CPD: Competence and Improving Performance
Epic’s Think Tank Dinner was well attended by experts in
the field of e-learning, training and CPD from both the private
and public sectors. Three hours of lively discussion ensued around
the theme of CPD. Some of the key talking points were around the
drivers for CPD, performance / competency and the role of
e-learning.
Drivers
CPD drivers were a topic thoroughly explored during the evening.
Some believed that change was the key driver and that CPD was the
tool for keeping up with change. Others thought that, fundamentally,
CPD is driven by compliance and the expectation of a certain level
of proficiency among professionals. The question was then raised
that if compliance is so important to CPD, does that then mean that
professional bodies that regulate CPD should engage more closely
with government?
It was acknowledged that there was a shift towards individual responsibility
within CPD. 'Personal goals' were now very important CPD drivers
and this self-directed learning was new. Indeed this transition
from 'organisational' drivers to 'personal' drivers has resulted
in demand for more suitable CPD materials.
There was wide agreement that CPD should always be something that
people want to do. If compliance is such a key driver then CPD might
be something that is 'pushed on' individuals, but if people take
greater ownership and responsibility for their CPD then there would
be a 'pull' for resources and support.
Performance / Competency
How do we measure the performance of individuals on a CPD programme?
What’s the contribution to the bottom line? Is CPD really
effective and useful? These were just a few of the points raised
around performance and competency.
Although it was felt that the financial benefits - to an organisation
- of CPD and individual performance improvement could be fairly
readily determined using KPIs, there was some concern that in meeting
their compliance obligations organisations might suffer a loss of
commercial edge. In short would efficiency in business be secondary
to actually conforming to legislation?
There was concern too that some organisations would not be able
to meet the costs of CPD, particularly as training requirements
continue to increase and training budgets are being cut. This led
to a review of how staff are viewed within organisations –
as a resource or asset – and the degree to which the provision
of industrially sponsored training material was beneficial.
Three components to competency were identified: Experience, Skills
and Knowledge. There was a strong feeling among the group that within
improving skill and knowledge, CPD credits must be very relevant
to work and that merely attending a 'CPD credited' course shouldn’t
count towards development! Rather, individuals need to reflect at
the end of the course, decide whether it was really beneficial and
whether it leads to a change in behaviour. CPD should check 'in
practice' work, not just attendance on courses, and CPD should confirm
that you are still capable of performing certain key tasks.
Many in the group believed that staff are keen to improve, to learn
new things and to develop their skills, but that these improvement
areas might not be the things listed in CPD. A few participants
reported that, in fact, staff do more learning when they have finished
their mandatory training, because they explore what other training
assets are available within the organisation.
It was generally seen that it is important to promote a culture
of learning within an organisation, and to develop an environment
where individuals are valued, and encouraged to stay. Certainly
there needs to be an awareness of a possible conflict where parts
of an organisation focus on the business. and other parts of the
organisation focus on the individual.
Role of e-Learning / systems
Although some individuals and organisations continue to believe
that only 'traditional formal' learning is suitable for CPD, there
was agreement within the group that e-learning has an important
role to play. In particular, e-learning systems were thought to
be particularly useful for a global organisation, because they allow
quicker communication to a geographically dispersed workforce. It
was widely believed that it is possible to create and distribute
high quality e-learning, but for the e-learning to be really effective
it must be flexible and there must be different routes through the
training material to match different styles of learning.
There was also a wide agreement that the development of quality
e-learning is not a quick process, and that if it is to be used
for CPD accreditation, then verified
assessments should be included.
For more information on CPD or any of Epic’s services, please
email marketing@epic.co.uk
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