Training and development | PPC92 September 2018

Following our AGM in June, we announced plans to launch BPCA Registered, an in-house Individual Recognition and Continual Professional Development (CPD) Scheme. Karen Dawes, BPCA Training Development Manager, talks to PPC about the new scheme and the crucial role CPD has in the industry.

CPD refers to the process of tracking and documenting the skills, knowledge and experience that you gain both formally and informally as you work, beyond any initial training.

It’s a record of what you experience, learn and then apply. CPD is important because it ensures that you continue to be competent in your profession and it’s an ongoing process. The ultimate outcome of well-planned and implemented CPD is that it safeguards the public, the employer, the professional and the professional’s career.

At its core, we believe that every professional pest controller has a responsibility to keep knowledge and skills current so that they can deliver a high quality service that meets the expectations of customers and of the profession. For this reason our membership criteria for Servicing members requires all employees of member companies to be registered on a recognised CPD scheme.

However, the quality and relevance of the CPD being undertaken are equally important. Well-crafted, well-planned and focused CPD can offer many benefits, including:

• Maintaining and enhancing your knowledge and skills, enabling you to continue to deliver a professional and effective service to your customers and clients
• Ensuring that you’re keeping up with changes in the sector and have up-to-date knowledge of new products, techniques and technology
• Keeping abreast of regulations and legislation including datasheet and label requirements to ensure that you are working in and maintaining safe environments
• Creating the backdrop for recognition of a profession that makes a meaningful contribution to the increased protection and a higher quality of life within public health and the environment
• Providing increased public confidence and adding value to the pest control sector as a whole
• Opening up new opportunities for skills development and advancement in your career, helping you to stay interested and motivated.

The importance of CPD should not be underestimated or treated with indifference. CPD should be considered, planned and reviewed to ensure that the time put towards achieving your CPD is spent efficiently and effectively.

Making CPD effective

Whatever form your CPD takes, evidence shows the most effective CPD is:

Relevant

The expertise and knowledge of professional pest controllers can span a wide range of subjects or it can be very niche and specialist. To meet the needs of all our members, BPCA Registered will provide a framework that includes a requirement, where appropriate, for CPD activity in fumigation, rodent control, bird control and other specialisms in addition to the more generic health and safety, environmental and general pest control activities. This will ensure that whether you are a general pest controller or a specialist, you will be able to demonstrate your commitment to relevant professional development.

Effective

BPCA Registered will introduce a level of analysis and reflection to informal CPD activity such as accessing videos or reading materials. You will be able to log your CPD directly onto your account, completing a simple reflection form stating what you have learned and how you will apply this to your role.

Personalised

In other words, built on your own identified needs rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach. BPCA Registered will provide you with the means to plan your CPD requirements for the year ahead and review your progress.

Collaborative

We will work with industry partners and stakeholders to ensure the widest range of CPD activity is available to you through BPCA Registered.

BPCA Registered and its benefits

BPCA Registered is built on a professional recognition framework where companies and individuals can demonstrate to their clients and customers a level of knowledge and skills, as well as a commitment to ongoing professional development. The professional recognition scheme will encourage individuals towards advanced qualifications and acknowledge their attainment.
Within the scheme, BPCA will develop a transparent CPD framework incorporating opportunities for both structured and unstructured professional development activities including:

• Training courses, workshops and seminars
• Studying for a qualification or accreditation
• Online courses and webinars
• Attending exhibitions and
• conferences
• Reading and research materials
• Internal training and briefings
• Mentoring and practical training
• Online quizzes.

BPCA Registered will be available to all members and their employees. Activities will be easily accessed through a dedicated BPCA web page, and progress can be monitored and reviewed through a personalised profile page.

Why do I need CPD?

CPD is something that you do to make sure you’re the best you can be at your job. A formalised CPD scheme can help you identify areas for self development; plan the activities you will do to improve in these areas and achieve your professional goals.

For the individual professional CPD can lead to new opportunities, greater job satisfaction and also help to secure promotion. At its most effective though, CPD is far more than that: from an organisational perspective, it can improve staff motivation, assist with succession planning and demonstrate the organisation’s commitment to excellence and lifelong learning.

How it benefits the sector

CPD can give clients, specifiers and the wider public confidence that professional pest controllers are continuously improving their skills, knowledge and expertise. BPCA believes that providing pest controllers with a pathway to high quality CPD appropriate to their current career stage and professional aspirations is the best way to achieve a sector that is recognised as highly-skilled and valued.

BPCA Registered will provide you with your personalised photo ID card which will include all your qualifications so that you can demonstrate your knowledge and skills at any time.

Can you help?

We’re looking to create a range of practical development opportunities on a member-to-member basis. We need volunteers who are willing to share their skills, knowledge and experience with other members by offering free practical CPD workshops across a range of subjects.

Do you have a subject topic or activity that you would be willing to share with others members? If so, please email and let us know the types of practical training you are able to offer.

We are also looking for members to let us know the types of practical training that they feel would be a useful form of CPD for their technicians. If this is something that you might be interested in, email us to let us know what you are looking for.

To enable us to collate your responses correctly, please clearly state within your email whether you are volunteering to deliver training or are looking to take part in training.

GET INVOLVED

registered@bpca.org.uk
01332 225 113

Karen Dawes
Training Development Manager
September 2019  |  PPC92

Source: PPC92