Understanding CPD Models and Theory

Covering Assessment Criterion 3.3 of 5CO03, this video examines the theoretical foundations that sit behind effective CPD planning for HR professionals. It draws on the CIPD Profession Map as a structuring framework, exploring how its core knowledge, core behaviours and specialist knowledge areas connect directly to identifying and addressing capability gaps. The video also introduces the 70-20-10 model, attributed to McCall, Lombardo and Eichinger, which distinguishes between experiential, relational and formal sources of professional learning, and considers what that balance means for how a CPD plan should be constructed.

Reflective practice receives substantial attention, with three distinct models examined in sequence: Kolb's experiential learning cycle, with its four stages of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation; Gibbs' Reflective Cycle, which structures reflection across description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action planning; and Donald Schön's differentiation between reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. The video also covers Brookfield's Four Lenses as a method for approaching reflection from multiple standpoints, including autobiographical, collegiate, learner and theoretical perspectives.

Taken together, the models and frameworks in the video span both formal and informal CPD activities — including coaching, mentoring, stretch assignments, feedback conversations and structured training — and address the characteristics of a well-constructed CPD plan. The discussion connects abstract theory to the practical question of which activity types generate genuine learning rather than simply fulfilling a recording requirement, making the theoretical content directly relevant to the formulation task set out in AC 3.3.