Total FM
| CPD for FM - professional duty or opportunity? |
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| Written by David Baldry, University of Salford UK, 2008 | |
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FM professionals are expected to demonstrate a range of competences, and often in a rapidly changing business environment. David Baldry of the University of Salford presents the case for continuing professional development (CPD) in this demanding sector.
Continuing professional development (CPD) is a formalised commitment to undertake a quantity of structured training or education in order to maintain, develop or enhance an individual's knowledge or competence in their professional discipline.
Perhaps, above all, the power of competition applied at the individual or the corporate level will stimulate a wish to demonstrate significant self-improvement or up-skilling. In the FM sector this would equally apply to facilities managers as employees, as procurers and consumers of services, as service providers, or as representatives of end-users or workspace occupiers. The range and variety of forms of CPD activities is extensive and a diverse programme for an individual would include selections from:
CPD is essentially a personal matter and as individuals study or learn in different ways and in different contexts then the development of a customised approach, in which the most acceptable and potentially valuable and rewarding activities are identified for engagement, is the more likely to be successful. Professional institutions invariably establish themselves as guardians of professional standards and the Codes of Conduct of such bodies invariably articulate that practising CPD is a professional duty and a condition of preserving the inclusion of the practitioner in membership. Furthermore, there is usually an express demand that such engagement shall be recorded and evidenced with the potential for periodic audit being an essential part of control and compliance. The standard of compliance to be met is sometimes expressed in terms of hours of engagement in CPD activities, an approach that is often criticised for emphasising attendance rather than bearing any relationship to actual knowledge development or other form of meaningful output. The institutions respond to this charge by highlighting the indirect benefit to the upholding of professional standards arising from peer pressure and the risk to livelihoods arising from the failure to comply. Furthermore, professional institutions have adopted the role of stewards and protectors of the interests of the clients of their members as well as the broader public benefit. A rapid enquiry of the documents of some institutions with a significant and substantial level of engagement in FM reveal the following pertinent indicators of their perspectives on this issue: 1. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS): CPD is continuing because learning never ceases, regardless of age or seniority. It is professional because it is based on personal competence in a professional role. It is concerned with development because its goal is to improve personal performance and enhance career progression and is much wider than just formal training courses. 2. Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB): CPD is a key part of professional life for any CIOB member and underpins the value of the professional qualification. An institute that cannot demonstrate a firm commitment to CPD undersells its members. Members shall keep themselves informed of current thinking and developments appropriate to the type and level of their responsibility. They should be able to provide evidence that they have undertaken study and personal development to fulfil their professional obligations in accordance with the current guidelines for CPD. 3. British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM): CPD is about making progress in your FM career by increasing your skills, knowledge and understanding, and thereby enhancing your effectiveness. From an organisational perspective, CPD can improve staff motivation, assist succession planning and demonstrate excellence and lifelong learning. For the individual, CPD can lead to new opportunities, greater job satisfaction and also promotion. If these intentions are realised then a 'virtuous network' of beneficiaries from CPD activities will be formed in which professional facilities managers, employers, clients, end-users, and the broader public interest will all benefit from the degree of development of the individual that CPD offers to provide. The reality, of course, is less comprehensive and influential as the engagement with CPD opportunities is variable amongst the practitioner community. The factors which mitigate against CPD becoming a totally effective means of self-development are several and varied:
To overcome these constraints or disincentives, the most effective professional would attend to both the strategic and operational aspects of CPD, and treat them in the same manner as they would any other workplace challenge. At the strategic level, a leading FM practitioner would identify the significant steps that would have to be identified, planned for, and resourced in order for them to achieve the level of organisational attainment in respect of status, and the pace of realisation, which would enable them to realise the goals they have set for themselves and their organisation. Operational arrangements would require the same level of attention to the detail of planning, resourcing and control, such as would be applied to, for example, the implementation of a changed maintenance schedule, or the introduction of a new quality assurance mechanism. By this means CPD would become enmeshed in the everyday role of an FM professional and not be perceived as an add-on burden to be attended to begrudgingly and without enthusiasm. The FM sector provides many professional challenges as those engaged within it are expected to demonstrate competence in technical, commercial, managerial and organisational matters, whilst developing an understanding and awareness of the primary business activities of their client or employer, often in a rapidly changing business or public service delivery environment. The need for continual learning and personal development in a directed and deliberate manner has never been greater and will reinforce the prospect for the survival of the fittest, which in this context means the best informed, the most reflective, and the most intensively and extensively skilled professional practitioner in FM - or any other equally demanding sector. David Baldry is Programme Leader for the Distance Learning MSc Facilities Management programme in the School of the Built Environment, University of Salford, UK. |
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