

Continuing professional development is also a good way to refresh skills that, while they may not change over time, can be forgotten or mixed in with bad habits. For example, while many managers have a good grasp of their daily responsibilities, they often enrol on a CMI Management & Leadership course to refresh their knowledge of management best practice.  

CPD improves career prospects 

One of the biggest benefits of continuing professional development is that it can help you improve your career prospects – either by giving you the ability to take on more responsibility within your current role, developing the skills you need to get a promotion, or improving your employability in the eyes of future employers.  

As well as developing key skills needed to advance, the simple act of investing your time and energy in continuing professional development makes you stand out in a competitive jobs market as it demonstrates your commitment to continuous improvement and a willingness to learn.  

With the advanced skill set and job role that can come with continuous professional development, you may also find that you can increase your salary significantly.   

Types of CPD 

There are many types of learning that count as continuing professional development, and one size does not fit all.  

Now that there is a whole new generation entering the job market, a study from the CPD Standards Office shows that younger professionals benefit a lot more from online courses and self-taught learning. They have grown up with information at their fingertips and therefore benefit more from the quicker nature of digital learning.  

Generally, continuing professional development refers to formal learning experiences, however, there are informal methods too.  

CPD through accredited professional courses 

Accredited professional courses provide you with a formal qualification from one (or more) of the following: 

• A sector-specific professional body – professional bodies such as the CMI, CIPD, Propertymark, APM or CLC develop detailed training programmes for a single sector. These qualifications are delivered through training providers like MOL Learn and are often highly regarded by those in the relevant industry.  

• The CPD Certification Service –set standards and assess formal training courses developed by providers across the UK. They are a leading certification body covering all industries. 

• A university or college – many educational institutes deliver high-level training (often in conjunction with a professional body) designed to be completed over a longer period. These are often focused on a particular specialism in an industry.  

CPD through accredited short courses 

Short courses can help you develop a niche skillset or fill gaps in your existing knowledge. This form of continuing professional development can be either directly related to your role (e.g. Conflict Management for managers), or general courses designed to help anyone in a workplace (e.g. First Aid).  

Depending on the topic, some of the modules on longer accredited professional courses can be delivered individually as short courses to help you refresh or develop skills in that single area.  

CPD through conferences & seminars 

One of the more informal ways to carry out your CPD is to attend conferences and seminars where industry experts and leaders share their ideas, learnings and updates. For example, the CIPD host several conferences throughout the year designed to help HR and L&D professionals share ideas and stay up to date with the latest requirements.  
While you will not always gain a qualification from these experiences, attending conferences and seminars is a particularly useful way to ensure your knowledge and skills are up to current industry standards.   

CPD through self-directed learning 

An often-overlooked form of continuing professional development is self-directed learning e.g. reading books, reading articles, or listening to industry podcasts.  

While formal training and arranged talks are undeniably beneficial, you can learn a lot from regularly checking in with what others in your industry are saying. You can learn new techniques for your role, discover new technology to streamline your work and learn from others’ experiences to support you with challenges you might face.  

An efficient way to learn by yourself is called microlearning, and involves small and regular check-ins with bite-sized ways of learning, such as 4 minute long videos, small assessments and even a slideshow presentation that is 2 slides long. 

How to keep on top of your continuing professional development 

As we’ve discussed, there is a lot that can go into continuing professional development – here are our tips to make it easier: 

1. Identify your weaknesses – this will help you determine which topics you need training in and to what level. 

2. Evaluate your career aspirations – once you know what your career goals are, you can find out if there are qualifications or forms of CPD that will help you get there. 

3. Set a schedule – no matter what method of CPD you undertake, you will find it easier to keep up by setting a sensible schedule to stick to. 

4. Check-in with your line manager – stay accountable and get an objective view of your progress through regular appraisals with your line manager. 

5. Sign up for newsletters – easily stay up to date with the latest news and developments by signing up for newsletters from experts and professional bodies in your industry.  

Continuing professional development is essential to ensuring you can perform at a high level in your current role and advance in your career. At MOL, we specialise in professional qualifications accredited by recognised industry awarding bodies in Human Resources, Learning & Development, Management & Leadership, Project Management, Conveyancing, and Property Agency.  

With a wide range of online resources, high-quality self-study materials and interactive live and recorded webinars you’ll learn from experts; with our tutors on hand to give you all the support you need.  

Browse our courses  or get in touch with our Qualification Advisors on 03452 032 103  to take the next step in your professional development journey.