08.EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION

Figure1:Employee Training & development

A collection of exercises and initiatives aimed at improving staff members' expertise, proficiencies, and knowledge is known as employee training and development. It is an ongoing process with the goals of enhancing both individual and organizational performance, promoting professional development, and accommodating changing business requirements.

Employee training and development refers to the continued efforts of a company to boost the performance  of its employees. Companies aim to train and develop employees by using an array of educational methods and programs in  the past few years, training and development have emerged as a crucial element of strategy. More company owners have realized that investing in employee training and development not only serves as a motivation, but it also enables the organization to create a highly skilled workforce. This article further explains the significance of employee training and development. It also outlines the various approaches that organizations use to train their employees(CFI,2024).

Employee Training and Development can be defined as activities that aim to improve employees’ knowledge, skills, and abilities. It enables employees to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. Furthermore, it can also include training and development that improves equality, diversity, inclusion, and mental health awareness for employees. It not only improves work effectiveness and efficiency, but can also help to create a happier, more balanced, and fairer workplace, in addition to helping employees with their own career paths and future(Symonds,2023).

Training and development programs typically involve educational activities that advance a worker’s knowledge and instill greater motivation to enhance job performance. These initiatives help employees learn and acquire new skill sets, as well as gain the professional knowledge that is required to progress their careers(IBM,2024).

MAIN OBJECTIVES OF TRANING & DEVELOPMENT

• Increased Productivity
• Quality Improvement
• Learning time Reduction
• Safety First
• Labor Turnover Reduction
• Keeping yourself Updated with Technology
• Effective Management

The objectives of training and development are not limited to just increasing productivity and efficiency, but the busy market and ceaselessly active competition of today, demands much more than that from organizations. It’s all thanks to the conditions that a company faces and the race of “growth” that has made the addition of new skills and improvement of the existing skill-set, which is an extremely important aspect of a business(Richard Daniel,2017).

TYPES OF TRAINNING & DEVELOPMENT

According to IBM(2024),Training programs can be created independently or with a learning administration system, with the goal of employee long-term development. Common training practices include orientations, classroom lectures, case studies, role playing, simulations and computer-based training, including e-learning.

Sometimes referred to as Human Resource Development (HRD), most employee training and development efforts are driven by an organization’s HRD function. These efforts are roughly divided into two types of programs:

• Employee Training and Development

A strategic tool for improving business outcomes by implementing internal educational programs that advance employee growth and retention.

• Management Training and Development

The practice of growing employees into managers and managers into effective leaders by the ongoing enhancement of certain knowledge, skills, and abilities.

BENIFITS OF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Figure2:Benefits of employee training

• Increased productivity: When employees stay current with new procedures and technologies, they can increase their overall output.

• Reduced micromanagement: If workers feel empowered to perform a task, they typically require less oversight and work more independently.

• Train future leaders: Organizations must have a solid pipeline of well-trained and innovative potential leaders to grow and adapt over time.

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

• Attract highly skilled employees: Top recruits are attracted to firms with an identifiable career path based on consistent training and development.  

• Increased consistency: Well-organized training ensures that tasks are performed uniformly, resulting in tight quality control that end users can trust.

• Increased camaraderie: Training and development helps create a sense of teamwork and collaboration.

• Bolstered safety: Continuous training and development helps ensure that employees have the knowledge and skills to perform a task safely.

• Ability to cross-train: Providing consistent training creates a knowledgeable team overall where employees can help train or assist each other as needed.

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

CURRENT TRENDS IN TRAINING &DEVELOPMENT

According to IBM(2024),The corporate marketplace is quickly changing, and businesses must be flexible and easily adapt to change. Technology is one of the key drivers in this rapid change, with automation and artificial intelligence (AI) in the forefront.

Here are four key trends impacting how organizations must rethink training and development.

Remote mobile training

Today’s corporations have discovered that it’s no longer just about what employees need to know, but also when, where and how the development experience enables performance. With the advancements in mobile technology, companies are relying more on mobile workforces. Training is migrating to mobile devices where apps provide “just-in-time” information and recommendations to workers across industries.

AI training

AI systems can process unstructured information in a similar way to humans. These systems understand language patterns and sensory inputs including text, pictures, and auditory cues. AI-based software can customize how training content is delivered to a learner, based on their learning style, suggest content based on a learner’s past performance and predict what information is most important for them to learn next.

Agile learning

Agile learning is a process that encourages employees to learn by doing and iterate often, inspiring organizational change and buy-in. For example, IBM® has introduced IBM Garage™, a tool for executing, scaling, and managing an organization’s multiple transformation initiatives. Companies like Ford Motor Company and Travelport are using IBM Garages around the world to create cultures of open collaboration and continuous learning. learning. https://www.ibm.com/garage

Remote flexible learning models

While distance learning has been around for a long time, the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for companies to have resilient, flexible, mobile workforce management. Organizations have learned that remote workforces need to be productive, engaged, and continually working toward learning and improvement.

MAIN STEPS IN THE TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Figure3:Steps in Training Development

CONCLUSION

Employees are the heartbeat of an organization, thus it is crucial for them to succeed in both their personal and professional lives that they receive training and development. Employee knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and other characteristics are developed through training and development. A capable worker has a direct and beneficial impact on the company's success.  Techniques like case studies, seminars, online training, and on-the-job training are utilized for this. By doing this, the business will succeed above all expectations and be able to offer excellent customer service. An effective organization starts with training and growth.

REFERENCES

CFI. (2024, January). Employee Training & Development. Retrieved April 13, 2024, from Cooperatefinanceinstitute.com: https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/employee-training-and-development

Symonds. (2023, February 14). Employee Training & Developmnet. Retrieved April 12, 2024, from symondsresearch.com: https://symondsresearch.com/employee-training-development

Daniel, R. (2017, July 12). Objectives of training development. Retrieved April 12, 2024, from businessstudynotes.com: https://www.businessstudynotes.com/hrm/training-development/objectives-training-development

Figure1    :    Employee Training & development

Figure2    :    Benefits of employee training

Figure3    :    Steps in Training Development