Publications
Making Training & Development Work: A 'Best Practice' Guide
Making Training & Development Work is designed to help practitioners in the field of training and development to develop the most appropriate set of practices that will work within their organisation. The book is aimed at practitioners in the field of training and development, whether internal or external consultants or specialists.
To be an effective trainer, you are continuously challenged to choose the most appropriate approach and set of practices ones that will work given your circumstances and context. This book will help you in making five core decisions: defining the best approach to take to training and development in your organisations, selecting the most appropriate delivery strategy, selecting training methods that will achieve your learning objectives, selecting a style of delivery that best matches your skill level and personal characteristics, making effective decisions about how best to evaluate your activities and to calculate a return on your organisations investment in training.
Learning & Development in Organisations: Strategy, Evidence and Practice
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 strategic L&D, including potential new roles and forms of L&D.
LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT in ORGANISATIONS: STRATEGY, EVIDENCE and PRACTICE is published in association with the Learning & Development Institute (formerly the Irish Institute of Training and Development) and aims to set the agenda for L&D professionals in the future. It is a significant update to the best-selling MAKING TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT WORK.
Developing Managers and Leaders - Perspectives, Debates and Practices in Ireland
Provides a theoretical understanding of the multiple components of management and leadership development Provides practical advice and ideas for current and future managers and leaders who wish to enhance their professional development in organisations
Written for practitioners who design, implement and evaluate management and leadership development processes
Also written for those undertaking specialist undergraduate programmes and postgraduate programmes of study, in which there is a focus on the development of managers and leaders
The text has an attractive, full-colour design and is organised into four parts as follows: Part One summarises key concepts and theories, the context of leadership development and the nature of management and leadership. Topics include: the scope and purpose of management and leadership development; the nature of managerial work; theoretical views on leadership; recent debates in leadership research. Part Two focuses on organisational aspects of management and leadership development including: the positioning of management and leadership in organisations; the structure of leadership development activities; the use of competency-based approaches to leadership development and talent management. Part Three analyses interventions and processes including: formal management and leadership development interventions; informal management and leadership development processes; and developmental relationships in organisations. Part Four examines various aspects of management and leadership development for different groups and contexts. Topics include: individual development and self-managed learning; career development processes; and development issues associated with different groups. There is a focus on the comparative aspects of management and leadership development and an examination of whether there is convergence or divergence in thinking and practices on management and leadership development.