Continuing Professional Development Regulations

Every corporate Member and Fellow of the Institution shall comply with the new Continuing Professional Development Regulations stated herein.
Every corporate Member and Fellow of the Institution shall be required to attain such Continuing Professional Development as is stated in the Guidance Notes. The Guidance Notes will be subject to annual review and alteration if and when deemed necessary by the Council of Management.
Members and Fellows are responsible for keeping a record of their qualifying CPD as described below.
The CPD record will be made available for monitoring upon request by the Institution.
It is strongly advised that individuals prepare a development plan to suit personal needs.
Failure to comply with the CPD Regulations is a serious offence which can result in disciplinary action.
Only Members and Fellows who have permanently retired from practice are exempt from the above requirements.

Definition and Benefits

CPD is the systematic maintenance, improvement and broadening of knowledge and skill and the development of personal qualities necessary for the execution of professional and technical duties throughout a practitioner's working life.
CPD is an essential element for any profession. Failure to keep up to date with advances in discipline, technology, competition from other professions and rapid changes in legislation can be disastrous to both individual practitioner and professional body.
Clients, Government and other decision makers should be constantly assured that the profession is taking the lead in ensuring the updating of the existing skills of it's members.
A demonstrable on-going commitment to CPD by any corporate member will be of personal benefit in terms of employment progression and employment applications.
CPD can be seen as a unifying influence within the Institution, its Regions and among professional bodies generally.
CPD is about improving your performance at work, enhancing your career prospects, increasing your capacity for learning and being more capable and confident when faced with change.
It is recommended that every member maintains a Development Action Plan and personal Development Record.

Guidance Notes
Contents:
1. CPD Policy Statement
2. Benefits to individuals and organisations
3. The CPD Process and Outcomes
4. Guidance on the Completion of CPD Development Action Plans and Personal Development Records

1. CPD Policy Statement
Members of the Institution have a professional duty to develop the skills and knowledge base of themselves and other members of the Profession. The Institution's definition of CPD is widely drawn and not prescriptive so as to remain flexible enough to be relevant to all members at all stages of their careers. It is therefore for individual members to choose the approach to their Continuing Professional Development which best suits their own aspirations and needs.

Members should ensure that their CPD is managed in such a way as to be credible to other interested parties and to bring credit among the Profession.

2. Benefits to individuals and organisations
Planning, doing and recording your CPD allows you to take stock of your situation and will allow you to:

Provide documented evidence of your commitment to your chosen profession and of your continued competence.
Have an excellent reference document for use both in the updating of your CV and in recalling details of topics you have studied as well as for appraisals and interviews.
Have a useful aid for your career development providing a means by which you can plan, record and review your relevant activities.
Have an awareness of your shortcomings and a strategy to overcome them.
Exploit change and not be driven by it.
Identify your skills, which may be of assistance to others.

Organisations benefit by providing and promoting CPD by having:

Efficient and skilful people.
Staff motivated to learn and develop performance which contributes to business objectives and increases client/customer satisfaction.
An image as a progressive firm committed to developing its human resources.
Staff more able to adapt to the changing demands of the business.

Clients and society in general will benefit from:

An assurance that your skills are being maintained and developed following professional qualification.
A quality benchmark of the competence of Members.

3. The CPD Process and Outcomes
Review (Initial) In a structured way, review your past experiences and performances, identify what competence, skills, knowledge and understanding you already have and what you need, taking into account your current and future job and career requirements and professional needs. Periodic review will vary, but it should be done at least annually.

Planning Prioritise these identified needs, set target dates and identify appropriate development activities and commit the plan to writing in your Development Action Plan. If necessary, also include any resources and support you may need to achieve your targets. Use the 'Development Goals', 'How will you measure a successful outcome?' and 'What deadline have you set for meeting your targets?' sections of the Development Action Plan for this.
The range of modes and materials available is vast and you should be sure to choose those that suit you best. Use the 'Possible Activities' section of the Development Action Plan for this.
Activities which may contribute towards your CPD requirements will normally be related to civil engineering surveying. However, an important part of CPD is also the development of more general interpersonal and management skills that may be required during your careers. Therefore subjects such as management, communication, health and safety, finance, commercial matters, language skills, community work, etc. can be equally valid topics for CPD if you consider they are necessary for your professional or career development.
Be sure to think about the resources available to you, as this will affect your choice of activities.

Development Activities  Development activities may be structured e.g. courses, seminars, workshops, conferences, service on committees and technical panels, distance and open learning packages and qualifications, technical authorship or preparation of lectures for organised events. Development activities may also be unstructured e.g. on the job research, experience of new and extended technologies, reading of books, journals and professional magazines and periodicals, experience in the workplace leading to a significant expansion of the engineers knowledge base. Members who are in countries or locations where structured CPD opportunities appear to be difficult to access should take advantage of the range of unstructured CPD activities as outlined above which will assist them in their development.

