Continuing Education & Professional Development in the Workplace
We all know that continuing education and professional development is essential for our careers, whether you’re seeking a promotion within your organization or your goal is to fill a gap within your curriculum vitae (CV). Often these two terms are used interchangeably; personally, I believe continuing education is best used to describe courses completed towards a degree or certificate while professional development includes short-term courses and workshops that focus on a particular skill. Regardless of how we refer to them, they can be equally important depending on your education goals and values.
Are you fortunate to work in an organization that supports learning; does your organization consider itself a learning culture and how, exactly, does this impact you?
As a single mom with a full-time career, I valued education as a means to support my growth as I “climbed the corporate ladder” and to provide opportunities for my daughter. I was fortunate to work in a learning culture and more importantly, the leaders who advocated for me as a person also supported my goals and values. I was very fortunate. Each year I negotiated my contract to include days off (in addition to my four-week vacation) to study and during exams, dedicated funds for my post-secondary education as well as funds for traveling to educational conferences.
Today, I continue to be very fortunate and work independently with organizations on strategy planning, business development and designing educational programs. This allows me to support my pro bono work with single moms and youth at the beginning of their own careers and we often discuss how and when they can ask for similar support. Below are a few ideas I recommend:
♦ Most organizations offer, at the very least, opportunities for professional development through internal workshops. Human Resources may offer and facilitate workshops as per a regular schedule or based on need. If resources are available, some HR Departments may invite an external learning professional to facilitate. Discuss such opportunities with your supervisor who can connect you with the HR Department.
♦ Discuss learning opportunities during yearly (or bi-annual) evaluations. Most evaluations ask you, the employee, for self-reflection in various areas of improvement. Use this platform to voice your education goals and values.
♦ If you’re fortunate to work for a supportive organization, seek educational tools that will help you do your best work. For instance, have you been asked to lead your first team project? Ask to attend a project management software workshop. Not only is this a great tool for your project, it also serves as a great addition to your CV!
♦ If your organization’s education budget is small, are there opportunities for less-expensive online learning?
♦ Every industry hosts a variety of conferences and other networking events; ask your supervisor and/or HR Departments to support your attendance.
♦ Ask! And ask again. Many of the people I work with don’t think to ask. Perhaps they believe if it’s not offered, it mustn’t be available. We all know the saying, “you never know unless you ask” and I believe this applies here! Just ask and when asking, remember to advocate not only for yourself but also discuss how your organization will benefit from supporting employee professional development!
I would love to hear from you!! Do you have any professional development or continuing education stories and recommendations to share with The HR Gazette community?
About the author
Following a long career in healthcare, Claire works with individuals and organizations in the GTA offering program & curriculum design, strategic planning & business development. Claire is a Founding Partner of The ALSC, a non-profit organization located in Toronto, supporting student athletes, academic studies & life-skills. In other community efforts, Claire sits on the Board of Directors of Women At The Centre; a non-profit organization dedicated to the eradication of gender-based violence. Claire’s position is Director of the Women’s Economic Development and the Men & Boys portfolio. Claire also collaborates with various associations who advocate for women-related issues such as women in STEM & politics. Recently, Claire co-developed a certificate program, “Nonprofit Leadership & Management” for George Brown College in Toronto & will start teaching in 2015. Adding to her expanding network of social media clients, Claire accepted a Community & Strategic Management position with Edge Imaging in Burlington, ON working with the Executive and Marketing teams. You can also find additional authored posts at ChangeYourGameBealeader.com where Claire is a Resident Writer exploring issues about leadership.
Claire Crossley
Strategic Engagement * Non-Profit * Leadership * Education
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