The Learning and Development Handbook

Spoiler alert … One of my favourite lines from this book is “We need to stay relevant, no matter how much we like what we have now”. This is so true especially in a rapidly evolving world where learning, unlearning and relearning is fundamental to future success. This book is full of wonderful wisdom and actively encourages the reader to be curious and pioneering. A real gem for all learning professional and an essential and highly recommended read.

Why is this book so important? Learning & Development, as a profession, can barely prove its value beyond ‘who showed up?’, ‘who stayed til the end?’, and ‘who liked it?’ Throw in a little anecdata and that’s, too often, all we have. So are we trusted as a profession? How can we be? This is where the Learning & Development Handbook comes in. Crafted as a journey that can be plotted by L&D professionals, inexperienced and otherwise, this book is a trusted guide to dip into or to feast on. It provides a map for where we are today and the routes to impact and credibility. Two invaluable and yet rare commodities in L&D. This book is your trusted guide. Trust Michelle to lead you with her experience, her insights and her tools. The Learning & Development Handbook is a must-read for today’s L&D professional.

This practical handbook is a ‘navigate your learning journey to the same destination’, with the flexibility of completing a short or long read, structured into three insightful parts: tools and tips, frameworks, and strategies. Starting from a point of curiosity and asking yourself ‘how you make an impact during change’, Michelle emphasises the importance of staying relevant, embracing technology like AI, and leveraging social learning. This book is a must-read for anyone wanting to make a meaningful impact in learning and development, including the ‘tools’ to do so.

Throughout The Learning and Development Handbook, Michelle finds a perfect balance between accessibility and advanced application of complex concepts. This balance proves the content beneficial to all learning professionals – from newcomers to seasoned experts. Moreover, the formatting and structure of the handbook which highlights Case Studies, Thinking Questions, and Action Plans moves the content from theoretical exploration to practical integration. This structure positions the handbook as a staple for referential utilization. My personal copy of the first edition of The Learning and Development Handbook, now dog-eared, highlighted, and well-loved, has found a permanent home on my desk – always within arm’s reach. I have re-read the book numerous times, have read it along with my team, and have purchased several copies for learning and development peers. I can say with confidence that this handbook has had a profound impact on my approach to developing and delivering impactful learning initiatives.

I said that the first edition of The L&D Handbook was the book I wish I’d had when I started out in L&D. Instead, it’s the book anyone starting out in L&D now should have. The first edition was good but in this second edition, Michelle has taken her own medicine. She tells us that we shouldn’t be so precious about our own work that we stop trying to make it better, and pleasingly she has made this better. In one chapter she encourages us to build reflective practice into our work, and shows us by writing a second edition of this book how to do just that – by reflecting, evolving, learning from our experiences, and improving. Michelle points out that so much has changed since the first edition and yet nothing has changed. In reflecting on this she encourages us to be many things as an L&D practitioner but to play to our strengths above all, to think beyond traditional L&D but not leave that completely behind. This second edition remains well-researched, and evidence-based. It still contains up to date real life examples and case studies, and promotes a strong narrative about how L&D has evolved but also how it should continue to.

If you’re in Learning and Development you absolutely HAVE to read this book. Michelle sets
out a compelling, exciting and importantly, achievable vision for L&D and gives you all the
strategies, advice, tools and frameworks you need to make it happen. This book is truly
transformative, demonstrating that, when done right, L&D can make a fundamental and
important difference to how organisations navigate the big challenges of the modern world.

Two words, “on point”. This book is super practical and profoundly thoughtful. It has just the
right balance of empathy and realtalk about the much needed shifts the L&D function needs
to undertake. Peppered with short form and long form real-life examples, there’s no excuse
for anyone to be stuck with the direction of travel. An incredibly useful aide-memoire.

Michelle Parry-Slater is exquisite at how she goes about crafting her words in such a
forthright and delightful manner. Her approach makes this book a quick and valuable read.
She packages it in a way that allows the reader to truly use this as an actual handbook, as
the title implies. She takes you from ‘Setting the Scene’ through to all of the relevant facets
of becoming an effective learning practitioner. Once you read it from cover to back, you then
have opportunity to refresh your knowledge through the short-reads (overview) and have
access to practical tools to apply immediately in your learning efforts. And let’s not forget the
real-life case studies. This is one on a very short list of LD handbooks I would highly
recommend because it reads exactly what you need to rise into a valued LD practitioner.

This new version of the excellent The Learning and Development Handbook by Michelle Parry-Slater is a must-have for all today’s learning and performance professionals. Michelle’s forte is her gift of getting to the heart of what practitioners need to help them to perform their job better and having the ability to explain the concepts and relate them to their job. I do not know of anyone who does it as well and this book is testament to that. Besides being full of insightful advice, I particularly like how she includes extra information, help and advice at the end of each chapter. Here you will find: The Top Tips to help the reader to action real change; Thinking Questions to help reflection of the topics; The Action Plan of next steps to action; selected case studies and further reading materials. This is more than a book; it’s a real, practically-based Handbook for you to dip in and out of during your working week. Keep it close by!

Making the strategic shift from training to evidence-based learning and development is no easy task when trying to create a continuous improvement learning organisation with measurable impact. It is so much more than just terminology. This book helps with the pain and pleasure of operating in this space with practical advice, frameworks and strategies.

As an experienced practitioner, herself, Michelle understands that there is no one right way of delivering L&D but acts as a guide to enable you to find your own way supporting you with case studies, tips and ideas but more importantly that call to action to nudge you out of your place of comfort to deal with the complexity of the workplace in an ever increasingly complex world.

This is a brilliant curation of helpful thoughts and sources of information, and as such is an excellent read and resource in itself. The quality content, clearly presented and simply said, is delivered in a warm, open, informative and engaging manner. It invites the reader to learn, reflect, draw their own conclusions and apply the practical content to their circumstances. Whether new to L&D or a seasoned L&Der, Michelle’s book will have you thinking, reflecting and growing as it provides both challenge and comfort around our practice and place in the world of HR and work, and beyond.

Organizations are looking for tangible ways to engage and develop their employees. Michelle Parry-Slater has created a handbook that brings L&D to life with a mix of being practical, strategic and accessible for one and all. Her work is relevant to all organizations and industries. It will be a fixture in my HR/Business quiver!!

In our fast-changing world the facilitation of engaging and effective learning requires a radical new foundation. Based on a depth of practical experience, this book defines a toolkit of strategies and tactics that now underpin successful organisational learning. Sound theory mixed with innovative practice makes this a must-read for those serious about impactful learning.

An eminently useful guide, based on practical experience, and supported by research, this is a great handbook for any L&D practitioner looking to move beyond the traditional classroom delivery model.

Michelle has been there, she’s got a whole collection of tee-shirts and in this book she generously shares her extensive experience of what needs doing to modernise learning and make L&D more effective in organisations. As I read her words, I could hear her voice – it felt like she was sitting beside me as my personal coach. From the not inconsiderable #NoPlasters campaign, she has created a no nonsense treasure trove of practical ideas, advice, action plans and tips, with case studies to give meaning to what’s been achieved. Following her own advice, she includes plenty of reflection and gives the reader the confidence and encouragement to try things out for themselves. There is only one Michelle but if you invest in this book you’ll have her on your team and she’ll help you fly!