A recent survey from technicians across the University highlighted that over 83% of individuals had not accessed any CPD (Continuous Professional Development) in the last 12 months. When looking at the top barriers it was a lack of time to undertake training, a lack of funding and people not being clear on what CPD to complete.

Working within the Learning and Development team at the University, all staff accessing learning is close to my heart so the figures above concerned me. I have therefore put a few suggestions below to help address these areas.

1. Finding the time to complete CPD

CPD can be a range of activities. Most people initially think of training courses and qualifications but great CPD can be through less formal approaches too.

2. Finding funding

Individual departments and schools hold the budget for their own areas so CPD will usually come from that source. Many of the examples above will not have a financial implication to the individuals department though.

If individuals are interested in undertaking CPD there are a few other sources of support available.

• Erasmus + Staff Mobility allows technicians to visit other Universities across Europe
• Staff Scholarships fund part time postgraduate study at the University
• Institute of Academic Development lists funding opportunities as well as offering the IAD Action Fund

3. Planning for your CPD

CPD is not only about helping you grow and develop in your career but can also help you feel more confident about what you have to offer.

CPD therefore needs to be relevant to you, either professionally or personally.

Consider the following points to help you plan:

Where are you now?

• What are your strengths?
• What do others say about you?

 Where do you want to be?

• What are you wanting to achieve in the next 12 months?
• What skills do you need to develop?

How will you get there?

• What resources do you need?
• What support do you require?
• How much time can you commit to this?

Successfully gaining approval for your CPD

If there will be a time commitment or cost it is worthwhile considering how you put forward your case to getting your CPD approved.

Sue Churm from HEaTED shared ten top tips to provide a case for CPD so click here to read the article.

Joanna Fairweather is an HR Business Partner based within the Learning and Development team. Joanna also sits on the TSSG and is heavily involved with The Technician Commitment. To find out more about Learning and Development visit www.ed.ac.uk/human-resources/learning-development 

Accessing CPD as a Technician – Joanna Fairweather / University of Edinburgh Technicians by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0

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