TY - JOUR AB - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore ways in which learning and development (L&D) professionals use reflective practice to promote the function of L&D and their own professional growth. The claim that L&D practitioners need to develop their reflective ability to make sense of their own practice is well-argued in the literature, but few studies focus on an in-depth individual self-reflection and its impact on professional growth.Design/methodology/approach An autoethnography and reflective practice design was deployed. The data was collected by sending a semi-structured, pre-set question as a ‘reflective conversation’ to an L&D manager and a 10-hour tape recording of personal reflection over three months.[AQ1] Data was sanitised, transcribed and edited, and a narrative data analysis method was used to analyse the data developed into reflective narratives.Findings The authors find that reflective practice emerges through gradual reflective patterns that define the circumstances surrounding the reflection, the content, exploration and interpretation and confirming the fulfilling of the reflection.Originality/value This paper offers the journey of an L&D manager working in the hotel industry in India. Through a set of reflective practices, including introspection and reflexivity, the manager considers the changes she has experienced. The paper contributes to the literature on reflective practice based on promoting the L&D function as an essential part of the horizontal integration of human resource management in organisations. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. VL - 44 IS - 8/9 SN - 2046-9012 DO - 10.1108/EJTD-09-2019-0165 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-09-2019-0165 AU - Koukpaki Adebayo Serge Francois AU - Adams Kweku PY - 2020 Y1 - 2020/01/01 TI - Enhancing professional growth and the learning and development function through reflective practices: an autoethnographic narrative approach T2 - European Journal of Training and Development PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 805 EP - 827 Y2 - 2024/09/20 ER -