01 - Introduction to Training and Development

Introduction

As per the CFI Education Inc, 2022 exploration, training and development refers to the continued efforts of a company to enhance the performance of their employees. Organizations are aim to train and develop employees by using an array of educational methods and programs. This has become most common and continuous task in any organization for updating skills and knowledge of employees in accordance with rapidly changing environment. During past few years, training and development has identified as a crucial element of strategy. More organizations have identified that investing in employee training and development not only assists as a motivation, but it also empower the organization to create a highly skilled workforce.

Overview of Training and Development

Training and Development refers to the continuous process of developing skills, gaining knowledge, clarifying concepts and changing attitude through structured and planned education by which the productivity and performance of the employees can be improved. So this will emphasize on the improvement of the performance of individual employee as well as team through a proper process within the organization which mainly focuses on the skills, methodology and content required to achieve the objective. Good & efficient training of employees helps in their skills & knowledge development, which eventually helps a company improve its productivity leading to overall growth (Mbaskool.com, 2023).

When comes to training, it refers to a short-term reactive process destined for operatives and process where development is intended continuous pro-active process meant for executives. In training employees' aim is to develop additional skills and in development, it is to develop a total personality. Training, initiative is taken by the management with considering the objective of achieving the current need of an employee, where development, initiative is taken by the specific person with the objective of achieving the future need of an employee (Darwinbox Digital Solutions Pvt. Ltd, 2023)

Video 01 - Training and Development

(HR Trends, 2021)

Relationship and Difference between Training and Development

Terms training and development have both are interconnected, where both has interconnected relationship as well as differences. As per the Mbaskool.com (2023) following table describe about the relationship and differences between these two terms.

TRAINING	DEVELOPMENT
Training is meant for operatives	Development is meant for executives
It is reactive process	It is pro- active process
AIM: To develop additional skills	AIM: To develop the total personality
It is short term process	It is continuous process
OBJECTIVE: To meet the present need of an employee	OBJECTIVE: To meet the future need of an employee
Initiative is taken by the management	Initiative is taken by an individual.

Purpose of Training and Development for an Organization

According to the Darwinbox Digital Solutions Pvt. Ltd, (2023), training and development of employees is a costly activity. But it is important that the company revises its goals and efficiencies with the changing environment. Here are a few major reasons why the company endorses training and development.

1. Lowers Attrition.

Training is one of the best ways to value your employees. Where it emphasized that you are as invested in their well-being and growth as they are in your growth as a company. Employees who are looked after will never want to leave the company.

2. Prepares for upcoming challenges.

Training can be a preventive step for expected/unexpected changes in the industry. In times like this, when trends change rapidly under the influence of economic crises, this will keeping company teams prepared just makes good sense.

3. Fosters Leadership.

There is no better way to create future leaders than to train the best group. This will also lead to a clear career development path for employees preventing attrition and dissatisfaction.

4. Growth of the company.

Any company dedicated to training its workforce will only prosper and move forward. The employees are a major part of a company's assets and taking care of them will mean taking care of the organization.

Common Training Methods for Employee Training and Development

Following were described by CFI Education Inc, 2022 as the common and traditional training approaches, which have proven highly effective, although there are new training techniques developing every day.

1. Orientations.

Orientation training is essential to the success of new employees. Even through training provided through a handbook, a one-on-one session, or a lecture, most important factor is providing information regarding the organization background, strategies, mission, vision, and objectives specially for new workforces. Such training gives new employees an opportunity to familiarize themselves with company policies, rules, and regulations.

2. Lectures.
Lectures are mainly effective when the purpose is to deliver the same information to a large group at the same time. With use of this method, no individual training required and usefully on savings on costs. But, this method consist of disadvantages also. Such as, one-way communication in most scenarios, which provides little room for feedback. And also, the trainer may find it challenging   to evaluate the level of understanding of the content within a big group.

3. Computer-based Training (CBT).

Computers and computer-based tutorials/ session are the primary resources of communication between the trainer and employees. The programs are structured in such a way that they provide instructional materials while also facilitating the learning process.
The main benefit of computer-based training is that each employee is given the choice to learn at their own pace in their most convenient time. This also helps to reduce the total cost that an organization incurs in training its employees. 

Importance of Training and Development for an Organization

According to the International Business Machines Corporation, (2023), for the development and also to the continuous growth, it is very important for company to have proper training and development programs for their employees. Following are some of the key benefits of continuous training and development.

 1. Improvement of productivity.

When employees continue current with new procedures and technologies, where it will help to increase their overall output.

2. Low micromanagement. 

If the well-trained workers are authorized to perform a task, they typically need less oversight and work more independently. 

3. Building future leaders.

It is required to have well-trained and innovative potential leaders which will be beneficial for the organization growth.

4. Improved job satisfaction and retention.

Well-trained employees gain confidence in their abilities, leading to greater job satisfaction, a reduction overall employee retention.

5. Attract highly skilled employees.

Top recruits are attracted to firms with an identifiable career path based on consistent training and development.

