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Strategic L&D

Close the Skills Gap and Drive Business Performance

David James

Use this practical guide to build robust Learning & Development strategies that provide your employees with the skills and capabilities they need to outperform the competition.

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EAN: 9781398630956

Edition: 1

Published: 03 May 2027

Format: 234 x 156

272 pages

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About the book

Turn L&D into a strategic skills engine that drives organizational performance, influence and competitive advantage.

Strategic L&D by David James is an essential guide for senior L&D professionals who need to close skills gaps, prove business impact and position learning as a mission-critical function.

Moving beyond courses, platforms and content, this book shows how L&D leaders can shift from visible activity to measurable performance improvement. It explains how to build strategic influence, align learning with business priorities and demonstrate the value of L&D in revenue, productivity and organizational resilience.

You will learn how to:

- Build a robust L&D strategy
- Close workforce skills gaps at scale
- Increase influence with senior stakeholders
- Measure learning impact on business performance
- Use data to prove strategic value

With practical advice, real-world examples and a clear L&D maturity model, Strategic L&D gives senior learning leaders the tools to elevate their function, strengthen organizational capability and help the business outperform the competition.

Themes include: L&D strategy, skills gaps, learning impact, workforce capability, business performance, strategic influence

About the authors

David James is the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning and host of The Learning & Development Podcast. His expertise lies in helping organizations modernize their approach to workplace learning, ensuring measurable results at scale. Prior to his current role, David was co-founder of pioneering learning technology company, Looop and previously Director of Learning, Talent & Organizational Development at The Walt Disney Company. Based in London, UK, he is a leading thinker in the L&D space and was included in Corporate Learning Network's Top 25 L&D Influencers of 2025.

David James

- Chapter - 01: The Strategic Impact of L&D
- Chapter - 02: Building a Robust L&D Strategy;
- Chapter - 03: The L&D Maturity Model;
- Chapter - 04: Gaining Business Influence;
- Chapter - 05: How to Move from a Reactive to a Proactive L&D Function;
- Chapter - 06: How to Close Skills Gaps in the Workforce;
- Chapter - 07: Becoming a Mission-Critical Skills Engine
- Chapter - 08: Quantifying Business Impact;
- Chapter - 09: Persuading with Data;
- Chapter - 10: Stakeholder management;
- Chapter - 11: Scaling Across the Organization;
- Chapter - 12: Sustaining Performance Improvement throughout the Business;