Professionals today are keen to keep themselves up to date on recent developments in their particular profession to guarantee, at least to some degree, their continued employment in their particular field, if not in a particular organisation.

In this respect, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) becomes an important and life-long activity to build up a portfolio of skills relevant to the needs of today, and flexible enough to carry through to tomorrow.

In our fast-changing secretarial profession we are no exception. We must continue to enhance our knowledge, expertise and competence and learn new skills throughout our careers. This prepares us to cope with our changing role, new responsibilities and that hoped-for promotion. CPD benefits us both professionally and personally.

CPD is an active process, not one where the professional is purely the passive recipient of knowledge and information. So how do you go about deciding what your professional development should be?

First of all you need a Personal Development Plan (PDP) in which you plan your short and long-term goals. Many employers have this process as part of their in-house programme of development but it is easy to do for yourself. You need to:

• List the tasks you currently carry out at work, areas you should be knowledgeable about, skills required and any changes that are likely to occur within a set period



• List your short and long-term goals and a timescale in which you wish to achieve them.



• Prioritise your development needs accordingly, listing your CPD priorities.



• Identify any barriers to your plan and how you can overcome them.



• Regularly review your PDP

CPD can come in many shapes and sizes and when identifying your CPD priorities you need to find the best way of learning that suits you and your available time. These can include:

• Private Study - reading books on particular topics, reading articles from professional sources, or using multi-media resources.



• Workplace Development - attend courses run by your employer, obtain your employer's buy-in to your PDP and gear your objectives accordingly.



• Attend conferences, seminars or other professional events



• Obtain a new qualification either by attending local colleges or using distance learning.

Your development can be mixture of any of these. Remember it is your development, and it needs to be flexible, and tailored to be carried out at your own pace in accordance with your personal or work-related ambitions.

CPD does not have to be something that you do in isolation. It provides a good networking opportunity between colleagues. CPD support groups within the workplace are an excellent idea where groups of people get together to provide advice and encouragement to each other in achieving personal goals. Many professional organisations, including IQPS, run CPD programmes that provide you with a professional recognition for your development work. Within IQPS, for example, a broad structure of categories of CPD is allocated points but the actual courses and private study, etc, are up to the individual.

The benefits derived from being part of a CPD scheme are many - it helps you to:

• Maintain a competitive edge by keeping your skills, knowledge and understanding in peak condition



• Build and maintain a comprehensive portfolio of skills and achievements



• Have a structured and formalised approach to career development



• Show lifelong commitment to personal development, which involves a variety of learning.

Once you have started down the CPD road it will become part of your life and as your CPD portfolio builds so will your confidence and your career.