There’s been a shift among regulators and professional bodies away from counting hours to measure CPD, an easy but fallible method, towards measuring the actual learning an individual gains. In response to that shift, STEP has consulted widely and developed a new policy, effective from July and applicable to all members. This policy is:
- relevant to members and their career;
- simple for members to manage; and
- effective in adding value for members and their employers.
The old policy did not allow for professional and geographical diversity or for different career stages. It is not useful for all members to spend an equal amount of time updating their technical knowledge, and so members will now be able to tailor the type of development activity to fit their work role.
STEP has chosen to move on from setting a minimum number of hours that members must invest in ‘formal’ CPD, instead recommending a range of areas that members should consider when forming CPD plans. The requirement to maintain knowledge and competence still applies to all members, as described in the STEP Code of Professional Conduct but you have more flexibility in terms of which types of CPD activity you can choose to meet your needs, and you can customise your development to your work role.
The one absolute requirement, common to all members, is one hour of development work on ethics and professional standards per year. This may be reading through the STEP Code of Professional Development, reading two articles or doing an online course.
Of course, if your regulator, employer or another professional body requires you to manage your CPD in terms of hours, or you prefer to work that way, then you should include that as a measure on your CPD forms. STEP’s ‘role benchmarking’ scheme (see below) accommodates the use of hours as a measure and ensures the hours you spend are devoted to relevant learning activities.
STEP has chosen to move on from setting a minimum number of hours that members must invest in ‘formal’ CPD, instead recommending a range of areas that members should consider when forming CPD plans
Planning, undertaking and recording your CPD should be easier and more rewarding (or, at least, no more onerous) than your current recording methods. The STEP CPD Centre provides a range of resources to support members in getting best value from their CPD and includes a custom-built online CPD recording tool.
The new STEP CPD policy requires you to take four simple steps.
Step one: consider your professional role and set your benchmark
If you have a job description, the list of required skills should form your starting point. If you do not, you can list five to eight key responsibilities and the skills you need to carry them out. For example: ‘My job title is Trust Policy Director and my responsibilities are…’
Step two: analyse your needs and set objectives
It can be difficult to assess your own ability in various skills without regular performance reviews, but STEP provides a CPD Planner tool, which you can use for self-analysis, at the CPD centre. Identifying areas you need to improve will help you to set some development objectives. The key areas to consider are technical knowledge, ethics and professional standards, business skills (e.g. technology-related needs), management and leadership skills, and interpersonal skills. In our example above, a responsibility could be ‘Monitor external environment’ and an objective could be ‘Find out more about FATCA and IGAs’.
Step three: select and carry out activity
CPD audits show that members tend to use conferences and courses as their main ways of meeting CPD requirements, but research, preparing and discussing in-house updates, and mentoring or training colleagues are also valid CPD activities. To meet the objective above, the policy director could attend a conference, or monitor various publications closely.
Step four: evaluate, reflect and record
When you record each activity, it is important to evaluate how effective it was. By reflecting on your own progress and any new needs arising, you are formulating your future CPD plan and gaining the most value from your development time. You can also record unplanned learning, since managing a crisis can provide an intense learning experience.
In our example, the policy director might write: ‘The conference answered some of my questions, but industry experts are still uncertain about the practical implications. I’ve added further research and monitoring to my CPD plan for this year.’
Your thoughts on each activity should be included in your record, but members can choose the level of detail appropriate for their employer.
For more information on the new CPD policy and to see more detailed guidelines, please visit the CPD Centre.