CEE in Companies Evaluated by Engineering Organizations: EDP Distribuição Practices

Abstract

Several professional engineering organizations have joined efforts to promote CPD in engineering companies following the example of the Institution of Engineers Ireland. The project was approved for funding by the European Commission under the program Leonardo da Vinci, Transfer of Innovation. The project started in October 2010 and will end in September 2012. The site is http://www.cpdeurope.eu/. The model wiil be tested with companies of each of the other coutries in the project to evaluate the possibilities of transfering that innovation to the other engineering organizations. The first audit by the project partnership happened at the end of May in Lisboa, Portugal. In Ireland, Engineers Ireland (the professional body for engineers in Ireland) and the Irish Government (through the Dept of Education & Skills are our funding stream now though) have co-funded and developed over the past decade an excellent framework model which employers of engineering professionals can use to connect disparate training, learning & development initiatives under a best-practice umbrella. The recommended processes in the standard serve to improve performance, develop engineering and technical professionals and bring about measurable business benefits. In essence, the standard provides a framework for employers to support good practices in the area of lifelong learning for engineers and technicians. It is designed to reflect the ever-changing environments in which engineering and technical professionals work and learn. The scheme is an independent acknowledgment of the ongoing mastering of new competences for professional engineers and technicians. The guidelines incorporate current and emerging best practice and distil the good CPD systems and practices that have helped the leading employers of engineering professionals to harness talented minds in creating a strategy for business success. The case study in EDP Distribuição is presented and results are analyzed.