Explain the concept of CPD and its importance for a HR or L&D Practitioner

This document explains the concept of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and its importance for HR or L&D Practitioners. It discusses the benefits of CPD and how it positively impacts employee performance. The document also explores the process of identifying strengths and gaps in knowledge and skills, and provides a development plan to address these gaps.

Running head: 4DEP C
4 DEP
[Part C]
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Table of Contents
1. Explain the concept of CPD and its importance for a HR or L&D Practitioner.........................2
2. Identifying own strengths and any gaps in the current level of knowledge and skills................3
References........................................................................................................................................6

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1. Explain the concept of CPD and its importance for a HR or L&D Practitioner
Continuous professional development (CPD) is a continuous process to rectify
weaknesses in individual and develop further new skills. This is beneficial for both an individual
and for the employer. By identifying ways to implement CPD an individual will be able to learn
new skills on a regular basis. Moreover, the individual will be able to identify and avail new and
exciting opportunities. On the other hand, CPD will positively impact employee performance. A
learning environment could then be created at the workplace. This is essential for creative
sessions to take place at the organisational level. Hence, the end result will expectedly be
increased creative sessions and the production of whole lot of new ideas leading to excellence in
innovation (Peeters, Sharmahd & Budginaite, 2018).
Importance of CPD for a HR or L&D Practitioner:
There will be following benefits (Sharmahd, Peeters & Bushati, 2018):
 Increased Competitive Advantage: Competition for talent acquisition is increasingly
growing. In such scenario offering an employee development program as part of the
perks and benefits is indeed a good way to create a more pronounced image of the brand
as compared to its competitors. Decreased Employee Turnover: According to the reports of SHRM, employee
replacement is a monetary loss to the company. It equals to six to nine months’ of the
salary of the departed employee. Apart from direct financial losses, a high employee
turnover affects the market position, revenue and profitability of the company. Instead,
by retaining the employees and investing in their professional career development plan,
they can be made to feel being valued.

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 Increased Employee Loyalty: A career development plan such as CPD make employees
feel valued and appreciated. Such feelings are important for employees to be loyal with
their employer. Loyal employees will also refer their friends or relatives to work at the
company. This will boost the company’s workforce strength. Moreover, loyal employees
are more motivated and engaged than the others and require less supervision.
2. Identifying own strengths and any gaps in the current level of knowledge and skills
Figure 1: A Profession Map
(Source: CIPD, 2019)
Based on the profession map framework I being a HR have certain strengths and gaps in my
current level of knowledge and skills. Profession competence in the above framework has been

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categorised into four different bands. A successful adherence to skills required to be in band 1
will ensure a transition to the next level or to band 2. However, there are a few areas where I lack
the competence. In order to move to band 2, I need to fix these issues soon.
Strengths: I am good at delivering the fundamentals. This means I know what my basic
duties are and how to get these done as well. I am also aware of the person to approach to take
the help from. I am also well versed with process delivery and data management system. This
means I am technically sound and know how to work in advanced MS Office software.
Gaps: I am less flexible with the market behavior. When things are going as usual I have
no problem at all in justifying my candidature as a HR. However, I fell short in dealing with
critical issues like an increased employee turnover. This happens because I am unable to gather
data on why the issue is happening. Additionally, I also hesitate making decisions on how to
solve the issue.
The above-mentioned gaps can be treated by following a planned ‘Development Plan’
such as the one mentioned below:
What do I
want/need to
learn?
What will I do to
achieve this?
What resources
or support will I
need?
What will my
success criteria
be?
Target dates for
review and
completion
Flexible Working I need to buddy
up with the senior
HR manager.
This will give me
an opportunity to
observe different
I need a
confirmation call
from the site
business head
and the
operations
 Ability to
understand
problem
situation
 Identify
ways to
6 months from
now onwards

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critical
circumstances
and how these
are solved.
manager
regarding buddy
up with the HR
manager.
resolve the
issue
Information
Gathering
The buddy up
session will help
me understand
ways to gather
information on
different issues
The support from
the site business
head and the
operations
manager
 Be able to
know where
to find
solutions for
a certain
issue
 Ability to
find the
best
solution
1 annual year
from now
onwards
Decision-making The buddy up
session and my
personal input
into problem
solving sessions
will help
I need the
management’s
assurance in me
related to my job
skills as I need to
spend at least 3
or 4 years to be
able to equip with
the required HR
skills
 Taking part
in problem
solving
sessions
 Contributing
with best
decisions
2 years from now
onwards
Table 1: Development Plan
(Source: created by author)

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References
CIPD. (2019). CIPD Profession Map for HR, L&D and OD&D | CIPD. Retrieved from
https://www.cipd.co.uk/learn/career/profession-map
Peeters, J., Sharmahd, N., & Budginaite, I. (2018). Early childhood education and care (ECEC)
assistants in Europe: Pathways towards continuous professional development (CPD) and
qualification. European Journal of Education, 53(1), 46-57.
Sharmahd, N., Peeters, J., & Bushati, M. (2018). Towards continuous professional development:
Experiencing group reflection to analyse practice. European Journal of Education, 53(1),
58-65.