Assessing Achievement  Reflect on your performance during development activities, particularly on those activities you have learnt most from and assess yourself in terms of new and improved levels of competence. Record your achievements against your Development Action Plan and enter the details into your Personal Development Record.

Review (Ongoing) Once your targets have been met or circumstances require a change in targets or priorities, begin the review process again. CPD is part of a lifelong process of learning and development and therefore the cycle is continuous. Periodic review will vary, but it should be done at least annually.
It is important to note that the most significant sections of your Personal Development Record are the description of 'Key Learning Points' and 'Key Benefits' to you as an individual.

These guidelines are deliberately brief and put the onus on you; CPD will work only if you make the effort. It is a personal matter which will help you develop your full potential and help you to prepare for and manage change more effectively.

Monitoring  The reputation of the Institution and its membership is influenced by the professional competence exhibited by its members. It is important that this competence is maintained and that where difficulties exist these are identified and help given.

The Institution will, confidentially, monitor a small random sample of individual member's CPD records and their relevance to that individual's professional development plans.
Members from this random sample will be asked to submit copies of their professional development plans relating to the previous two years (one year in the first year of operation) and the associated CPD records for the same period.
Members whose plans meet the requirements of the Institution's CPD Regulations will be excluded from the random sample for at least the next three years.
Members whose submitted records do not appear to meet the requirements of the code of practice will be contacted to explain the areas of concern and seek agreed ways to rectify any shortcomings.
Where these problems relate to a misunderstanding of the requirements or a genuine difficulty in meeting the objectives, the Institution will offer advice or help if it can.
Where shortcomings are identified at the end of this process, the member will be asked to produce an action plan to deal with the problem and the achievement of the objectives of this plan will be monitored at the end of the next 12-month period.

4. Your CPD Record
The Aim of your CPD Record is to show what you have done, what you have learnt from it and how it relates to your PDP. In this, it is important that you regularly record what you have, or have not, achieved against your CPD plan with a view to addressing any weaknesses by a revision to your CPD plan for the following period.
The Institution does not require any certificates to accompany these records in support of the CPD Hours claimed, but Members must be prepared to justify the time claimed if their records come forward for monitoring.
Members may also participate in other Institutes with similar CPD requirements and it is intended that the records produced for one Institution will be acceptable for other similar Institutions. Equally, the information kept as part of your employers development scheme may well be appropriate as a CPD record.

Professional Development Plans
The Professional Development Plan (PDP) is the single most valuable piece of the CPD process for it is this plan that is the basic building block of both CPD, and even more importantly, the career development process.

A PDP is designed to focus and accelerate the learning/development purpose and, as such, is a planning document. If you are to use it successfully, it needs to be short and succinct stating 'Where you are, where you are going and how you are going to get there.' In most cases, it can be set out on a single sheet of A4 (with standard proforma sheets attached), if it is longer you will only, at best, read it before a review meeting rather than using it, as it is intended, i.e. as a daily reminder of where you are going (or trying to go!).
Begin your PDP by writing down, briefly, all jobs you are currently expected to do, the areas you have to be knowledgeable about, the skills you need to possess and the changes that are likely to occur in the next 2 or so years.
Seriously consider any short and longer term ambitions you might have for developing or adapting your career. Be realistic, both about your ambitions and about the time needed to achieve them.
Next, start to think about the areas in which you need to target your CPD to achieve these aspirations. Bearing in mind that training is both costly and time consuming, be realistic and decide on priorities a PDP is not a request for unlimited training. Your employer will be interested in the business case for your PDP.
Don't just restrict yourself to thinking about your current professional responsibilities. Think about your career and how you would like to see it develop. Even to stay still you will need CPD to keep up to date. Consider whether it is the time to strengthen existing skills or to develop new skills.
Now list out your priorities for the next 2 years NOT as tablets of stone but rather as a basis on which to look for and take up relevant CPD opportunities as they arise.
If you have been thinking about where you are, and are trying to go, it should now take you about an hour to write up your PDP in a form where you can talk it through with colleagues, team leaders or the person responsible for training.
Whilst your PDP is unique to yourself, you will improve it by talking with others and learning from their successes and failures. In particular, your employer will have a relevant interest in your development.

Personal Development Checklist
Do

Update and adapt your plan according to changing circumstances.
Take time to reflect on and evaluate learning experiences.
Be innovative with methods of development.
Adapt the framework provided in the Planner to meet your individual requirements.

Don't

Interpret CPD too narrowly and restrict yourself to conventional 'training' activities.
Neglect the 'transferable' skills which complement the more technical skills.
Forget to concentrate on continuing development themes throughout the Planner.
Hesitate to ask for help either from colleagues, your employer or from the ICES.

All of the documentation is available here on the website or can be requested by e-mail.

top

Must-read blogs