As insurance professionals, we understand the importance of staying up-to-date with industry developments and regulations. However, it's not just us - professionals from all walks of life, including engineers, healthcare workers, plumbers, lawyers, and teachers, also undertake continuing professional development to keep their skills sharp. It's a commitment to excellence, and one that we take seriously.
This shouldn’t be seen as a simple box-ticking exercise, designed to meet the requirements of Central Bank Codes. Its importance reaches far beyond compliance, allowing you to stay in tune with relevant industry updates, develop your knowledge and ultimately, to protect your customers.
Here are our 5 reasons why you shouldn’t think of CPD as all about compliance.
1. It is a vital component of your career development
In recent years, there has been a noticeable shift in attitudes towards CPD. No longer viewed as a mere inconvenience, our members now place great value on the content they complete, recognizing it as a crucial component of their career development.
CPD provides an opportunity to hone your technical skills through learning from industry experts, while attending online webinars and face-to-face lectures can also help you develop the invaluable soft skill of networking – essential for advancing your career.
2. The content is transferable to your day-to-day job
Transferability of content is something that we at The Insurance Institute always keep in mind when developing our online webinars and face to face lectures and online modules. It is hugely important that you can take away some key learnings from the activities you complete and apply it to your job. That’s why we work with industry to ensure that our content is relevant and valuable to you, so you don’t see your annual requirement as a chore.
3. You can complete it in your own time, at your own pace
We urge you not to leave your CPD completion until the last minute in December. Doing so will only cause unnecessary stress and prevent you from gaining the full benefit of the valuable content.
Fortunately, there are options available throughout the year, including online webinars, face-to-face lectures, and e-learning modules. This flexibility allows you to fit CPD into your busy schedule, at your own pace, and extract the most value from it.
4. It helps to protect your customers
Having a team of competent and qualified professionals is a huge advantage for any company, as it inspires trust in customers and increases the likelihood of gaining and retaining business. By undertaking CPD, professionals can ensure that they are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to provide accurate advice and recommend suitable products. As an industry dedicated to protecting people, it is crucial that we prioritize CPD to safeguard both our customers and the integrity of our sector.
5. It adds to your value
As insurance professionals, our qualifications and CPD demonstrate our commitment to lifelong learning and professionalism. Companies prioritize qualified and competent staff, and CPD is one of the best ways to ensure that competencies remain up-to-date.
Continuous learning is a must, even for those with advanced qualifications. Staying up-to-date with the latest trends, products, and external factors is crucial to keep adding value and maintaining expertise. We must all remain vigilant and build upon what we've learned from textbooks to stay relevant.
Our advice:
Start as you mean to go on. Make a plan of the content you’ll complete throughout the year, including face to face and online.
If you are looking for more advice on how to make to most of your CPD, please check out the following post - Making the most of your CPD Webinars.