6. Increased steadiness.

Well-organized training ensures tasks are performed regularly and which will result a tight quality control that end users can trust.

7. Increased companionship.

Training and development supports create a sense of teamwork and collaboration.

8. Sustained safety.

Continuous training and development helps ensure employees have the knowledge and skills to perform a task safely.

9. Train the trainer. 

Providing consistent training creates a knowledgeable team overall where employees can help train or assist each other if needed.

10. Development of new innovation. 

Consistently trained employees can help develop new strategies and products, contributing to the company’s bottom line and continued success.   

Training and Development Process

Since this is a continuous process as the skills, knowledge and quality of work needs continuous development and also the businesses are changing rapidly, it is important  that companies are focus on training their employees after continuously monitoring them & developing their overall personality.

Following are some training and development processes explained by Mbaskool.com, (2023).

1.      Identifying the need of training and development.

2.      Creating specific objectives & goals which need to be achieved.

3.      Selecting the methods of training.

4.      Conduct and implement the training programs for employees.

5.      Evaluate the performance and development also check where the more training are required.     

Types of Training and Development

Following are some of the training programs types described by Darwinbox Digital Solutions Pvt. Ltd, (2023) -

1. Technical training - Meant to teach the new employee the technological aspects of the job.

2. Quality training - Familiarizing employees with the means of preventing, detecting, and eliminating non-quality items, usually in an organization that produces a product.

3. Skills training, - Includes proficiency needed to actually perform the job.

4. Soft skills training. - Personality traits, social graces, communication, and personal habits that are used to characterize relationships with other people.

5. Professional training - Required to be up to date in one’s own professional field.

Training and Development in HRM

According to the Darwinbox Digital Solutions Pvt. Ltd (2023), training and development is one of the major function of the human resource management department. This refers to a systematic setup where employees are instructed and taught matters of technical knowledge related to their professions. Whereas, development refers to the overall complete and educational growth and maturity of people in managerial positions. Training and development in human resource management is the foundation for getting the maximum out of each and every worker.

Barriers in Employee Training and Development

As per the Azmi, (2023), employee training and development is a vast area, and organizations often face challengers  in setting the right learning culture. Some of the challenges faced are,

1. Lack of a robust training department.
2. Lack of management support.
3. A weak culture that does not facilitate learning as well as implementation in the organization.
4. Employee is resistant to attend training.
5. A fundamental not only non-clarity of job roles but also growth path.
6. Budget Constraints.
7. Ambiguous company policies.

Conclusion

According to the CFI Education Inc, 2022, knowledge and skills are very critical to every organization nowadays. Organizations are evaluated based on their physical structure and intellectual capital. The easiest way to develop and improve an organizations intellectual capital is to conduct consistent training and development programs for their employees. Which will direct to untrained personalities to well train personalities. Also, untrained employees will cost the organization more than well-trained individuals. Other advantage of employee training and development includes improvements in employee performance, boosting company reputation, and addressing weak points in the organization.
However, with considering all the identified factors, training and development is one of the key factor for an organization. Where it provides more benefits for the organization in both directly and indirectly. But if the training and development is not strategic and pointed at specific goals, it can also lead to major harm than good. Continues assessments will helps on identifying the areas which require more attention and trainings and also evaluate the progress/ development of the provided training. In this case, organization HRM is one the key element of executing training and development process, with using the correct methodologies in correct timelines and evaluating the performances/ development and identifying the gaps and providing proper training and solution to achieve goals and objectives of the organization.

List of References -

Azmi, 2023. Employee Training and Development: The Ultimate Guide (2023). startuphrtoolkit.com [Online]. Available at https://www.startuphrtoolkit.com/employee-training-and-development/.

Accessed on 7th of August, 2023.

CFI Education Inc, 2022. Employee Training and Development What is Employee Training and Development.corporatefinanceinstitute.com [Online]. Available at https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/employee-training-and-development/. Accessed on 7th of August, 2023.

Darwinbox Digital Solutions Pvt. Ltd, 2023. Meaning & Definition Training & Development. darwinbox.com [Online]. Available at https://explore.darwinbox.com/hr-glossary/training-and-development. Accessed on 7^th August, 2023.

HR Trends, 2021. Training and Development | Learning and development | Human resources training. youtube.com [Online]. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBhTv2-VfRo. Accessed on 7th of August, 2023.

International Business Machines Corporation, 2023. What is training and development? Why is training and development important? ibm.com [Online]. Available at https://www.ibm.com/topics/training-development. Access on 7^th August, 2023.

Mbaskool.com, 2023. Training and Development - Meaning, Importance, Process & Example. Mbaskool.com [Online]. Available at https://www.mbaskool.com/business-concepts/human-resources-hr-terms/8685-training-and-development.html. Accessed on 7th of August, 2023.

Workhuman.com, 2022. What Is Training and Development in HRM, What are the 5 processes in training and development. workhuman.com [Online]. Available at https://www.workhuman.com/blog/training-and-development-in-hrm/. Accessed on 7th of August, 2023.