CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development and is a means of supporting people in the workplace to understand more about the environment in which they work, the job they do and how to do it better. As an initiative, CPD was largely unknown until at least the 1960s. Professional bodies only started to take systematic steps to ensure their members continue their development on an ongoing basis within the last ten to fifteen years of the twentieth century. Recognition of the need for CPD is now well-established at least among the majority of professional bodies.
CPD is an ongoing process throughout our working lives. The concept of CPD both generically and within HR is very important as it can be part of an individual’s personal ambition to be a better practitioner, enhance his/her career prospects or to simply feel more confident about their work and make it more personally fulfilling.
The CIPD HR Profession Map is a very useful tool giving a wide-ranging vision of how HR can add value to any organisation it operates within. It covers the types of skills, behaviours and knowledge that HR people require in order to become a successful HR professional. It is useful in identifying areas that may need to be developed.
What the HR Profession Map Covers:
Professional areas (2 core and 1 other):
Strategy, insights and solutions:
Fosters legitimate insights and solutions, which aid understanding in the business and how it works (or should work), and allows well-defined strategies to be developed in order to improve things.
Leading and managing the human resources function:
Provides active, insight-led leadership: owning, shaping and driving themselves, others and activity in the organisation. Although not everyone will have a role where they lead others, it is still important that they develop and grow in the other two dimensions.
Employee Relations: