Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
What is CPD?
CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development, and is the term used to describe the learning activities professionals engage in to develop and enhance their abilities.
The Human Resources profession continues to grow and change. We see new trends, developments and legislative requirements emerging all the time. It’s for this reason that continuing professional development is so important to the serious HR professional. HRNZ seeks to support every member to maintain and enhance their professional knowledge on an ongoing basis.
Who should be recording CPD points?
- CPD is an annual requirement for professional accreditation, but can and should be accumulated and recorded by all members regardless of their role and level of seniority
- Records of on-going professional development can be used when applying for professional accreditation, or form the basis of development conversations with your current manager or leader in your own organisation
- In order to gain and maintain professional accreditation, the minimum requirement is 25 points per annum, the anniversary of which will be either your membership start date, or if you are Chartered or have Accredited Professional Accreditation the date on which you became accredited.
What are CPD Points?
CPD points provide a mechanism to keep track of ongoing professional development. HRNZ provides the tools for every member to capture their professional development activities.
HRNZ’s Chartered and Accredited Professional members are recognisable as champions of the human resources profession and commit to earning a given number of CPD points each year. The points essentially demonstrate that a member has invested a sufficient amount of time in their own development each year. Members applying for accreditation at an accredited or chartered level are asked to provide evidence of CPD points earned in the year preceding their application. In order to maintain a Chartered and Accredited Professional status, you must demonstrate consistent engagement with development opportunities by meeting CPD point requirements.
CPD Activities
There is a wide range of CPD-earning activities available, to ensure that you can choose the best mix of activities to meet your personal development goals. These could vary depending on your training and development needs, job type (in-house HR specialist, external HR consultant, HR academic), stage of career and personal circumstances.
For example, if you are a retired HR professional, choosing to become a mentor could be a suitable activity. If you have a goal to develop your HR technology skills, a professional development course on workforce analytics may be more useful.
The table below outlines the types of activities recognised and the relative points value of each, or check out our CPD Guide Booklet. Any enquiries about professional development activities and points accrual should be directed to [email protected].
CREDITS | ACTIVITY | DESCRIPTION / NOTES |
One credit per hour of development [max 10 per annum] | Participation in a work-based process of professional development | Participation in a development conversation or process that involves planning of, and reflection on, work-based activities that enhance your professional development. Note: Independent HR consultants may receive the same credit for an equivalent process involving peer review of their professional development. |
One credit per contact hour [max 15 per annum] | Courses, webinars, workshops and conferences | These could be HRNZ related offerings, or outside provider offerings but must be relevant to a member’s CPD. Evidence of relevancy should be saved with record of attendance for random auditing purposes. |
One credit per hour of development [max 10 per annum] | Research, development and thought leadership | Development and/or delivery of professional development courses, methods or thought leadership which advances the HR profession and/or people leadership practice. |
One credit per contact hour [max 10 per annum] | Professional networking events and special interest forums | Participation in communities of practice and professional networks e.g. SIGs, branch events, café connects, which enable individuals to learn with others facing the same HR and/or people leadership business challenges. Can include HRNZ and externally facilitated events. |
One credit per contact hour [max 15 per annum] | Mentoring in the HRNZ or other formal system. | As long as the mentoring is relevant to CPD, involvement can be either as mentor or mentee. |
One credit per contact hour [max 10 per annum] | Informal study | This relates to personal, self-guided study that helps the individual to develop their HR or business knowledge. This can include reading the HR Magazine, reading HRNZ News or Hub content, or reading The Basics – HRNZ’s HR Guides. |
Two credits per annum | Code of Practice Module | For completing the Code of Practice Module on the eLearning Platform. |
One per contact hour [max 15 per annum] | HRNZ eLearning Platform | For each hour on the eLearning Platform. |
One per contact hour [max 15 per annum] | Sustainability | This relates specifically to working on or implementing sustainable practices within your organisation. These could be related to HR practices, or to general business practices and should ideally relate back to the SGD’s or other measure of sustainability. |
Varied | Professional Accreditation Application | Completion of your chartered membership application is worth a one-off allocation of 15 CPD points. Completion of your emerging professional application is worth a one-off allocation of 10 CPD points. |
Two credits per annum | Completing The Path Self-Assessment | Using HRNZ’s self-assessment tool to determine your areas of current capability and help you identify your areas of development will count towards 2 CPD credits per annum. |
| Other | Members may apply on an exceptional basis for other activities to receive CPD credits. |
Recording your CPD points
Members applying for or maintaining the status of accreditation at an emerging or chartered level are asked to provide evidence of CPD points earned. For this reason, HRNZ makes it easy for our members to keep track of their CPD points on their account dashboard. In addition, members can manually add points for events attended etc.