Event Recap
RECAP | ROUNDTABLE | Continuous professional development: considerations and suggestions
A primary element of an integrated mission critical staffing program is employee training and professional development. Research shows that a commitment to continuous professional development (CPD) can play a key part in employee retention. Jeremiah Beaver, Uptime Institute technical consultant, joined the roundtable where attendees discussed what elements constitute a best-in-class CPD program, along with considerations, suggestions, and lessons learned.
The following represents attendee comments and feedback regarding continuous professional development.
What defines and distinguishes a CPD program from Training?
• CPD is about building leaders where training is task based.
• What’s the end goal? Knowing the end game helps you focus on what you need to change to get the level of knowledge and expectations.
• CPD, by definition, is a continuous journey, but it needs a milestone and target. Technical training is focused on a task.
• Continuous means it’s changing over time. As the industry changes, the focus and training within the program needs to change. It is crucial we stay abreast of trends and how they translate into new requirements.
CPD program considerations:
• Program needs to include proper training of risk management and the subject matter.
• Have an open mindset to bracing new technology. With changing technology comes changing expectations and new metrics (ex., WUE)
• You must talk about current technologies available and deployed as a starting point. This sets that foundation and allows you to apply that foundation across the organization.
• Everyone is going to be at different levels in the professional development path, so recognize that and support it.
• Set reasonable expectations - what’s feasible vs. what’s reasonable - not just today, but also tomorrow (ex., 3-5 year roadmap).
• For the most part, a roadmap should exist, and is probably a component of a larger Operations playbook. However, it should also be more socialized and communicated.
• Having a vested interest in the personal development of others will go a long way.
• It is important to stay aligned with the business. As people move on to other parts of the business, need to be aligned with that in your CPD elements.
• Leadership must embrace a learning culture and a thought leadership element should be included within the CPD program.
• Incorporate the mentality that allows the ability to fail and build this into the program as a learning tool for improvement.
• From our military experience, we tend to focus on the negative. We need to focus more on the positive regarding incident management and training and see how the individual can improve. The term “phycological safety” was mentioned.
• Incorporate a postmortem process where we focus on process and not people and how we can do this better next time.
• Establish a foundational stage for the program, and then focus on the needs of the individual to get to that level verses getting the whole team to that level.
Elements and components of a comprehensive CPD program:
• An established Playbook
• Employee onboarding
• Corporate training requirements – EH&S, etc.
• An organization and culture component - interfacing with other lines of business
• Qualification training to operate the facility
• Site specific training – policies and procedures, building system fundamentals
• More specialized training on equipment, systems, etc. (3rd party, vendor)
• Industry training usually administered by a 3rd party
• Industry engagement, peer-to-peer interaction – conferences, events, UI Membership
• Progression in training – Level 1 to 2 to 3, etc.
• Preparation for the next position in your career – career development goes along with CPD, succession planning
• Tracking and periodic review process to determine any shortcomings and what training makes sense within the program
The question was asked has there been any movement nationally to establish what is required from a data center operations certification perspective. There does not appear to be one definitive program; however, various community colleges and university programs have been established. One example provided by an attendee talks about what is being done by Carolinas Community College. The material on this topic is included as an attachment and a link for reference.
The following represents attendee comments and feedback regarding continuous professional development.
What defines and distinguishes a CPD program from Training?
• CPD is about building leaders where training is task based.
• What’s the end goal? Knowing the end game helps you focus on what you need to change to get the level of knowledge and expectations.
• CPD, by definition, is a continuous journey, but it needs a milestone and target. Technical training is focused on a task.
• Continuous means it’s changing over time. As the industry changes, the focus and training within the program needs to change. It is crucial we stay abreast of trends and how they translate into new requirements.
CPD program considerations:
• Program needs to include proper training of risk management and the subject matter.
• Have an open mindset to bracing new technology. With changing technology comes changing expectations and new metrics (ex., WUE)
• You must talk about current technologies available and deployed as a starting point. This sets that foundation and allows you to apply that foundation across the organization.
• Everyone is going to be at different levels in the professional development path, so recognize that and support it.
• Set reasonable expectations - what’s feasible vs. what’s reasonable - not just today, but also tomorrow (ex., 3-5 year roadmap).
• For the most part, a roadmap should exist, and is probably a component of a larger Operations playbook. However, it should also be more socialized and communicated.
• Having a vested interest in the personal development of others will go a long way.
• It is important to stay aligned with the business. As people move on to other parts of the business, need to be aligned with that in your CPD elements.
• Leadership must embrace a learning culture and a thought leadership element should be included within the CPD program.
• Incorporate the mentality that allows the ability to fail and build this into the program as a learning tool for improvement.
• From our military experience, we tend to focus on the negative. We need to focus more on the positive regarding incident management and training and see how the individual can improve. The term “phycological safety” was mentioned.
• Incorporate a postmortem process where we focus on process and not people and how we can do this better next time.
• Establish a foundational stage for the program, and then focus on the needs of the individual to get to that level verses getting the whole team to that level.
Elements and components of a comprehensive CPD program:
• An established Playbook
• Employee onboarding
• Corporate training requirements – EH&S, etc.
• An organization and culture component - interfacing with other lines of business
• Qualification training to operate the facility
• Site specific training – policies and procedures, building system fundamentals
• More specialized training on equipment, systems, etc. (3rd party, vendor)
• Industry training usually administered by a 3rd party
• Industry engagement, peer-to-peer interaction – conferences, events, UI Membership
• Progression in training – Level 1 to 2 to 3, etc.
• Preparation for the next position in your career – career development goes along with CPD, succession planning
• Tracking and periodic review process to determine any shortcomings and what training makes sense within the program
The question was asked has there been any movement nationally to establish what is required from a data center operations certification perspective. There does not appear to be one definitive program; however, various community colleges and university programs have been established. One example provided by an attendee talks about what is being done by Carolinas Community College. The material on this topic is included as an attachment and a link for reference.
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