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Survey shows CPD growing in importance

Research into trends in continuous professional development (CPD) suggests that mandatory development will be required by over 85% of professional bodies within the next five years.

The research by consultancy-led learning publisher, Echelon Learning, sought to determine the current provision of CPD, the future requirements of these bodies for professional development, and whether and how they will want to publish, distribute and track CPD in the future.

A summary found that:

• All but one of respondents thought that their requirement for CPD would increase, with no one body predicting a decrease
• The methods of recording CPD varied, with "number of hours" being the most popular, while 21% of respondents do not currently track CPD at all
• Accreditation of student learning is offered by just under half of responding professional bodies with the majority of this learning being published by external organisations
• Where learning is published by a professional body, less than half is through a content management system. The potential of this method of publishing is considered by respondents almost universally to be of value
• Around 65% of respondents already offer CPD material via their website, with the remaining third considering this a valuable method of distribution

Commenting on the research findings, Echelon's David Hill said, "Clearly, CPD is becoming increasingly important to professional bodies and their members as its benefits to them and their customers become more evident. This will be hastened further by the growing pressure by Government on professions post debacles such as Enron, Worldcom etc to ensure their members keep their skills and knowledge up to date. It is also clear that associations see the online environment as a central plank in the future development of their CPD provision to members."

Echelon is managing the development and integration of student and members learning online on behalf of organisations including the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).

The research is based on a questionnaire emailed to 175 officers of professional bodies in May 2004 as part of a series of learning surveys conducted by the company.

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