Learning and development is about creating the right 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 ongoing 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
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Learning and development standards

Each standard progresses through four levels of impact. Which level do you most embody in your day-to-day work?

Foundation level Associate level Chartered Member level Chartered Fellow level
At this level you'll understand: At this level you'll understand: At this level you'll understand: At this level you'll understand:
Supporting CPD Why continuing professional development is important How to support others with their continuing professional development How to create a learning culture and environment that supports continuing professional development The value of learning cultures and the learning environment, and how they can support organisation growth
Capability analysis The importance of developing capability How to define the capability needs of individuals and teams How to engage with stakeholders to define capability needs and their implications for learning How to define current and future capability needs of the organisation and how they drive the learning strategy
Adult learning theories Adult learning and motivation theories How to apply adult learning and motivation theories in different learning contexts How to integrate current and future trends in adult learning and motivation into the organisation’s learning approach Current and future trends in adult learning and motivation, and how to use them to shape the learning strategy, culture and environment
Face-to-face learning How to support the delivery of face-to- face learning in your organisation The principles that underpin the design and use of face-to-face learning How to use design principles to choose the right face-to-face approach as part of a learning blend How to use face-to-face learning as part of the learning strategy to create value for your organisation
Digital learning How to support the delivery of digital learning in your organisation The principles that underpin the design and use of digital technologies in learning How to use design principles to choose the right digital approach as part of a learning blend How to use current and future digital technologies as part of the learning strategy to create value for your organisation
Learning facilitation How to use appropriate learning facilitation methods to engage and involve learners The principles that underpin the choice of learning facilitation methods How to apply principles of learning facilitation in different learning contexts How to determine the range of learning facilitation methods that will support the learning strategy
Social collaborative learning How social collaboration can be used in learning How to facilitate social collaborative learning activities How to design and integrate social collaborative learning into the learning approach How to determine the use of social collaborative learning for organisational learning, knowledge sharing and knowledge management
Coaching and mentoring The difference between coaching and mentoring and when to use them to support others' learning How to support and use coaching and mentoring approaches in learning How to build coaching and mentoring capability across the organisation How to embed a coaching and mentoring culture to deliver the learning strategy
Learner engagement The links between learner engagement, learning transfer and impact Theories and methods that underpin effective learner engagement, learning transfer and impact How to design learning using theories and methods that maximise learner engagement, learning transfer and impact How to assess learner engagement and learning transfer and its impact on the learning strategy
Content curation How to organise and present content to support effective learning How to create, co-create and curate content with subject matter experts to meet learning needs How to lead the creation and curation of content that can be stored, searched, accessed, linked and used to create meaningful learning narratives How to define the strategy, policy, governance and legal requirements for content creation to support organisation learning and strategic goals

Assess your level, choose
your learning

Tools and resources to help you develop

Use our self-assessment tool to assess yourself against any area of the Profession Map. We’ll recommend relevant learning and resources to help you create your own professional development pathway. 

Full self-assessment tool (exclusive to CIPD members) Try our 'lite' self-assessment tool (free for everyone)
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Next: Organisation development and design

Using a systemic approach and application of behavioural science to drive organisation performance

Continue to Organisation development and design

The Profession Map

Download the full set of standards
PDF document 594.9 KB
Download a one-page overview of the Profession Map
PDF document 448.7 KB

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  • Podcast

    How to make learning stick and drive performance

    As distractions multiply and cognitive load intensifies, even well-designed training can fail to translate into improved performance. So what really determines whether learning sticks? How can organisations create the conditions that enable learning to be applied, sustained and embedded in everyday work.

    • See our L&D hub
    The Profession Map

    The Profession Map is for everyone in our profession – individuals and teams, members and non-members. Learn more about the Profession Map and how you can use it. 

    The Profession Map overview