Training & Development

The primary focus of training and development is to remove the gaps between the current skills of each employee, the skills necessary to execute in their actual positions, and the skills needed for potential relevant growth opportunities. Training goals for any organization should include this spotlight as well as institutionalizing their curriculum to ensure they are performed as a managed method.

Since resources and opportunities are restricted in many circumstances, training and development activities should be prioritized for each individual employee. Training in the critical skills required to perform their assigned work should take precedence over training that supports their future development interests. Once the gap between the current skills and the skills to perform their present assignments are removed, the other development objectives can be pursued. This is specifically why each individual should have their own development/training footpath and emphasis and consistent awareness needs to be placed on their track. The one size fits all type of training programs are ineffective because each employee is different and possesses different skills.

When possible, experienced individuals with expertise in training and development should be made accessible for conducting detailed activities. They can assist in examining critical skills, providing knowledge for applicable training opportunities, conducting in-house training seminars, and evaluating each person’s learning curve, while ensuring learned skills are being transferred throughout the organization leading to a return in investment. Resources supporting training and development should be made available to the workforce. Each individual should be provided his/her own training roadmap, own list of training opportunities that are available, and own list of in house experts as resources, job aids, and materials for development. Again, not everyone’s package will be the same. These packages will be reviewed and updated routinely for each member.

In most organizations (70% or more) there is no Training Officer/Training Department or concrete training programs in place. If there is a program in place, often you will find the “one size fits all approach” being used, which may not have the right impact on every employee. Matter of fact, a lot of employees lose faith in their leadership/management when concrete programs/departments are not in place – they feel that is a true reflection of management’s interest in long term development of the employees. In these organizations the training staff often struggles mightily to find the right level of leadership. What should the head of training do? Where should they report? What should they be called? What background should they have? Is the company ready for it? In today’s growing business and highly competitive talent environment, the Training Officer and Training Department are more important than ever. Having a center of expertise to which individuals throughout the organization can turn, ensuring they access to the intellectual tools, information and data they need, is invaluable. Many times, valuable people within the organization know they need more, but are not sure where to go to get more or how to do it. A training officer/department is able to form that path for the organization and for each individual employee.

Effective training is critical to employees’ ongoing education, satisfaction and achievement. It is also a strategic investment in the long-term success of an organization. In fact, the custom of acquiring knowledge is so important in our workplace that individuals and companies must institutionalize the process of education or it will not happen. And the definition of learning should be broad – not just additional training to enhance job performance, but rather a cultural change that affects the daily operations of a company and its employees. By providing a long term road map, tailored to each person, employees are given an outlook and something to reach for. Often you will find personnel looking for new employment after 2 or 3 years into a job. Much of this is because they do not feel they have any future development plan in place for them within the organization. This can be prevented. Concrete programs directly reflect retention.

Building a culture of innovation, where everyone is involved in action research and constantly collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data for continuous improvement is essential. Some say that a frustrated manager complains that every time their company provides training, the now highly skilled employee gets snatched up by a competitor. However, the only thing worse than training people and having them leave is not training them and having them stay. In reality, the only thing worse than that happening, is putting in training programs that are not tailored to needs, to individuals, and that are not institutionalized as a true process. If you are going to put a training program in place, do it all the way. Focus on removing the gaps between the current skills of each employee, the skills required to perform in their actual positions, and the skills needed for future relevant growth opportunities. Individualize the training tracks, and provide a center of excellence for your organization.