Making the most of your 9-5

Abundant learning opportunities which can contribute towards your CPD are right in front of your nose. Calum Robson looks at work-based learning activities

CPD activity undertaken for ACCA Realise should be relevant to your job and/or your career aspirations. That means a host of work-based learning is applicable - it is likely that your employer or your work environment is putting learning opportunities your way without you fully realising it. While many members find external courses useful, there is no reason why CPD should demand extra time or financial commitment.

It is quite likely that you are already undertaking activity that could count towards your CPD requirement. Those following the employer route to CPD, for example, will already know this as the employer route specifically recognises learning in the workplace. If you are following the unit route, by focusing on learning at work, you can easily meet the CPD requirement - and enjoy a more conscious, profitable learning environment at work into the bargain.

Learning - back to basics

Being coached or signing up for an online course are obvious choices for work-based learning. But consider the following alternatives.

• Reading: Magazines and newsletters - and their online versions - can add richly to your knowledge. But don't just take advantage of technical updates available in accounting & business. Trade journals for your industry sector can also provide invaluable intelligence to help you understand organisational challenges and think more laterally about how finance can contribute. If you have left accountancy and finance, it is all the more important to look for news and views about your chosen field. To help you achieve CPD through regular reading, why not subscribe to newsfeeds and e-mail updates - many are free.
• Consulting colleagues: It may seem to some an unlikely source of CPD but there is no reason why you cannot gain learning through consulting colleagues. Think about the number of occasions you have learned something from a lengthy chat with your boss or a briefing from a colleague. Add up all those mini-development activities and you could be looking at a considerable amount of learning time. Keep a record of when you have learned something significant from such a discussion, noting the time you put aside with your colleague, who they are, what you learned and how you will apply your acquired knowledge.
• Internet research: Who knew that Google could extend its global reach into ACCA Realise? Well, it already does for the many members who conduct research exercises for work purposes. Of course, you may have your own search engine of choice, but the point is that those countless occasions where you turn to the internet to dig up information for a project or prepare for a meeting may constitute legitimate development activity.
• Watching and learning from experienced presenters: Presentation skills are an increasingly essential element of the modern finance professional's portfolio of skills, and one which employers are increasingly looking for, as it is one of the differentiators between a competent team member and a true professional. Whether you are explaining a new costing system to departmental heads, training your own team, or representing your company at events, you will need to convey facts and concepts with flair. By attending presentations made by others, you can pick up invaluable techniques and ideas to adapt for yourself.
• Making site visits: Getting out into the field is important for engaging with the workforce and also representing and promoting your team. Visiting branches or sites at home or overseas can often be a learning experience. For example, invitations from colleagues, customers or suppliers to tour production plants, factories or building sites may be ideal opportunities. Think about what you would learn and how you would use that knowledge back at your desk.
• Networking events: Really effective networking events are about more than simply working a room. Exchanging ideas and experiences with others in similar roles (and even those who are not) can help you develop professionally. Spend time at the beginning of the year researching relevant events, and block the time in your diary. Review your options regularly, as events may be staged with less notice, often in response to new legislation or current market developments. Do not forget to brush up on your self-presentation and communication skills as well before you go.
• Networking sites: There are countless networking websites and online chatrooms for businesses. Employers often encourage key people to use these sites for a host of reasons, such as to help penetrate new markets or make the best use of new technology. If it could benefit you or your employer, log on, start making virtual contacts and build regular time in for acquiring knowledge.
• Shadowing colleagues/predecessors: Taking on new responsibilities does not always entail formal training - it is often down to us to ask the right people the right questions. If you have been given a new duty, spend quality time with the person you are taking over from (if they are still around) or an experienced colleague. There is simply no learning curve which is going to be more useful to you than one that actively helps you to fit into a new organisation or take on new responsibilities.
• Sitting on working groups and committees: Volunteering (or being delegated) to sit on committees for special projects can provide legitimate development activity. Especially where you are working alongside colleagues from other functions (or suppliers or clients), and have to understand their roles in a process chain or stake in an outcome, you might easily be assimilating new information as you go along. For those who are more experienced, or appointed to the group as 'the expert', you might think you are merely there to impart information, but in fact it is a great opportunity to enhance a variety of soft skills, such as chairing and facilitating meetings, dealing with group behaviours, keeping the group focused and achieving an end result. These are transferable skills: you can take them with you and use them throughout your career.
• Attending or organising conferences and seminars: Formal conferences and seminars offer superb environments in which to acquire knowledge. Listening to authoritative speakers, delivering a talk yourself, and participating in Q&A sessions can provide a host of opportunities.

