IMPORTANCE OF

CONTINUING
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT (CPD)
Presented By
Francis Emezi, B Sc., AAT, ACA, ACCA

What is Continuing Professional

Development (CPD)?
Continuing

professional development' commonly

abbreviated to CPD' refers to the work-related
learning and development that should continue
throughout a professionals career. Professionals in
some fields must complete mandatory CPD
requirements in order to maintain their membership.
CPD is one of the key mechanisms by which high
standards of professional practice and the relevance
and currency of qualifications and experience are
maintained.
Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT, ACA, ACCA

Why do Professionals undertake

CPD?
CPD ensures that professionals capabilities keep pace
with the current standards of others in the same field,
CPD ensures that a professional maintains and enhances
the knowledge and skills needed to deliver professional
services to customers, clients and the community,
CPD ensures that professional knowledge stay relevant
and up to date,
CPD helps professionals continue to make a meaningful
contribution while working in a team by becoming more
effective in the workplace, and moving to higher positions.

Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,

ACA, ACCA

Why Undertake CPD? (Contd)

Focused CPD opens up new possibilities, new
knowledge and new skill areas,
CPD delivers
a deeper understanding of
professionalism, along with a greater appreciation of
professional ethics,
CPD advances the body of knowledge and
technology within a profession,
CPD leads to increased public confidence in
professionals and their profession as a whole,
CPD contributes to improved protection of quality of
life, environment, property and the economy.
CPD is an investment by a professional and his/her
employers.
Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,
ACA, ACCA

Keeping Pace With Current

Standards
Knowledge sharing among professionals
can be achieved through physical or
online interactions. Case studies can be
evaluated and conclusions reached about
emerging trends in the field.
This enables comparability of performance
among individuals while on CPD mission
(s).
Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,
ACA, ACCA

Maintaining and Enhancing

Professional Knowledge &
Skills
Communications
with
professional
colleagues while on CPD can lead to
honing of existing skills, while learning
from more experienced peers.

Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,

ACA, ACCA

Improvement in Team Work

and
Elevation To Leadership Role
CPD can reinforce a professionals ability to work in
a team. This contributes to prepare the individual
for bigger roles in management, coaching and
mentorship for younger professionals or aspiring
professionals. This is possible through engagement
in Group Assignments during CPD meetings etc.

Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,

ACA, ACCA

New Possibilities,
Opportunities & Skill Areas
Through continuation of lifelong learning, an
individual may discover opportunities in
new areas of life, improved knowledge in
subject areas while new skills may be
developed.

Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,

ACA, ACCA

Deepening Professionalism
and Ethical Standards
When engaged in CPD, a professional gets
deeper
understanding
of
what
professionalism involves; hence, ethics and
professional standards of any profession
will be more rekindled.

Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,

ACA, ACCA

Keeping in Touch with

Technology
The ever increasing surge of an IT driven
environment has made it imperative for
professionals to keep learning how to
apply IT devices to lessen work load and
improve service delivery while achieving
efficiency.
Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,
ACA, ACCA

10

Maintaining Public
Confidence in Professionals
& their Profession
Without CPD there may be threat of loss
of public confidence in professionals and
their profession. This may arise from
negative effect of obsolete knowledge and
systems of service delivery.

Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,

ACA, ACCA

11

Protection of Public Interest

High risk areas, or specialized practice areas
which often prove impractical to monitor on
a case by case basis may be open to abuse
without
effective
CPD
programs
by
professional
bodies
e.g.
accountancy,
medical practice or law.

Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,

ACA, ACCA

12

CPD as an Investment
It is useful to think of CPD as an
investment an investment by an
individual in his/her career and an
investment
in
the
individuals
development as a professional by the
employer. The professional invests time
and effort, the employer invests
finances in support and allows access to
study leave.
Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,
ACA, ACCA

13

Measuring ROI from a CPD

Investment
An assessment of return on investment on CPD
may be done by seeking answer to the following
questions about the potential value of each CPD
activity considered:
What are the intended learning outcomes from
this activity?
What is the relevance of this particular activity to
current work role?
How will an employer benefit when the intended
learning outcomes are achieved?
How will others (for example clients and
colleagues) benefit
from this learning?; and
Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,
ACA, ACCA

14

Categories of CPD
There are three broad categories to think about:
1.Formal CPD;
2.Informal work-related CPD; and
3.Activities external to your work that
contribute to professional development .

Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,

ACA, ACCA

15

Formal CPD
This includes:
Full and part-time tertiary study including both
accredited and non-accredited courses;
Conferences and seminars;
Undertaking research;
Writing papers and delivering work-related
presentations;
In-service education; and
Formally arranged mentoring which can
include a learning contract'.

Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,

ACA, ACCA

16

Informal work-related CPD

Informal work-related CPD refers to other activities
associated with a professionals work which
contribute to his development as a professional but
are not necessarily designed as CPD. Informal CPD
can include:
Discussions with colleagues
Sharing knowledge and information at meetings;
Participation in work-related committees;
Internet research;
participation in activities associated with a
professional association, and
active involvement in a professional association
such as ACCA. Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,
ACA, ACCA

17

External CPD
There are many opportunities to enhance CPD
through activities external to a professionals
workplace; for example:
Volunteering can help develop social skills
capacity
for
leadership
and/or
project
management skills;
Learning something new that is likely to help
progress a career for example learning a
foreign language; and
Engaging in an activity that develops a person.
E.g. from debating to visual arts etc. There are
other choices, limited only by imagination.
Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,
ACA, ACCA

18

Achieving Optimal Benefit

from Investment in CPD
Making the most of an investment in CPD involves
three complementary activities:
1. Maintaining a professional development portfolio,
2. Commitment to reflective practice; and
3. Taking control of an individuals CPD.

Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,

ACA, ACCA

19

Building a Professional
Development Portfolio
A professional development portfolio a personal
record of CPD activities and the value derived
from them. A professional development portfolio
should include:
a record of attendance at formal learning
activities including scope of learning and the
relevance to current work role;
evidence of ongoing learning and development,
for example copies of any papers delivered;
evaluation of learning for example how
associates at work have benefited from
investments in CPD;
supporting documents such as certificates from
by Francis
Emezi, B Sc, AAT,
accredited Importance
andof CPDACA,
non-accredited
courses
ACCA

20

Reflection and CPD

Reflection is about giving careful thought to an
experiences to help ongoing improvement in
performance.
CPD-related reflection includes asking questions about:
aspects of work performance that could be improved;
how new knowledge or a new skill could be applied in
current and future work role;
who would benefit from doing so;
what you would need to be done differently in order to
successfully apply what has been learned;
whether there are anything challenges; and
if there are any habits that would need to be changed in
order to apply what have been learnt.

Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,

ACA, ACCA

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Taking control of your CPD

Regardless of whether CPD is mandatory
discretionary the most satisfying results are
achieved by professionals who drive their own CPD
rather than waiting till there is an urgent need to
satisfy professional membership requirements.
The following activities helps one to be proactive
in driving his CPD:
Listening to and acting on feedback from managers and
from colleagues,
Being alert for CPD opportunities and assessing their
relevance to professional development needs,
Devoting time to career planning, and
Ensuring regular discussions with managers about
CPD of interests and the organization's needs.
Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,
ACA, ACCA

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Thank You

Importance of CPD by Francis Emezi, B Sc, AAT,

ACA, ACCA

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