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Continuing professional development and employability
Why do we need to keep developing our skills?
 The world in which we work is changing all the time, new opportunities and challenges present themselves on a daily basis. Investing in our own ability to survive and prosper in this environment is of paramount importance. - The Executive, Manager or Professional who is too busy to invest in his or her skills might, at some point, find themselves with more time on their hands than they perhaps envisaged or dreamt possible.
- Being passed over for a promotion, being made redundant and then finding that it's a badge, certificate or evidence of post qualification training that cuts it with recruiters, rather than years of experience, can be quite a sobering prospect for many people.
- Maintaining long term employability is a minefield these days. Of course it is always a good idea that you update your skills to do your current job as effectively as possible - especially perennially important topics such as people management and leadership skills, managing complex projects and utilising resources to maximum effect.
- So, it really isn't a luxury to invest in your continuing professional development (CDP) and to ensure that the recognition of your skills is transferable. You may have been on many, many courses over the years, however, if they were organised by your employers or perhaps not linked to some Institute or other, apparently that doesn't always count. More and more big companies recognise this and attempt to make sure that they have their in-house courses certificated or linked to an awarding body or Business School but that is by no means common enough.
When is a qualification really necessary?
- Recruiters need to ensure that they can justify the rationale for specifying why a particular qualification is required for an assignment. Is it essential or desirable?
- If a candidate's CV shows a track record of innovation and success in a pertinent area, will the absence of a particular qualification really be that important?
- Clearly you wouldn't want someone to operate on you if they weren't a qualified Doctor but in many management roles, the requirements for qualifications can be less clear, and few understand the complex number of qualifications and awards on offer. Some recruiters are told, for example, only to consider candidates with MBA's or maybe even an MBA from a particular school. Well what if a candidate has a BA in Business, 10 years experience with a top blue chip employer and a CIM diploma in Marketing? Might that not be just as good as a candidate with a BA in Art History, an MBA and no work experience? It isn't really quite as simple as it might first appear, is it?
- You do need, however, to know whatever the 'gold standard' qualifications for your area of expertise are, and be able to demonstrate that you are committed to them in whatever way is appropriate.
CDP - Continuing Professional Development
Whether or not your current employer or professional body insists that you maintain one or not, putting together and updating your own personal Continuing Professional Development record (CDP) is a good move. On the one hand, you may be amazed at how much you have done, on the other it may shock you into drastic action. Perhaps you haven't done anything for years or at all, maybe you are self taught in a particular area and you need to consolidate your knowledge?
- Look at your career in a strategic fashion in the same way that you should be running your department or company.
- What impedes your progress?
- What could accelerate it?
- What price do you, or may you, pay for not updating your skills or acquiring new ones?
- Do you really need to better understand finance, marketing, ecommerce or leading change effectively?
- Can your HR training department help you? If you don't have one could you talk to a career coach or go to your local FE College or University for help on creating a plan that works for you? Business Link also offer a huge variety of courses to SME's at very reasonable prices and there are lots of private providers who will put together bespoke programmes. If you really are stuck just contact us.
- There are many ways to acquire new skills and explore ideas that can help you to excel in your chosen career - you don't have to go on a course!
- To start mapping out what you need, check out the Management Standards model in the directory below, browse the resources in training & personal development, the course finder which includes MBA Programmes.
- Before setting up your plan of action, look at the 'What's my learning style?' page.
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