Edinburgh Napier University

  The idea that learning is a natural human activity which takes place in a relatively non‐contrived way as part of everyday life has, in the author's experience, been lost when one considers the present state of training and development in many modern organisations. While it is accepted that some contrivance of the learning activity is necessary in order to make it more effective, there has been something of an obsession amongst trainers and consultants to come up with new methods and approaches, rather than concentrating on helping people to learn. Furthermore, the training function has tended not to emphasise the important role that the line manager plays in the development activity within the modern organisation. This may have arisen because the training function wanted to demonstrate ownership and establish a power base within the organisation; however, centralised ownership of training and development does not lend itself to the promotion and undertaking of non‐contrived on‐the‐job/natural development activities.