Investing in my Own Learning
One thing that has stayed consistent throughout my career is that I have never expected others to do the learning while I stood still. If I am designing learning for other people, I believe I have a responsibility to experience it myself. That belief is what has driven my own development over the years and shaped how I show up as a Learning and Development consultant.
Early on, I made a conscious decision to build strong foundations. I completed my Learning and Development Level 4 qualification with the Open University, which gave me a robust understanding of adult learning, assessment, learning design, and organisational context. This was not about theory in isolation. It helped me connect learning to behaviour, performance, and outcomes in real workplaces.
From there, I formalised my professional practice by becoming a Learning and Development Consultant with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). This marked an important shift. It moved my focus beyond delivering learning and into advising organisations, challenging assumptions, and ensuring learning solutions were aligned with wider people and business strategies.
Alongside this, I developed my facilitation capability by becoming a Certified Online Facilitator. As learning increasingly moved into digital and hybrid spaces, I wanted to ensure that my sessions remained human, engaging, and effective. This qualification sharpened my ability to design and run online learning that encourages participation, reflection, and practical application, rather than passive attendance.
Learning design has always been central to my work, which led me to become a Certified Learning Designer. This strengthened my ability to create structured, purposeful learning journeys that are accessible, inclusive, and outcome-focused. It reinforced my belief that good design removes friction for learners. When learning is designed well, people do not have to work hard to understand what is expected of them.
As my work increasingly intersected with organisational change, I expanded my expertise into project, programme, and change management. I completed APM Project Management, APM Agile Project Management, and APM Change Management qualifications through the Association for Project Management. These gave me the tools to plan, deliver, and adapt initiatives in complex environments where priorities shift and stakeholders vary.
To deepen my change capability further, I became PROSCI Change Management certified through Prosci. This strengthened my approach to managing the people side of change, particularly around adoption, resistance, and sustained behaviour change. It reinforced a critical truth I see repeatedly in organisations. Change fails far more often due to people issues than technical ones.
At a programme level, I completed Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) and qualified as a PRINCE2 Programme Manager with PRINCE2. These qualifications support my ability to think systemically, manage interdependencies, and ensure learning and change initiatives are delivered with structure and clarity, not chaos.
Finally, because modern Learning and Development is also about communication and accessibility, I have completed Canva Fundamentals and Canva AI Fundamentals with Canva. This allows me to design clear, engaging learning materials efficiently, without relying on over-engineered tools or unnecessary complexity.
Taken together, these qualifications reflect how I work. I sit at the intersection of learning, change, and delivery. I understand how people learn, how organisations change, and how work actually gets done. Most importantly, I continue to invest in my own development so that the learning and advice I provide to others is grounded, current, and credible.
Michelle x