Professional members of the Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA) still need to submit their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours on May 31.
CPD is a means of staying up to date with market activity, changes in legislation and practice, changes in areas of specialization, or simply to study further in fields related to your market or interests. Professional Bodies use it as a means to assist practitioners to constantly learn and sharpen their skills in order to provide efficient and superior expert service to their clients.
“The existence of this requirement should be taken advantage of as it is an opportunity for members to develop their skills,” says Thokozile Mahlangu, CEO of the IISA.
She says the deadline for professional members to submit their CPD hours remains 31 May.
“A majority of our members should have been far ahead in attaining the minimum of 18 hours by the time government implemented the lockdown. If not, we recently launched an elearning platform that should allow those who need to catchup the chance to make up whichever hours are still remaining from the comfort of their own home,” she says. The IISA has also implemented online sessions on various topics that amount to one hour of CPD.
“There’s plenty for all members to choose from,” she adds.
CPD allows practitioners to stay abreast of changes in the industry, whether technological, insurance specific or leadership related. It also allows for a constant flaming of their passion and purpose. A sort of rediscovery of the need for such services and how best to aid the client.
Mahlangu adds, by way of encouragement, that professionals should grab the opportunities presented to them to enhance their skillsets for their career advancement and for their client satisfaction, and the CPD system provides them with such an opportunity.
“Our CPD requirements take into account business management, product training, qualification studies and systems training. Members will find that our online sessions and elearning portal caters for all these.
“Together, these can go a long way in assisting members to be up to date with their CPD requirements,” she says.
All activities must be completed within the cycle in order to be accepted. Any CPD requirements or activities completed before or after the applicable cycle will not be accepted. They fall either into the previous cycle or the next.
“As part of our primary responsibility to our members as the IISA we have a member portal where CPD hours can be logged. This portal is also available to non-members at a fee. This makes it easier for practitioners to comply with requirements and to keep track of their hours throughout the cycle. These requirements are a non-negotiable and should be seen as such by all professionals within this sector,” says Mahlangu.
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