Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Process And Learning

Approach to CPD

Continuing Professional development (CPD) is a technique which is used to record and document all the skills, experience and knowledge which has been acquired. A structured approach can help an individual to improve and become more creative. CPD focuses on outcomes and achievements which depicts the commitment of a person towards the organization (Council, 2013). Furthermore, it is useful in assessing the potential benefits form all the learning and trainings. The present report helps in understanding the learning and Continuing Professional development (CPD) process. Along with this, the resources can be identified and recorded which will help in achieving the development needs.     

CPD cycle consists of different stages which can be used to identify and learn new skills, experience and knowledge. It has helped me to use my skills in different areas which have helped me to grow in the organization. The stages of CPD cycle has been given below:

Identification: This stage helps in identification and analysis of your own. I have created checkpoints and standards which will help in the self assessment. At present, I have been working for AGC Glass Company (Mann, & Sargeant, 2013). I have to take initiatives to improve myself so as to grow and contribute in the success of the organization. To achieve this I have to evolve and learn from all the experiences. It will allow me to take managerial position in the company.

Diagnosis (Johari Window): It can be used for understanding communication and for self assessment. It is useful in the recognition of skills and issues which are unknown to self (Megginson & Whitaker, 2017). There are four quadrants in the Johari Window: Open area, blind area, hidden area and unknown area. This technique helps in reducing the hidden, unknown and blind area. I have been taking feedbacks from others to insights about me skills and competencies. It has allowed me to record the behavior in blind and unknown areas. I have gathered opinions and feedback from my colleagues and seniors. The most common elements shared by them have been included in the Johari Window.  

Open Area (Quadrant 1) Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper	Blind Area (Quadrant 2)
Good knowledge and skill set Helpful behavior Calmness Patient behavior Decision making: Independent Flexibility and openness Responsiveness	Open minded Introvert behavior Trustworthy and dependable Empathic approach Can be Judgmental Confident approach
Hidden Area (Quadrant 3)	Unknown Area (Quadrant 4)
Using organized methods to find solutions Monitoring all the aspects carefully: Focusing on details Showing concerns for others Sensible and logical decision making	Spontaneous Positive attitude and optimistic Difficult situation increases anxiety Logical decision making Adapting to the needs of the people and organization

SWOT analysis

Strengths	Weaknesses
Good knowledge and skill set Flexibility and adaptability Good relations with all the members Confident behavior Ability to convince other Openness	Organized but spontaneous decisions Judgmental Introverted nature increases limitations High level of stress and anxiety if difficult situations.
Threats	Opportunities
Anxiety issues Lack of experience Lack of dependency and delegation	Improvement in communication skills To gain knowledge in consultancy skills Opportunities to get promoted. Better position in the company

Planning: It is important for me to create a plan so as to monitor the growth and learning progress. I have included target dates to review the performance (Cox, Bachkirova and Clutterbuck, 2014). The success criteria will help me to focus on the outcomes of all the activities in the plan.

Development plan

Need to learn	What I will achieve	Resources needed	Target date	Success criteria
Emotional stability	It will improve my personality and better relations could be developed with others.	Books, online resources, and help from trainers	September	Feedback Analysis of body language
Improvement in communication skills	Observing the meetings of the top level managers. Taking guidance form seniors	Workshops, tutorials, articles on effective communication and training courses.	October	Feedback Taking part in meetings Contributing in decision making process.
Introvert behavior	Learning from senior and top level management. Taking initiatives. Recording all the points in a document to ensure all the things have been communicated.	Courses, trainings workshops and support from Learning development team.	November	Ability to deliver all the points without any hesitations. Feedback Analysis of others opinions.
Gain knowledge in consultancy skills	Participation in knowledge courses. Understanding the policies and procedures of the company. Assessing the needs of the customers. Conducting research to find better ways to do work.	Presentations, case studies related to consultancy and interaction, training courses and online tutorials.	December	Feedback and improvement in communication.

