Understand a range of different learning and development initiatives in developing leaders and managers.

About this package

This package examines how leadership and management development is planned, supported and evaluated. It focuses on the responsibilities of people professionals and learning and development specialists, from establishing capability needs to advising individuals and groups. Learners consider how development connects with organisational priorities, why strong performance in a current role does not automatically indicate leadership potential, and how evidence can inform fairer decisions about who receives development support. The content starts with diagnosing needs rather than assuming that a training course is the answer. Training needs analysis and gap analysis help learners compare current capabilities with work requirements at individual, team and organisational levels. The package also considers how agreed needs become development plans, with clear actions, support and review arrangements. Competency frameworks, assessment centres, development centres and feedback from multiple perspectives provide further evidence for selecting appropriate support. Learners then compare approaches that build knowledge, judgement and practical capability in different ways. These include educational programmes, work-based projects, secondments, job rotation, shadow boards, coaching and mentoring. Peer learning, learning sets and action learning are considered alongside skills rehearsal, simulation and digital learning. The package explores 360-degree feedback, critical incident analysis and structured reflection, helping learners judge approaches by their relevance to the capability required rather than their reputation alone. It also examines internal and external provision and the role of self-development. Equality, diversity and inclusion run through the final part of the package. Learners examine access to development opportunities, workforce representation and the influence of bias, cultural expectations and established organisational advantages. Inclusive communication and accessible activities and materials are treated as practical design concerns, including language, visual presentation and sensory demands. The content connects leadership development with community change and corporate social responsibility, supporting recommendations that address barriers to participation and help learning translate into workplace practice.

Who it’s for

Suitable for people professionals, learning and development practitioners, and learners studying how organisations develop leaders and managers. It also suits those responsible for advising on development plans or selecting inclusive leadership development approaches.

What’s covered

1. Professional responsibilities for leadership and management development

   Explains how people professionals connect development with organisational priorities and how learning and development specialists turn capability requirements into learning. It distinguishes their responsibilities while recognising the need for clear ownership of development decisions.

2. Diagnosing needs and designing interventions

   Covers training needs analysis and gap analysis to identify development requirements at individual, team and organisational levels. It examines how evidence informs the design and delivery of interventions rather than treating a request for training as a complete diagnosis.

3. Identifying and supporting potential leaders and managers

   Distinguishes leadership potential from achievement in a current role. It considers evidence of learning, judgement and behaviour when identifying candidates fairly and deciding what preparation they need.

4. Advising individuals and groups on development

   Explores how advisers help people turn learning needs into agreed development plans. It covers intended changes in practice, actions, support, commitments and arrangements for reviewing progress.

5. Formal, informal and simulated leadership learning

   Compares structured programmes with informal learning and considers how skills rehearsal and simulation support practice. Learners examine how these approaches can overlap and how to match them to the capability being developed.

6. Educational, experiential and relationship-based development

   Compares educational programmes, work-based projects, secondments, job rotation, shadow boards, coaching and mentoring. The focus is on what each approach enables people to learn through knowledge, responsibility or dialogue.

7. Peer learning, learning sets and action learning

   Examines how managers learn through reciprocal exchange and questioning of workplace experience. It distinguishes approaches by how they help participants examine, test and revisit their thinking.

8. Feedback, critical incidents and digital learning

   Explores how 360-degree feedback reveals different perspectives on management behaviour and how critical incident analysis supports reflection. It also considers digital approaches, including cloud-based learning and social media, in relation to development needs.

9. Resources, development centres and self-development

   Considers the strengths and limitations of internal and external provision. It examines competency frameworks, assessment and development centres, and reflection as sources of evidence and support for self-development.

10. Why equality, diversity and inclusion belong in development

    Explains why inclusion matters both in access to development opportunities and in what leaders learn. It examines fair entry criteria, workforce representation and how development can influence decisions and behaviour across teams.

11. Barriers to embedding equality, diversity and inclusion

    Examines how established advantages, resistance, competing priorities and resource decisions can limit inclusion. It considers the need to address barriers through responsibility, governance and budgets as well as learning content.

12. Inclusive communication, accessibility and social responsibility

    Explores how language, cultural norms and interpretations of non-verbal communication affect participation. It considers accessible activities and materials, including fonts, text size, colour, sound and brightness, and connects inclusive leadership with community change and corporate social responsibility.

Learning outcomes

By completing this package, learners can:

• Identify the responsibilities of people professionals and learning and development specialists in establishing development needs, designing and delivering interventions, supporting potential leaders and managers, and advising individuals and groups.
• Apply training needs analysis and gap analysis to a leadership or management scenario to identify and prioritise individual, team and organisational development needs.
• Use competency-based frameworks and evidence from assessment centres, development centres and 360-degree feedback to recommend development support for potential and existing leaders and managers.
• Compare formal and informal leadership and management development approaches, including educational programmes, secondments, work-based projects, job rotation, shadow boards, coaching, mentoring and self-directed learning.
• Evaluate the suitability of individual and collaborative, cognitive and practical, on- and off-the-job, and internal and external development approaches, including peer learning, action learning sets, knowledge conversations, cloud-based learning, social media, skills rehearsal and simulation.
• Apply structured reflection and critical incident techniques to a leadership or management experience to identify learning and formulate measurable self-development goals.
• Analyse barriers to leadership and management learning in a workplace scenario and recommend actions to improve access, participation and transfer of learning into practice.
• Explain why equality, diversity and inclusion should underpin leadership and management development, linking workforce representation, community and cultural change, equitable opportunities and corporate social responsibility.
• Analyse how unconscious bias, biased technology, language, cultural norms and interpretations of non-verbal communication can affect leadership and management development, identifying measures to reduce inequity.
• Evaluate the inclusivity and accessibility of a leadership or management development initiative, considering practical activities, fonts, text sizes, colour, sound volume and brightness, and justify improvements that address barriers to participation.

Frequently asked questions

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