Voluntary professional certification currently reaches into more areas of professional development than any other trend in Human Resources today and shapes the way many professionals educate, promote and develop themselves independent of company job descriptions and academic degree programs. Certified individuals may publicise their credentials by using initials after their names e.g. a Certified Public Accountant is entitled to use the CPA designation.

Certification is primarily a quality enhancement process not a control mechanism. Certification shows individual mastery of a profession by confirming competence and proficiency, showing career involvement and assuring a defined level of knowledge.

Several market forces make professional certification important to both individuals and organisations. L&D professionals have been forced to take control of their own careers independent of their employer as a result of companies downsizing, outsourcing and temping. It has become evident that university degrees no longer represent the ultimate measure of professional knowledge or ability to perform. Finally, business demands a person maintains constant professional development and keeps abreast of current training and involvement beyond the scope of his or her particular job.

The certification process requires candidates to be involved in professional issues, current trends, innovations and the impact of changing technology and globalisation on business.

The Institute will use competency based certification which will require candidates to prove their expertise, mastery of a common body of knowledge and job capability. What does it take to achieve excellence as an L&D professional? To date we have allowed the educational system, the job market and employers define the standard for our profession. Certification criteria is not easy to develop and ILDP will be seeking your input through focus groups and on line seminars to complete a job analysis of L&D profession which is multi–faceted and together define common elements of the profession. The results will be collated and used to define standards towards certification.

Your first step is to register your interest by becoming a subscriber to join us an affiliate by following the directions on the Join ILDP page .

Thank you
Marie Dayton
Foundation President

The Institute

The Institute of Learning and Development Professionals (ILDP) Inc. was established in April 2005. Its objective is to define and enhance the standards and status of people in varied occupational L&D roles so as to create a globally recognised professional standard. ILDP aims to provide a leading platform for consensus-building mechanisms and multi-sector coverage through a network and collaboration of national member bodies, international liaisons, regional cooperation and partner organisations in Learning and Development in the certification process.