3 minute read
CPD and employers: what do you need to know?
Just as it's important for employees to keep their knowledge and skills up to date, it's also crucial for businesses to ensure their staff maintain their qualifications.
More and more employers are taking a proactive role in supporting their employees with CPD (continuing professional development) as they continue to see the benefits of a more motivated, highly-skilled and committed workforce.
While it is up to the individual to complete CPD – which often comes within the context of their membership and involvement with industry professional bodies or institutes – it’s important for employers to support this.
“An employer can make time, resources and costs available to develop the skills of their own staff,” says Matt Birch, RLNZ chair and regional training manager for BDT (Black Diamond Technologies). “It’s a perfect marriage because it’s a case of supporting your employers in their training so they can support the business they’re working for.”
Most of your employees’ training can even be completed online, keeping any periods of ‘out of the business’ to a minimum. The flexible CPD learning options for the HVAC&R industry, available from IRHACE, include a mixture of online and in-person learning seminars alongside new business revenue and networking opportunities.
Offer your training to the industry
This is something businesses can get involved in on a larger scale, too.
“We’re always looking for new education that we can attach points to,” says Matt.
“If you’re a business that makes air handlers and you’ve got training on those, or education on how to use those, that could be something that we can take to the market. As a supplier, you can get your product out to more people and educate more people. For individuals that are then using this training, you’re gaining the knowledge to be better at what you do – it’s a win-win.
“Of course, there are different ways of doing things, and it doesn’t mean one is wrong, one is right – it means there are two different ways of doing it. Being able to present that to people who need to learn is a perfect way of doing it.
“Because we are trying to collate all of this information for the industry, the RLNZ website and the IRHACE Industry Journal are the best ways for us to tell you what’s available and simplify the whole process.”
Keep up to date on all things training related for the New Zealand HVAC&R sector by subscribing to the RLNZ newsletter on LinkedIn. https://tinyurl.com/rlnz-newsletter
