LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT in ORGANISATIONS: STRATEGY, EVIDENCE and PRACTICE provides a comprehensive and thematic overview of the thinking, research evidence and practice of strategic L&D in organisations. It covers both strategic and operational practice dimensions, to help students of L&D and HRM to acquire a deep understanding of the field and to inform the practice of L&D professionals by identifying the best available evidence on L&D practices and by providing them with guidelines for action. It builds on the core operational building blocks of L&D and goes beyond these to take a strategic perspective, emphasising the contribution of L&D to organisational and financial performance and the need to align formal and informal L&D with business objectives.
Each chapter incorporates pedagogical features to enable the student or practitioner to apply the concepts to organisational life, link theory to practice and signpost readers to the best available evidence on L&D practices. Specifically:
> Succinct and concise explanations of Key Concepts found within the field of L&D;
> Critical Reflection exercises that help the reader to engage with key concepts and debates within the field;
> A Best Available Evidence to Inform Practice feature to summarise the results of meta-analysis and systematic / integrative reviews in a manner that is accessible to practitioners;
> Two Case Studies as examples of application to practice relevant to the chapter's content - and, the end of each chapter, a longer case study with questions that provide an opportunity for classroom-based and practitioner discussion;
> Recommended Further Reading to allow the reader to enhance their understanding of the chapter content;
> A Glossary to provide students and practitioners with easy access to definitions of the key concepts used throughout the book, as well as other important L&D terms.
The book is divided into three key sections, which cover different aspects of L&D:
> Section One: Concepts and Context of L&D in Organisations: Chapter 1 discusses the concepts of L&D, the external and internal context of L&D and the key dimensions of strategic L&D in organisations. Chapters 2 and 3 introduce readers to the key theoretical and conceptual foundations of strategic L&D, and its key components, including strategy processes, roles and resources;
> Section Two: Theory and Practice of L&D: Chapters 4 to 14 explain the main theories, concepts, models and practices that underpin strategic L&D in organisations. This section covers a wide range of issues that L&D practitioners need to better understand the design, delivery and evaluation of L&D in organisations;
> Section Three: Developing the L&D Professional and the Future Role of L&D: Chapters 15 and 16 cover the changing roles of L&D practitioners in organisations, their competence development, professional ethics and the future of ion, including potential new roles and forms of L&D.
LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT in ORGANISATIONS: STRATEGY, EVIDENCE and PRACTICE is published in association with the Irish Institute of Training and Development and aims to set the agenda for L&D professionals in the future.