Searchlight Training

Tom Wood, provides some handy tips on how to maximise productivity and maintain a healthy work / life balance.

I have no issue with any individual who wishes to better themselves and take a path of formal study, but it should be relevant to their day to day activities and provide a direct benefit to them and you as the employer (after all, you may well be paying for it), rather than ticking any sort of box.

We’ve all sat through some dire training sessions, simply looking at the clock in mind-numbing boredom, waiting for it to end, and retaining very little of what we were taught. But Continuous Professional Development doesn’t need to be like that.

‘T&C’ - formally known as training and competence - is not a new idea. The General Insurance Standard’s Council launched their own rules and elements of these can still be seen today under the current FCA T&C rules. 

One of the most important factors when becoming a more effective learner is identifying the learning style that suits you best.

Without reflection, meaningful development can be hard to achieve.

CPD for some is a necessary evil, a tick box exercise or an inconvenience. Some feel they don’t need it, are too experienced or view it as a fluffy HR initiative. To be continuously professionally developing is quite a clinical endeavour.    

Imagine that you visited your doctor tomorrow for advice and discovered that she hadn’t updated her knowledge or skills since she qualified 20 years ago.  How confident would you feel about taking her advice?

Different professional bodies will have different requirements but fundamentally, it’s agreed that there are two types: structured and unstructured.