Training and Development
Definition: Training and Development
Training and Development is a subsystem of an organization
which emphasize on the improvement of the performance of
individuals and groups.
Training is an educational process which involves the sharpening
of skills, concepts, changing of attitude and gaining more
knowledge to enhance the performance of the employees.
Good & efficient training of employees helps in their skills &
knowledge development, which eventually helps a company
improve.
Relation between Training and Development
There is a relation between training and development, and there is
clear difference between the two based on goals to be achieved.
Development is made to answer the training problems:
TRAINING DEVELOPMENT
Training is meant for Development is meant
operatives for executives
It is reactive process It is pro- active process
AIM: To develop AIM: To develop the
additional skills total personality
It is short term process It is continuous process
OBJECTIVE: To meet OBJECTIVE: To meet
the present need of an the future need of an
employee employee
Initiative is taken by Initiative is taken by an
the management individual.
Importance of Training and Development
For companies to keep improving, it is important for organizations
to have continuous training and development programs for their
employees.
Competition and the business environment keeps changing, and
hence it is critical to keep learning and pick up new skills. The
importance of training and development is as follows:
• Optimum utilization of Human resources
• Development of skills like time
management, leadership, team management etc
• To increase the productivity and enhance
employee motivation
• To provide the zeal of team spirit
• For improvement of organization culture
• To improve quality, safety
• To increase profitability
• Improve the morale and corporate image
Need for Training and Development
Training and development of employees is a costly activity as it
requires a lot quality inputs from trainers as well as employees. But
it is essential that the company revises its goals and efficiencies
with the changing environment.
Here are a few critical reasons why the company endorses training
and development sessions.
• When management thinks that there is a need to improve the
performances of employees
• To set up the benchmark of improvement so far in the
performance improvement effort
• To train about the specific job responsibility and skills like
communication management, team management etc
• To test the new methodology for increasing the productivity
Advantages of training and development
Training and development has a cost attached to it. However, since
it is beneficial for companies in the long run, they ensure
employees are trained regularly. Some advantages are:
Helps employees develop new skills and increases their
knowledge.
Improves efficiency and productivity of the individuals as well as
the teams.
Proper training and development can remove bottle-necks in
operations.
New & improved job positions can be created to make the
organization leaner.
Keeps employees motivated and refreshes their goals, ambitions
and contribution levels.
Disadvantages of training and development
Even though there are several advantages, some drawbacks of
training and development are mentioned below:
It is an expensive process which includes arranging the correct
trainers and engaging employees for non-revenue activities.
There is a risk that after the training and development session, the
employee can quit the job.
Training and Development Process
Training and development is a continuous process as the skills,
knowledge and quality of work needs constant improvement. Since
businesses are changing rapidly, it is critical that companies focus
on training their employees after constantly monitoring them &
developing their overall personality.
Steps for training and development processes are:
Determine the need of training and development for individuals or
teams
Establish specific objectives & goals which need to be achieved
Select the methods of training
Conduct and implement the programs for employees
Evaluate the output and performance post the training and
development sessions.
Keep monitoring and evaluating the performances and again see if
more training is required.
Hence, this concludes the definition of Training and Development
along with its overview.
Training of Employees: Meaning, Objectives, Need and Importance
| Employee Management
Training of Employees: Meaning, Objectives, Need and Importance!
Training is concerned with increasing the knowledge and skills of
employees for doing specific jobs, and development involves the
growth of employees in all aspects.
Whereas training increases job skills, development shapes attitudes
of employees.
Meaning of Training:
“Training is the act of increasing the knowledge and skills of an
employee for doing a particular job.” — Edwin B. Flippo
Training is an organized activity for increasing the technical skills
of the employees to enable them to do particular jobs efficiently.
In other words, training provides the workers with facility to gain
technical knowledge and to learn new skills to do specific jobs.
Training is equally important for the existing as well as the new
employees. It enables the new employees to get acquainted with
their jobs and also increase the job-related knowledge and skills.
Objectives of Training:
To provide job related knowledge to the workers.
To impart skills among the workers systematically so that they
may learn quickly.
To bring about change in the attitudes of the workers towards
fellow workers, supervisor and the organization.
To improve the productivity of the workers and the organization.
To reduce the number of accidents by providing safety training to
the workers,
To make the workers handle materials, machines and equipment
efficiently and thus to check wastage of time and resources.
To prepare workers for promotion to higher jobs by imparting
them advanced skills.
Need and Importance of Training
The need for training of employees arises due to the following
factors:
Higher Productivity:
It is essential to increase productivity and reduce cost of
production for meeting competition in the market.
Effective training can help increase productivity of workers by
imparting the required skills.
Quality Improvement:
The customers have become quality conscious and their
requirement keep on changing.
To satisfy the customers, quality of products must be continuously
improved through training of workers.
Reduction of Learning Time:
Systematic training through trained instructors is essential to
reduce the training period.