Action: Action plan is used to create a plan which will ensure that learning and expertise are achieved from range of resources. I have been career assessment method to understand the skills and competencies which will be required for taking managerial position in the company. A career planner, reminders, tutorials, e courses and workshops have been included in it. Learning development team of the company has also helped me to create action plan. Apart form this, I have been learning each day at work and all the lessons have been recorded (Torgerson, Nielsen and Nielsen, 2017).   

Diagnosis (Johari Window)

Reflection: Reflection can help in creating strategies to improve communication skills, critical thinking and for self assessment. I have been using critical analysis method based on Gibbs Reflective cycle. This theory is useful in learning form the experience (Bates, Tofade, and Rouse, 2014). It makes sure that different phases and activities are systematically designed to gain maximum benefit from it. It consists of:

• Description: The description contains my goals, objectives and future plans which will allow me to take managerial position in the company. I have certain limitations which have to be removed to take advantages of the opportunities in the future.
• Feelings: The senior management of the company has indentified potential in me. It has motivated me to improve my skills and competencies (Ridgway, 2015).  
• Evaluation: The positive aspect of CPD and self improvement is that I will be able to improve my skill set. But it will take more effort and it is a time consuming process.
• Conclusions: It includes all the changes which I have to make such as improvements in my communication skills, better interactions with others, reducing the level of stress, emotional stability in the decision making etc (Mann, & Sargeant, 2013).   
• Action plan: Action plan consists of resources and milestones which help in achieving the desired objective.          

Application and execution: I have been recording incidents and opportunities which have helped me to gain experience. It includes taking initiatives, voluntary work, coming out of any comforts zones etc. Furthermore, 360 degree feedback has been taken to understand the progress and improvement opportunities. BOOST (Balanced, Objective, Observed, Specific and Timely) will be used in the process.      

CPD records

Date	Initiatives	Reason	Lessons learned	How to use it
September	Carried out research to understand the needs of the customers	Gain knowledge in consultancy skills	Customized service has to be provided. Quick solution	Changes in the work and approach to deal with the customers.
December	Attended workshops of Learning development team.	Reducing the introverted behavior	Recording all points to interact. Taking initiatives	Improvement in personality Better understanding and growth opportunities.
October	Involved in a meeting	For improving interaction and communication skills	Positive approach of the speaker Body language Interactions	Can be used in future meetings and interactions.
August	Started mentoring to new staff members	Understanding the needs of others and for reducing emotional instability	Assessing the needs of others. Positive approach	Reduction in stress level. Better use of resources Structure approach to avoid unfavorable conditions which causes stress.
July	Taking feedbacks from seniors and colleges	Improvement in personality and for self awareness	Preparation of Johari Window	Understanding about blind and unknown areas.

Sharing: It is important for me to share my knowledge with others. It will have twin benefits for me as well as the organization. I have been using different communication channels to interact with other colleagues and ensuring collaborative learning in the workplace.    

Measuring the impact: Impacts has to be studied to understand the changes due to professional and managerial development (Ridgway, 2015). CPD focuses on the output and outcome of the process. It is essential to take feedback and analyze the changes in the personality to measure the impact on the organization.   

Benefits to self	Benefits to the organization
Increase in productivity and efficiency Increased morale and level of satisfaction Better opportunities to achieve the desired goals Reduced gap between experience and skill set. Improved credibility and career progression opportunities. Learning from each day and every incident whether formal or informal.	Positive culture in the workplace. Implementation of SMART objectives for other employees during training sessions. Development of a leader and a person who can take challenging positions in the company. Performance linked appraisals which are based on achievements and contribution. Sharing and collaborative learning. Maximum utilization of human capital.

