Getting back to CPD with Aviva Development Zone
The FCA has stated that it expects most individuals will be able to continue completing CPD whilst on furlough or working from home. CPD activities can include e-learning so there are plenty of opportunities for CPD recording to continue if you are still working remotely.
But as many workplaces begin to return to the office and settle down to the ‘new normal’, a renewed focus on ensuring that you and any staff are competent in their roles is important,
and to do this having access to the most up to date and complete CPD data is key.
Recording CPD
For users of the Aviva Development Zone (DevZone), your CPD Record is probably the most important place on the platform where your achievements are recorded. It provides you with a single store of evidence to demonstrate your competence and professional standards to both supervisors within your firm, and to professional bodies. Producing a strong CPD Record also makes it easier to judge your commitment and performance and helps with role appraisals.
The CPD tools allow you to record information about activities that you are planning to undertake, as well as recording information about completed activities.
Our DevZone provider, RWA, suggests that recording the activity itself is only half of the story – seeing that you’ve completed a course is useful, but it doesn’t give a clear idea of why you have done this, or how it has informed the way that you work. Taking a minute or two to add a reflection to entries in your CPD Record will help to show what you have gained from completing the training, but also, what benefits your improved understanding of topics will bring to your clients and your employer.
If you’ve avoided updating your CPD Record so far, now is an ideal time to get it in shape. If you use DevZone to store your CPD Record, you’ll find a range of tools to help you get the most from your work and help you avoid some of the common pitfalls.
The CPD Mentor feature (available via the buttons at the very bottom of your CPD Record on DevZone) offers straightforward advice based on an analysis of all CPD entries that you have recorded during the current year. It analyses the data for evidence of over a dozen common issues, ranging from records that appear to be duplicated, missing information - such as dates or development needs - right through to finding dates where you appear to have completed activities on the system but not created a related CPD entry.
You’ll also see an ‘Improve’ button in your main CPD record next to activities that have been marked as completed. This triggers a helpful wizard using a style like the “Record My CPD” page, but with an advisory section provided to the right of each of the four sections. Each advisory section is based on an analysis of the information already provided and will contain feedback or guidance about how to improve the entry and ensure that it presents your learning and development in the best possible way.
So, if you’ve not visited DevZone in a while, log on and make sure your CPD is on track.
If you haven’t got access to the DevZone, please contact your Aviva Sales Manager or our DevZone provider, RWA: devzone@rwagroup.co.uk or visit www.mydevelopment.zone and sign up for a free 30-day trial.
Coming soon…
We’re launching a new and exciting range of support materials as part of our next update at the end of August. These will include our brand new DevZone Academy, which will be available to all learners, and will provide support on a wide range of topics – from recording and improving your CPD record, right through to using some of our exciting custom content formats to develop your own training material.
For further information on the FCA’s stance regarding CPD during the COVID crisis, please see this article from RWA: https://insight.rwabusiness.com/blog/posts/2020/june/fca-allowing-individuals-to-carry-over-cpd-due-to-coronavirus/