You might have heard of the term CPD before - but why is it important? Continuing your professional development is as important as your fundamental training, and depending on your goals it can vary greatly. With this article, we're exploring the different ways that you can add to your fundamental training and continue your professional development. Read on!
Whether you have recently completed your coaching diploma or you have graduated a decade ago, continuous professional development – or CPD – ensures that you continue to develop in your chosen profession by adding to your skills and enhancing them. It’s an ongoing process, and it continues throughout your professional career.
CPD does not only benefit you - the coaching professional - and your career, but it also safeguards your clients, your employer if you have one and the industry.
Across the UK workforce, CPD is expected of most individual professionals in most sectors. It is generally governed by sector-specific professional bodies or regulators. Employers also increasingly expect their staff to undertake CPD, and may even measure them on it.
Anyone who is a member of a professional body is likely to have CPD requirements laid out for them by the body, rather than by their employer. There are currently over 2,000 professional bodies (https://www.cpdstandards.com/what-is-cpd/who-needs-cpd/), institutes and membership associations nationally in the UK. They represent all industries and professions, and all have CPD policies known as CPD schemes.
CPD is a conscious choice to keep developing professionally, whether you are accountable to a governing body or not. Lawyers, doctors, accountants and co. are accountable to a governing body but coaching is an unregulated industry so unless you are a credentialed member of an organisation, it’s highly likely that you will be in charge of your own continued professional development.
Some may think they have to get a new qualification under their belt for it to qualify as CPD. But actually, any activity that enhances your skills or adds a new one relevant to your coaching career is CPD.
Types of CPD learning vary significantly and include a wide range of different learning methods.
Reflective learning involves no participant-based interaction, so this form of CPD is much more passive and one-directional. What falls into this category?
a. Podcasts
Podcasts can be a great source of development. With thousands of podcasts on the market, you can find many specifically about coaching, some are about particular coaching skills, others are about particular coaching niches. Beyond that, there are podcasts run by coaches on a variety of topics, all to help you develop but also to inspire and motivate you along your coaching journey.
b. Industry updates
Following news about your industry and keeping up with the changes in the market are an important part of any professional development.
c. Case Studies
Case studies can be a great source of developing your learning. The TCA Student Facebook group is full of case study posts from students, who are asking for opinions and viewpoints on how to best approach a challenge with a client. For those reading it, it’s a great way of learning.
Self-directed learning involves all unaccompanied CPD activities.
a. Books
If you love reading, you will love this method of development. No matter what stage you’re at in your coaching career, books can be an endless source of knowledge.
b. Professional publications
Academic publications can be great resources in your CPD. Look for publications about coaching in general or specifically about the niche of your choice. You might find that topics like psychology, neuroscience or behavioural science are also relevant to your work so look for academic publications on those topics too.
c. Research into a relevant field
Any professional research you conduct can also be considered part of your CPD. It’s a way of taking learning into your own hands and it can be one of the most effective ways of learning.
This type of learning involves interactive and participation-based study. It is typically preferred by organisations and it’s also the simplest to measure.
Learning with others and from others is one of the fastest ways you can improve your skills and knowledge. If you are a student of The Coaching Academy, you might have a preference towards this type of active development since most training options involve live training with a professional trainer.
a. Training courses
Enrolling on a training course is one of the fastest ways to enhance your skills. The best courses will not only teach you and enhance your learning, but they will also measure it in some way to make sure you are indeed qualified to finish it.
Many TCA students start with our flagship Life Coaching course because it not only reaches you how to coach, it also offers live training days, periodical assessment and feedback on your coaching, and a diploma at the end representing your coaching knowledge.
b. Workshops and seminars
A great way to add to any fundamental training, workshops are perfect for enhancing your development. You have the benefit of learning from an experienced trainer without making a long-term commitment.
c. Conferences
Conferences are a fantastic way to add to your CPD. Networking and learning from so many different trainers can only enhance your own development and open your mind to new topics, perspectives and methods.
Getting an accreditation and being a member of a professional organization can benefit coaches in many ways.
Because it’s an unregulated industry, adhering to the rules and regulations of a professional body will help you gain trust and credibility, and depending on your career goals, these can be imperative in your success.
Other benefits?
Getting accredited means that you have to do the work to get it but also to renew your membership. This can give you a new level of accountability but also of support from your peers and a fantastic source of knowledge.
Most coaching organisations have special training opportunities and events for their members to make it easier for them to keep up with their CPD requirements.
Getting an accreditation demonstrates your commitment to high-quality coaching and it helps you benchmark your own work against professional standards.
And of course, this is not an exhaustive list. There are so many ways you can enhance your knowledge, the best way is the method that works for you – not somebody else!
Here at The Coaching Academy, we’re committed to helping our students reach their full potential and excel on their coaching journey so we’re always working on new and relevant training opportunities to make sure our students continue their professional development.
Choose from Niche workshops or CPD programme training, business development and additional diplomas to enhance your coaching skills, depending on the stage of your coach career.
We’re also working on a partnership with a long-standing professional body to offer continued support to our graduates who are committed to the highest standards of coaching – stay tuned for more information!
Find the full list of upcoming training events here.
Want to learn more about CPD? Join our May Coaching Conversations with Amanda Rosewarne, CEO & Co-Founder at The Professional Development Consortium, where we'll be discussing the importance of CPD.
Find out how you could start a new career as a life coach, or add life coaching skills to your current career by attending our free 2-hour Introduction to Life Coaching webinar, which we run several times a week over Zoom.
Life coaching skills can be fantastic to add to your existing career. Our programmes are all accredited by professional bodies so you know that you are receiving the highest quality training.
The Coaching Academy was established in 1999, and is now the world's largest coaching school.
In that time we have trained over 14,000 people to become life coaches.
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