5 Reasons Why Professional Development is Important to Career Progression

5 Reasons Why Professional Development is Important to Career Progression?

Professional development training for career progression improves individuals and entire workforces. Discover the benefits and how to develop yourself professionally.

Anyone looking to develop themselves professionally and focus on career progression should consider continuing professional development training and courses.

However, professional development is not only appealing and advantageous to individuals. According to recent research,?76% of millennials believe professional development opportunities are one of the most vital aspects contributing to company culture .?

But why?

Read on to understand why investing in professional development, both personally and professionally can make a profound difference in your everyday life.

What is Professional Development?

Professional development is applied to various professional purposes , entailing the continuation of career training through vocational and theoretical education.

From academic career paths to corporate management, professional development helps enhance careers while also improving personal aspects that support this overall development.

Therefore, professional development combines principles of both personal self-improvement and career progression.

• Personal Development – Requires learning skills and acquiring knowledge to fulfil your potential, relating to health, happiness and relationships.
• Career Progression – Learning skills to help progress along your career path, such as promotions, courses, leadership and management training.
• Professional Development – Uniting personal development with career progression to create a fulfilling life course concentrating on your career and wellbeing.

In many ways, professional development suits individuals who prioritise work and have ambitious aspirations for their careers.

Typically, professional development relates to enhancements in your current role, but it can also help you switch careers entirely.

As a discipline, professional development requires various approaches and learning objectives, such as technical assistance, vocational group activities, and reflective exercises in coaching, leadership, and mentoring.

Why is Continuing Professional Development Important?

When adopted, the numerous benefits involved in personal and professional development go a long way to improving an individual’s career and an entire workforce.

As a person looking to improve professionally in life and their career, it’s crucial to identify the specific areas required for professional development.

These areas may differ depending on your field, experience, current position, and intentions for career progression.

Here are some general factors that contribute to the importance of professional development:

• Prove your capabilities of self-improvement to yourself and others
• Improve qualifications to meet career objectives
• Upgrade your capabilities to the latest developments
• Exceed or maintain the ideal standards expected in your current position

Ensure you can meet the requirements of your customers, clients or community with a necessary knowledge base and skill set

Another aspect important to personal development is the unrelenting modernisation and advancement of our world.

We might have the correct skill set to fulfil our current position. However, reaching the next level or remaining competent in that role might depend on what innovation emerges with inevitable technological advancements.

Therefore, professional development enables people to progress and stay relevant in their current roles.

So, it’s not only ambitious individuals who comply with professional development rationale. We now expect entire businesses to provide personal development opportunities to fulfil their workforce and ensure they don’t fall behind their competitors.

But despite best intentions, an unfortunate 74% of employees believe they’re not reaching their potential due to a lack of support and development courses.

The Benefits of Continuing Professional Development

As we know, career progression is a two-way street, concerning the individual and the business they represent.

5 Benefits of Professional Development for Professionals?

1.??????Sharpen Your Skills

Refresh your knowledge and sharpen your skill set so you can advance in your career or stay up to date in your current role.

Personal development will help enhance your personal, social, and career capabilities and provide you with the opportunity to learn something new.?

2.??????Expand Your Network and Social Influence

Staying in the same social circle within your current career role will not allow you to expand your horizons, meet fellow ambitious professionals and ultimately advance your career.

Courses in professional development will present promotional opportunities and allow you to utilise networking events and workshops where you can share your ideas and learn from fellow professional development students.

3.??????Increase Earning Potential

Naturally, the more you learn and enhance your skill set, the more money you can earn. Continuous professional development enables you to improve your skill set throughout your career, entitling you to bonuses and salary increases.?

4.??????Improve Your Health

A connection between learning and health can be founded in increased brain cell connectivity alongside reduced stress levels, all acquired with professional development training.

Professional development is not just concerned with your career progression but with overall wellbeing and happiness. Learning new skills will exercise your brain and give you the confidence to achieve more for yourself and improve your life, relationships, and capabilities.

5.??????Remain Curious

As we get older, we can lose the capability for curiosity. Settling in a job and not striving for a better life can filter through a fading curiousness where we get stuck in a rut within an all too familiar routine.

Professional development will shift this perspective and generate renewed inspiration for life and your ambition to achieve more. Curiosity is a vital ingredient to self-improvement, which comes hand in hand with professional development.?

5 Benefits of Professional Development for Businesses

1.??????Increase Retention and Attract Talent?

86% of professionals would switch companies if offered more opportunities for professional development .

2.??????Enhance Efficiency

Professional development can increase employee education and produces higher efficiency levels (10%) than improving their equipment (3.4%). ?

3.??????Improve Confidence and Company Credibility

82% of people believe professional development to support company culture generates an advantage over competitors.

4.??????Install Future Leaders

83% of companies believe they should develop leaders at all levels of the business .

5.??????Revitalise Your Workforce

Happy employees are 12% more productive than disheartened workers who work 10% less.

Invest in the Right Professional Development Courses

Thankfully, professional development is achieved and readily available with accredited courses and training resources from experienced providers.

UKCPD has been designing and delivering award-winning professional development courses for over two decades, training elite level leaders and coaches to achieve the heights of their personal potential and career progression.

Whether you’re looking to boost your earning potential or change careers entirely, our professional development courses can help you realise your dreams and enhance your quality of life.

If you desire to take the next step in your career or wish to improve the wellbeing and credibility of your workforce, get in touch today .

All our professional development courses are accredited by the best UK governing bodies responsible for the highest standards of training, coaching and education.?

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