Behavioral theory focuses on the behavioral outcomes which can help an individual to learn new skills and gain experience. Both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are included in the process which motivates a person to learn. It is important for a person to decide his goals, methods to achieve it and influences which can help him to accomplish it (Ryan, 2013). The responses are predicted which enables a person to learn and make changes in the behavior. My introvert behavior has been a problem for him because it has not been allowing me to interact with others. Managers have to interact and convince others to achieve their objectives. Therefore, I have developed action plan to overcome this issue.    

Humanistic dimension can also contribute in the learning process because it allows the individual to gain deeper understanding in many aspects of his personality and external environment. A learner decides to make changes in his behavior or gain knowledge due to his values and beliefs (Torgerson, Nielsen and Nielsen, 2017). The learning process continues over the lifespan. It motivates the individual to make changes to achieve their goals. The external resources and educators are facilitators which helps him to grow. I have been taking the help of Learning Development team of the organization which has been helping me to accomplish my objectives.           

Cognitive theory can be useful in understanding the thought processes. It is essential for a person to use the information and learning to his advantage. The plans and goals are decided after taking into consideration the needs, motives and objectives of an individual (Cox, Bachkirova and Clutterbuck, 2014). Feedback plays an important role in the process because it allows the learner to make changes and improve. Furthermore, it allows them to assess themselves which provides them better information about their personality and competencies which may be unknown to them. I have been attending formal meetings and the learning has been recorded. I will make changes in my behavior and body language to make myself more presentable.     

Adaptive manipulative learning models show the relationship between the learning and environment. The learners create a map which helps them identify the opportunities to learn and gain experience in the environment. The cycle of Adaptive manipulative is based on change and stability. A learner has to change its approach after taking feedback from others (Légaré, Freitas and Jacques, 2015). It helps him to become more effective. But too rapid changes in the environment can affect the learning process. All these things have to be considered before creating action plans.   

Conclusion

It can be concluded form the above report that Continuing Professional development (CPD) is useful in documenting all the skills, experience and knowledge which has been acquired by a learner. A structured approach can help him to improve as per the action and development plans created in the initial stages. CPD focuses on outcomes and achievements which makes it more effective for learner as well as the organization. Apart from this, there are many theories and models which can be used in the process. It includes COD cycle, Gibbs reflective cycle, Adaptive manipulative learning, Humanistic dimension, Cognitive theory and behavioral theory.

References

Bates, I., Bruno, A., Tofade, T. and Rouse, M., (2014). Continuing Professional Development & Continuing Education in Pharmacy: Global Report.

Council, G. D. (2013). Continuing professional development. Online information available at https://www. gdc-uk. org/Dentalprofessionals/CPD/Pages/default. aspx (accessed December 2011).

Cox, E., Bachkirova, T. and Clutterbuck, D.A. eds., 2014. The complete handbook of coaching. Sage.

Légaré, F., Freitas, A., Thompson-Leduc, P., Borduas, F., Luconi, F., Boucher, A., Witteman, H.O. and Jacques, A., (2015). The majority of accredited continuing professional development activities do not target clinical behavior change. Academic Medicine, 90(2), pp.197-202.

Mann, K. V., & Sargeant, J. M. (2013). Continuing professional development. Oxford Textbook of Medical Education, 350.

Megginson, D., & Whitaker, V. (2017). Continuing professional development. Kogan Page Publishers.

Pirie, J., Kappus, L., Sudikoff, S.N. and Bhanji, F., (2016). Simulation Curriculum Development, Competency-Based Education, and Continuing Professional Development. In Comprehensive Healthcare Simulation: Pediatrics (pp. 181-193). Springer International Publishing.

Ridgway, T. (2015). Continuing Professional Development. South Dakota medicine: the journal of the South Dakota State Medical Association, 68(9), 383-383.

Ryan, M. (2013). Continuing professional development. Ethos: Official Publication of the Law Society of the Australian Capital Territory, (228), 46.

Torgerson, C., Nielsen, C.P., Gascoine, L., Filges, T., Moore, I.J. and Nielsen, B.C.V., (2017). A Systematic Review (SR) of the Effective Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Training of Welfare Professionals.