If you are going to maximise your potential for lifetime employability, it is essential that you maintain high levels of professional competence by continually upgrading your skills and knowledge.
A successful CPD programme will meet the goal of creating an environment that enables you to remain professionally competent throughout your working life. This is done by providing information and guidance to assist you to develop your expertise in recognising and planning your learning needs, recording the activities which you undertake to satisfy those needs and thus maximise your employability.
You should undertake CPD to enable you to:
- Be better able to recognise opportunities
- Be more aware of the trends and directions in technology and society
- Become increasingly effective in the workplace
- Be able to help, influence and lead others by your example
- Be confident in your future employability
- Have a fulfilling and rewarding career
In addition, there is increasing emphasis on competence. Many IHEEM members are required to exercise professional engineering judgement, often on matters linked to health and safety. Only someone who is able to demonstrate ongoing competence will be able to make a reasonable professional judgement. Recording evidence of CPD will demonstrate an individual’s CPD achievements and is evidence of both their continuing competence and their aim to realise their full potential.
The job market is changing all the time. You may no longer be able to rely on your employer to identify and satisfy individual development needs. Additionally, you may well move jobs four or five times during your working life. Therefore you need to take ownership of your career and its continuing development.
These changes have increased the demands on people in all walks of life to keep documented evidence of their continued competence; and nowhere is this greater than in engineering where technology is advancing so swiftly. In your own best interests you should be developing a personal portfolio of your professional activities and their relevance to your job competence and your career ambitions.
How CPD benefits you
The benefits of CPD aren’t just felt when you’re going for promotion or upgrading membership. Many employers now value ‘learning agility’ as a core competency.
- Build confidence and credibility, you can see your progression by tracking your learning.
- Earn more by showcasing your achievements. A handy tool for appraisals.
- Achieve your career goals by focussing on your training and development.
- Cope positively with change by constantly updating your skill set.
- Be more productive and efficient by reflecting on your learning and highlighting gaps in your knowledge and experience.
How CPD benefits your organisation
As organisations shift the responsibility for personal development back to the individual, the ability and insight to manage your own professional growth is seen as a key strength.
- Helps maximise staff potential by linking learning to actions and theory to practice.
- Helps HR professionals to set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) objectives, for training activity to be more closely linked to business needs.
- Promotes staff development. This leads to better staff morale and a motivated workforce helps give a positive image/brand to organisations.
- Adds-value, by reflecting it will help staff to consciously apply learning to their role and the organisation’s development.
Any IHEEM member who wishes to upgrade their membership will be required to provide a copy of their up to date CPD record to show that they have maintained appropriate CPD