If the workers learn through trial and error, they will take a longer
time and even may not be able to learn right methods of doing
work.
Industrial Safety:
Trained workers can handle the machines safely. They also know
the use of various safety devices in the factory. Thus, they are less
prone to industrial accidents.
Reduction of Turnover and Absenteeism:
Training creates a feeling of confidence in the minds of the
workers. It gives them a security at the workplace. As a result,
labour turnover and absenteeism rates are reduced.
Technology Update:
Technology is changing at a fast pace. The workers must learn new
techniques to make use of advance technology.
Thus, training should be treated as a continuous process to update
the employees in the new methods and procedures.
Effective Management:
Training can be used as an effective tool of planning and control. It
develops skills among workers and prepares them for handling
present and future jobs.
It helps in reducing the costs of supervision, wastages and
industrial accidents. It also helps increase productivity and quality
which are the cherished goals of any modern organization.
TYPES OF TRAINING:
INTERNAL TRAINING :
Internal training sessions are conducted by someone that already
works for your company. This is often someone from HR, but not
always – it depends on the purpose of the session and who the best
person for the job is.
For a product demonstration, for example, a sales person may be
better suited to the role, or for a more technical demonstration a
developer may be a good fit.
Pros
Internal training sessions are easy to set up as you already have
everyone and everything that you need. Because of this, it’s also
quicker and cheaper to organize.
A senior team member training junior team members can help to
build relationships and a team dynamic. The person conducting the
training session may even learn something new from their junior
team members.
Internal training sessions don’t just inform new hires or offer
refreshers to older team members, though. They can also reinforce
the tutor’s knowledge and help them to find any gaps in it.
Discovering these gaps in their knowledge means that they won’t
get caught out in the future and can improve their sales pitch.
Cons
Internal knowledge has its limits. The longer we work for a
company or with a particular person/team, the easier it is to fall
into the trap of groupthink.
We’re also more likely to become isolated and stuck in our ways of
doing things, which, long-term, can be detrimental.
In the age of technology, every industry is changing rapidly.
Teams or companies that live in a silo risk falling behind their
competitors, potentially damaging the brand and business by the
use of old fashion tecniques.
EXTERNAL TRAINING :
External training is conducting by experts or influencers from
outside of your company.
They may be someone your company already has a relationship
with – such as a supplier – who has been brought in to give more
information on a product or feature, or an industry expert who can
share the latest trends to help teams stay ahead of competitors.
This type of training can also be done at external events (such as
Unleash or the Festival of Marketing) or online (such as Copy
School, Forget the Funnel, and Codecademy).
Pros
External training sessions break up groupthink and offer a fresh
perspective on how things are done. This can have a dramatic
effect on company culture and the way things are done moving
forward (either in a positive or a negative way).
External training sessions also give teams the chance to learn from
industry experts. The knowledge shared by people like Andrew &
Pete or Janet Murray in their corporate training sessions can be
invaluable.
They help companies to snap out of their ‘tradition is the only
way’ mentality and view things from a new angle. In ever-
changing industries such as HR or marketing, this is vital for teams
who want to stand out.
It also future-proofs team’s and company’s knowledge because
they’re learning from someone whose job it is to pay attention to
industry trends. These tutors also have experience working with
dozens – if not hundreds – of businesses, giving them more
experience and helping them to pick up on patterns that they can
share with training sessions.
Cons
External training is more expensive than in-house training.
It can also take longer to organize. After all, the best people are
busy.
Should you go for the online training option, sessions or courses
are often limited to a certain number of slots, or only open for sign-
ups a few weeks a year.
This can be difficult if you’re looking for courses for employees to
take part in and they’re not open when you need them.
Outbound Training
Definition: The Outbound Training is a technique used to
enhance the efficiency of employees through Experiential
Learning.
In other words, taking the group of employees away from the
actual work environment into the outdoors and are assigned some
challenging task or activity that needs to be completed by them
within a given time frame.
Effectiveness of Outbound Training
Helps in improving the teamwork abilities.
Leadership qualities get enhanced
Help in resolving intragroup or personal conflicts
Nourishes the interpersonal skills
Nurtures the personal and intragroup relations
Improves the Communication Skills
Better partnerships and alliances
Generally, the outbound training comprises of a series of exercises and
games such as treasure hunt, trekking, camping, raft racing, etc. built
around the training theme and are carried out by employees in teams.
Attitudinal Training
Direct Attitudinal Training. Some examples of direct attitudinal
training are to:
Encourage employees to participate in a wellness program
Promote the of use conflict resolution techniques in the workplace
Adopt a positive attitude when providing customer service
Persuade employees to recycle at work
Value the importance of using hand sanitizer after patient contact
Implicit Attitudinal Training. Indirect attitudinal training is more
subtle and is often the undertone of a course with a completely
different learning goal.
For example, a course teaching how to use a new software system
might highlight the advantages of the new application.
Although the course goal is software training, influencing users to
have positive feelings about the new system is a secondary one.
