As CIH member volunteers, your contribution in terms of time, skill and expertise is incredibly valuable. By volunteering with CIH, you are embedding Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in your professional practice.
This section is intended to explain:
What is CPD?
CPD is an ongoing, purposeful and planned learning and development process. We define CPD as activities undertaken to maintain and enhance your competence and conduct, meeting professional standards.
Professionalism involves a commitment to ongoing professional development, the need to display the right behaviours, attitudes and empathy, and to operate within an ethical framework. By committing to CPD, you are demonstrating professionalism that benefits both the housing sector and the communities you serve.
Why is CPD important?
As those working in the housing sector, it’s vital we engage in CPD as part of the wider picture around conduct, professional standards and professionalism.
As a CIH member, professionalism is at the core of your commitment through the code of conduct and code of ethics. It will also be important to be able to demonstrate this under the Competence and Conduct Standard.
Logging your CPD
When you volunteer with CIH, you’re expanding your knowledge and skills, demonstrating professional behaviours and developing your sector knowledge, expertise and network.
All CIH members have their own CPD log in their membership account. This is designed to be a self-reflective journal, allowing you to consider what you learnt from that activity and how you will take it forward.
At the start of the year, set out your CPD plan in the My CPD area of your CIH member profile, ensuring that you consider your volunteering responsibilities for the year as part of this. Throughout the year, you can log your activities against this CPD plan.
You are trusted to complete your CPD log with integrity and consider the ways in which the voluntary activity supported your career and skills growth, as well as the development of professional behaviours. All the time that you give as a volunteer can be logged as CPD once you have completed the self-reflection journal for that time, reflecting on the professional standards that you have demonstrated.
You can find a step-by-step guide for logging CPD here.
