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Recent articles on CPD have all emphasised the benefits that can be gained by taking control of your professional development and recording CPD activities on a regular basis. Just like exercise, the results are incremental and cumulative. Ignore it and you suddenly find it’s harder to catch up!

But the benefits are real and developing professional knowledge and skill can really help to demonstrate your professional standing to clients and employers. It can also assist you in career development or possible career change. Certainly the national agenda encourages individuals to realise the importance of CPD and “embedding a culture of learning” to support growth and development is one of the objectives of the Leitch review. Commissioned by the government to review the current situation in the UK, the report concludes that “Upgrading of skills is the most important lever to create wealth in the UK economy”.

Within this wider context, the Institute offers its own CPD framework for members to record activities and learning that contribute to professional skills development. Starting by mapping knowledge and expertise of the BIFM competences, members can then go on to build up a record of events and courses attended and include a variety of other activities such as reading journals, mentoring a colleague, or developing new knowledge in the workplace.

The emphasis is on outcomes rather than a points or hours based system and members are asked to reflect on activities to identify key learning. In this way members at all stages of their careers can develop a useful record to support the annual review and appraisal process. The records can also be a useful tool to focus on key areas for future change and development. In the fast moving world of FM, keeping abreast of new ways of working, the impact of relevant legislation and issues such as sustainability can be a daunting task. CPD is a powerful way to take control of that challenge and plan and record proactively.

Last but not least, CPD is a key driver for FM as a maturing profession and BIFM’s bye-laws require all members with the entitlement to use post-nominals (MBIFM, FBIFM and BIFM Qual) to undertake CPD on an ongoing basis. CPD records are reviewed regularly, so please remember to keep your record updated to reflect recent activities.

Find out more about CPD