Next: Organisational development and design
Using a systemic approach and application of behavioural science to drive organisation performance
Specialist knowledge
Learning and development
Ensuring workers have the knowledge, skills and experience to fulfil individual and organisational needs and ambitions
Learning and development is about creating the culture and environment for individuals and organisations to learn and grow. It’s knowing the current and future capability needs of the organisation, as well as how to create a learning culture that drives engagement in continuous professional development.
Learning design and delivery requires a blend of learning approaches, including face-to-face, digital, social collaborative and coaching, as well as the application of motivational and behavioural science.
How effectively learning is transferred to the learner is key to understanding its impact at an individual and organisation level.
Itsu case study: cutting edge engagement
Thanks to its people-focused approach, itsu’s initiative to support, engage and reward its fish cutters has gone swimmingly. Read Itsu's story.
'The need for strong development programmes – locally and internationally – to support executive development, staff retention and competitive edge has only enhanced the role of L&D teams.'
Yetunde Hofmann, Leadership consultant and CIPD Board member
Learning and development standards
Each standard progresses through four levels of impact. Which level do you most embody in your day-to-day work?
Fundamental level
At this level you'll understand:
- Why continuing professional development is important
- The importance of developing capability
- Adult learning and motivation theories
- How to support the delivery of face-to-face learning in your organisation
- How to support the delivery of digital learning in your organisation
- How to organise and present content to support effective learning
- How to use appropriate learning facilitation methods to engage and involve learners
- How social collaboration can be used in learning
- The difference between coaching and mentoring and when to use them to support others' learning
- The links between learner engagement, learning transfer and impact
Associate level
At this level you'll understand:
- How to support others with their continuing professional development
- How to define the capability needs of individuals and teams
- How to apply adult learning and motivation theories in different learning contexts
- The principles that underpin the design and use of face-to-face learning
- The principles that underpin the design and use of digital technologies in learning
- How to create, co-create and curate content with subject matter experts to meet learning needs
- The principles that underpin the choice of learning facilitation methods
- How to facilitate social collaborative learning activities
- How to support and use coaching and mentoring approaches in learning
- Theories and methods that underpin effective learner engagement, learning transfer and impact
Chartered Member level
At this level you'll understand:
- How to create a learning culture that supports continuing professional development
- How to engage with stakeholders to define capability needs and their implications for learning
- How to integrate current and future trends in adult learning and motivation into the organisation’s learning approach
- How to use design principles to choose the right face-to-face approach as part of a learning blend
- How to use design principles to choose the right digital approach as part of a learning blend
- How to lead the creation and curation of content that can be stored, searched, accessed, Iinked and used to create meaningful learning narratives
- How to apply principles of learning facilitation in different learning contexts
- How to design and integrate social collaborative learning into the learning approach
- How to build coaching and mentoring capability across the organisation
- How to design learning using theories and methods that maximise learner engagement, learning transfer and impact
Chartered Fellow level
At this level you'll understand:
- The value of learning cultures and how they can support organisation growth
- How to define current and future capability needs of the organisation and how they drive the learning strategy
- Current and future trends in adult learning and motivation, and how to use them to shape the learning strategy and build a learning culture
- How to use face-to-face learning as part of the learning strategy to create value for your organisation
- How to use current and future digital technologies as part of the learning strategy to create value for your organisation
- How to define the strategy, policy, governance and legal requirements for content creation to support organisation learning and strategic goals
- How to determine the range of learning facilitation methods that will support the learning strategy
- How to determine the use of social collaborative learning for organisational learning, knowledge sharing and knowledge management
- How to embed a coaching and mentoring culture to deliver the learning strategy
- How to assess learner engagement and learning transfer and its impact on the learning strategy
Things to start thinking about
Use these prompts to reflect on your understanding of Learning and development and uncover areas for future professional development.
- How does learning support the achievement of key organisational priorities?
- When did you last define learning needs and carry out capability assessments in the organisation?
- What blend of learning methods do you use and how do you determine which are appropriate?
- How well does your people strategy support a positive learning culture in the organisation?
- How do you assess the impact of individual and organisational learning?
Resources to guide your work, career planning and development, available on the CIPD's main site.
- Aligning L&D with business objectives and emerging practices - Podcast
- Driving performance and productivity - Report
- Driving the new learning organisation: the potential of L&D - Report
- Identifying learning and development needs - Factsheet
- Learning and development strategy and policy - Factsheet
- Learning methods - Factsheet
CIPD Level 5 Diploma in Learning and Development
Online programme to help students acquire the very latest L&D knowledge and skills that are needed to transform L&D in organisations. Successful completion leads to Associate membership of the CIPD.
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