Introduction to Employee Training and Development Programs in HRM

Employee Training and Development Programs  refers to a company’s continuous efforts to boost its employee’s productivity. It pertains to pushing an employee to learn new skills and develop them for better roles in the organisation.

Companies that frequently organize corporate training programs for employees see higher profitability and have more engaged employees. Furthermore, it helps the organization avoid the costs linked to losing talents.

Training and developing an employee doesn’t simply help their growth but pushes the company to grow as well. Likewise, it helps employees know that they are valued in the organization.

A formal definition of training and development is “Training and development is an attempt to improve current or future employee performance by increasing an employee’s ability to perform through learning, usually by changing the employee’s attitude or increasing his or her skills and knowledge”

An organization that nurtures its employee skills and thinks about its growth certainly attracts better talent and sustainability.

Employee training & development may sound similar but both have different meanings and roles. Employee training refers to a short term activity that focuses on the specific role of the employee. It focuses on the immediate need or requirement of the role. In a more formal sense, employee training is the process of providing the required skills to an employee for a specific task.

Whereas, employee training and development programs has a broader scope. It is a long-term activity which focuses on the development of an individual. Employee development can be defined as the process of employees honing, developing and learning new skills that align with the goals and the vision of the company.

What is Employee Training and Employee Development Programs?

The relationship between employee training and development is close. However, employee training is very different from employee development. Employee development has open-ended goals and doesn’t focus on one single role.

It focuses on the entirety of an individual. It hones the skills of an individual to be able to growth as a person. If done right, employee development can lead to more job satisfaction which results in a more engaged employee. Employee development also helps groom employees for newer possibilities and roles. While employee training focuses on helping the employee does the current job better. It focuses on helping the employee solve the problems that they are facing and helps them develop the skills to solve them. It acts as an upgrade in the current job role.