Making your CPD easier

Making your CPD easier

Here’s a new thing I’m going to try. If I get good feedback from you, I’ll keep it going – let me know 😊

How many newsletters have hit your inbox today? Did you read them all? Do you have time to sift through them all? But what if you miss out on a key piece of news!?!

So here is the thing - I propose to provide a service to PDC members: I’ll sift through newsletters, articles, social media shares and so on – then I’ll compile my thoughts on what is useful (and what isn’t), and (possibly more importantly) how long it’ll take you to read/watch/listen/attend, roughly. I’ll share my findings fortnightly.

This way you can target your reading. Let’s call it what it is: CPD. I’ll choose the most pertinent HR and L&D news so that you don’t have to – saving you time and keeping you up to date.

We need some ground rules. First, I’ll choose sources based on what I think will help academically (people studying DPG’s programme) and what will help in an immediate career sense (helping you be that ‘business partner’). I can’t look at everything – neither can you! For example, this week I read some fantastic articles in People Management magazine that were great conversation pieces and I’m glad I read them, but if I can’t link them immediately to your CPD right now won’t mention them in the interests of keeping the post focused on streamlining your CPD. Second, my evaluation is based on my opinion (which isn’t perfect), if you disagree with my evaluation (and/or choices) then the most valuable thing you can do is reply to the post with your views – that would be perfect!

 

Here goes: People Management Magazine hit my doormat this week. So my first post will be all about that. Do you have time to read the whole thing? No? Well, I’ve done it for you. Take a look at my thoughts on the highlights:

  • The construction industry returned to work much earlier than most other sectors. There is an article that describes a few practical ways they have managed social-distancing including proximity alarms, staged working times and removal of touchpad security. This might help if you need ideas for social-distancing in your organisation. Page 8. “Lockdown is a chance to make real change”. Read time: 5 minutes
  • Page 12 shows an interesting statistic: 48% of all organisations across all sectors have said their staff will be able to work from home for the foreseeable future. Is this your experience?
  • If you are interested in a few more practical tips more attuned to office environments presented in a light-hearted visual format then pages 14&15 are for you. Page 14&15. “Health and Safety dos and don’ts”. Read time: 2 minutes
  • If you’ve been keeping up to date with what to expect from returning to work post lockdown then you won’t need this next article. It’s a Q&A article. You could speed read this - jumping to questions of interest whilst skipping the rest. There are limited key stats to reference. Whilst government policy and advice are mentioned – it isn’t directly linked. It’s an easy read but it is conversational rather than academic or definitive. Page 16&17. “The BIG back to work questions answered”. Read time: 3 minutes (speed read).
  • If you are looking for stats and surveys to quote on the subject of continuing remote working, there is an article for you on page 18. There is also a side panel briefly explaining the return to offices of 4 big-name organisations. Page 18. “Do we actually need to go back to work at all?”. Read time: 3 minutes.
  • Racism is quite rightly a hot topic right now. I thought I had a pretty good understanding of the situation, yet this next article got me thinking about elements that I hadn’t thought of before. Definitely worth a read. Page 21. End racism article at work Kelechi Okafor. 10_minute read, but worth spending more time reflecting on it.
  • Alongside the previously mentioned article, Tinu Cornish’s article raised my awareness of the unconscious discrimination in that whilst we think we don’t discriminate; we are navigating through an environment that does. At the very least, I’d suggest reading the second paragraph in the middle column. In particular, it’s the final part of the paragraph from ‘This happens because…’ that really got me thinking – this may well hook you into the rest of the article. Page 27. End racism article by Tinu Cornish. Read time: 3 minutes.
  • Related to racial inequality in the workplace, on page 29 there are 10 graphical representations of results of surveys carried out by various organisations over the past 3 years. On top of being eye-opening, it’s useful if you are looking for some hard-hitting figures to reference. Page 29. “The Facts don’t lie”. Read time: 2-minute
  • Page 53 is a short read that talks about 3 hot topics in HR: mental health support; insecure types of employment (e.g. zero-hours); and reduction in freelance availability.  If you are looking for long-term. The articles provide a range of figures, practicalities and consequences. This could help if you are studying future trends. “Research”. Page 53. Read time: 5 minutes
  • Are you looking for pointers on dealing with Furlough and the extended scheme? There is no article in the magazine but there is mention of a weblink to the article. There is a lot here, so I won’t attempt to put a time frame on it - it depends what you need. There is information on the flexible scheme, selection for furlough, annual leave during furlough and much more. There are key dates in the timeline of Furlough up to October 2020. Here is the link: https://www.cipd.co.uk/podcasts/shifting-perception-conflict

 

The magazine ends with the usual adverts and a photo of Tom Hanks from the film Big – amazing. I’m going to go and put all this in my CPD record now – I suggest you take a look at the articles and do the same. CPD made easy 😊

 

Those are my picks from the magazine. What are yours? Did this help? (please say yes as I spent most of the day on it!)

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Gary is The Professional Development Community Manager

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Comments

  • Thank you - very useful.  Not yet read the magazine either (I think it's gone to work...) but I'll track it down.  And yes to a video!

    Thank you

    Sam 

    • Ah. Thanks for the input. The video idea seems to have landed well  :)

      I'm hoping I can make it a little bit easier to engage with than the endless stream of email newsletters I receive. 

  • His Gary I think this is great and although taking you a day this has Been super beneficial to me. I have completed my diploma a couple of months back but have been struggling with CPD post course (and due to being furloughed) however I did manage to read the magazine front to back  for the 1st time during my whole course (benefits of being furloughed I suppose) I

    i was particularly interested in the unconscious bias and racism at work topics. I have recently been involved in rolling out training to manager from my retail stores and still find it amazing to show people how it easy it is that it exists. The look on the faces when it dawns upon them that a simple phrase or action could make someone feel excluded. I don't think there is enough being done from companies to support however pleased to say my organisation has something in place and recognises its a hot topic. I've also joined a dignity and inclusion think tank group at work for ideas on how we can move it on again.

    thanks for the tips on breaking down the CPD would you then put each heading as something new learnt or put all together?

    Graeme

    • Hi Graeme

      Great! I'm glad that you found this useful. I guess if you can take something different away from each article then you can legitimately add each article as a different heading in your record. Would anyone out there care to weigh in on this one?

      More power to you for bringing in the unconscious bias related work into your workplace. And you've gone on joined a think tank - this is a credit to you. Congratulations on demonstrating such development! I bet this kind of activity strengthens your capabilities and makes the workplace better. If there was a thumbs up icon here, I'd press it.

      On the subject of me doing this kind of post again I'm thinking that, if there is call for it, I'll make these fortnightly CPD posts a video (accompanied with a text overview). The video will be a mix of me talking and screenshots of sources from across the web. What do you think?

      • Yeah I think that be a great idea.

        to your point on the record I definitely took bits from areas so I'll note down thanks. Some of it was just a read or a note of interest 

        • All sounds good, Graeme 

  • That's very helpful. Thanks Gary! I still haven't read this issue but after readin this post I definitely will! 😊

    Thank you,

    Sonya

    • Hi Sonya

      Yeah, it's a heavy read sometimes. Hopefully, I've lightened that load a little by pointing out some highlights. I've just responded to Graeme above with my ideas about taking this to video. What do you think?

      I'm thinking that I'll alternate these updates between talking about People Management and then the next update will talk about general resources across the web.

      • Absolutely, video sounds like a good idea!

        • Excellent! I'll get the ball rolling so to speak.

          :)

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