CPD Events – A Member’s Guide to Illustrating the Benefits of Your Attendance

Attending CPD Events (whether PGA run or otherwise) can have huge benefits to your work and the facility where you work. However, for the self-employed PGA Professional it is easy to see why attending events can be a difficult decision to make. If you consider the potential loss of earnings and the requirements (i.e. travel) necessary to attend an event, it can be a daunting prospect. On the other hand, it could also be argued that not attending and up skilling yourself could be more detrimental to your business in the long-run as you get ‘left behind’. The latter is the main threat we foresee in not continuing your professional development.   

With this in mind we have put together the following document which will help you to see the benefits of attending CPD events and why this can be justified to yourself, your business partners, and your colleagues.

There are three steps you need to consider:

1)      Understand the Benefits

1. Education and Networking are the two main benefits.
2. Although networking is a very important benefit, it can be difficult to quantify the value to yourself. Therefore, bear in mind that many professionals often report that hearing solutions or approaches to problems while in a networking environment (often at conferences) is one of the most valuable aspects of attending. 
3. Focus on the specific education networking offers as actionable learning will directly benefit your business.
4. Specialised seminars and events can be linked to specific challenges you and your business are facing. Education seminars often offer specific skills and strategies that will help solve challenges at your facility.

Example: I want to expand my coaching revenue (numbers) and I will do this by moving into the junior golf market. Through the seminar available on the PGA Member Education website, I will learn practical and actionable ideas to use within my business. Following the event, I will draft a plan and implement immediately. I will also keep in touch with fellow professional who attend the event as they will be like-minded individuals with similar objectives to myself. This will grow my network in the industry and it is possible we could assist each other in the future.

2)      Quantify the Benefits

1. Although the benefits of attending a seminar should stand out to you, sometimes it is a useful (and necessary) exercise to clearly articulate the connection between your current business situation, your current skill set and what the seminar/event offers. 
2. Support this process by creating an outline document to help you focus on what will be gained at the seminar/event. If it is a PGA (organised) seminar, all relevant information will be available on the PGA website.      

Example - Value for Money: The expertise and experience of the speakers on the PGAs Member Education website is very high. To hire these individuals to provide consultancy services to my business would be very expensive. This seminar/event provides me with the opportunity to learn how to utilise their strategies/practices in a very cost-effective manner.

3)      Time Well Spent

1. Education seminars/events are hard work. It is important that you understand and appreciate that you will be working very hard during the event. This is by no means a day off, rather it is a day spent working away from the ‘office’.  
2. Implementing back at work. You need to recognise that CPD events are rarely abstract book learning. The majority of speakers who present on the PGA Member Education Programme provide practical ideas and strategies that can be implemented back at your workplace immediately.

Example - Rare Opportunities: With golf being such an interrelated but yet global industry, it is often the case that experts who speak on a subject are located in different parts in the world. The PGA Member Education Programme attracts speakers from all parts of the world and gaining the opportunities to see certain individuals should be taken when possible. I don’t want my business to get left behind.    

If you consider these three areas of importance it should now be very easy for you to justify your attendance to yourself and others. Always remember that attending CPD events is very important for career progression and the success of your business. 4

If you are an employed PGA Professional and you want to be able to justify (and quantify) your attendance to your employer, CLICK HERE. We have created a template document that will help you to put together an event request form and illustrate the benefits of your attendance to an employer.