The end justifying the means…

The sheer range of options open to you demonstrates just how flexible ACCA Realise is - and how straightforward it should be to incorporate some of these learning activities into your CPD plan. If you are still not sure, turn the task around. Consider the following examples of 'desired outcomes' that might require one of the above learning activities.

• To produce manuals or set standards - creating important procedures that colleagues can easily understand and follow may fall to the finance team. How will you acquire the background knowledge you need for a failsafe document?
• To prepare for coaching - coaching a more junior colleague or peer may require you to brush up on your own skill in a particular task, or indeed in coaching techniques themselves. How?
• To prepare for a presentation - if commanding an audience does not come naturally for you, make the most of opportunities to observe those for whom it does, in action. If you cannot escape the office, what online options are open?
• To stay up-to-date with market trends or technical requirements - keeping abreast of your industry sector or giving operational managers confidence that you know your stuff entails an element of regular reading. What else, though?
• To acquire knowledge of non-finance functions - transferring into another area of the business; working with colleagues from other departments; expanding responsibilities with promotion… Who could you learn from? Is there internal information you could access to help develop your knowledge?
• To acquire soft skills - today's accountant needs to do more than just adding up - valuable management and communication skills are essential. Who could you learn from? What events could you justify attending? What should you read?
• To acquire international capability - developing business in new territories might demand new knowledge of technical, regulatory, legislative and even cultural issues. What options are feasible?
• To develop a training course - imparting wisdom to juniors needs an engaging and inspiring manner. Think about how you might develop the skills required to do more than just stand up and talk.
• To improve methodology - every organisation benefits from improvements in systems and processes. Project management skills may be in order. Do you have them? How are you going to get them?
• To enhance controls - internal audit and risk management are top priorities for today's finance leaders. Controls in place may be inadequate or out-of-date. How will you equip yourself to make them better?

Backing it all up

Once you have planned your CPD and thought about the different learning activities you will undertake, then the next step for those following the unit route is to start thinking about whether your planned activity is verifiable or not. Verifiable CPD is not all about 'the certificate'. There are three equally important criteria for verifiable CPD:

• the learning activity must be relevant to your role
• you need to be able to explain how you can apply the learning, and
• you need to be able to show some kind of evidence or corroboration that the learning took place.

Many members are totally focused on gaining a certificate for learning activity (as in the point above), but cannot explain if the learning is relevant or how they will apply it. It is important to spend the time reflecting on those points as they are equally, if not more, important.

The learning activity examples here show many learning activities for which a certificate is not on offer. Do not let this approach limit your opportunities; be a little more creative and think about corroboration from colleagues, or your learning output as evidence. Evidence that could count might include:

• reports, reviews and proposals of recommendations
• procedural manuals or controls
• notes made prior to, during or after learning
• presentation slides and/or handouts
• contact details of colleagues who can corroborate claims
• an invoice from the learning provider or expert
• e-mails confirming the learning session
• notes from your calendar or outlook diary supported by a colleague's confirmation.

What next?

If you had assumed that meeting ACCA's CPD requirement required hours of formal training and box-ticking galore, hopefully this article has made you think again. Remember, the key aim should be that your development activities are relevant to you and your career - whether that is in your current job or something you aspire to.

With a little dedicated time, you could have a structured, flexible CPD plan sorted by the end of January. Make it a new year's resolution to map out what is viable for you. You may be surprised by how much having a plan in place motivates you - in fact, many members who approach CPD this way report back that they end up doing far more than the required minimum. How pleasing would that be?