The Difference Between Training and Development
To highlight the importance that businesses place on the training and development of their employees, the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), the largest association of professionals dedicated to the training and development field, noted that companies shelled out more than $164 billion to get their employees up to speed through training and development programs in 2012. It is well known that to get a job one must be a generalist, but to be successful within the position requires that the new hire quickly adapt to the specialization required of the position. An employee training and development program, which allows for a seamless transition between these two realities, is the best way for organizations to get the most bangs for their recruitment buck.
Human resource training and development has dramatically changed in recent decades, as businesses have had to learn how to operate in as lean of an environment as possible, the success of which depends on a trained cadre of dedicated workers who are looking to have a larger impact on your organization. Best practices recognized the distinction between training and development, and they structure their learning modules accordingly to address each side of the quotient by building programs that distinguish between training and development curricula.
Employee Training and Development
As an industry, employee training and development programs are thriving. Human resources training and development managers understand that finding, recruiting, training, and retaining employees is an expensive and time-consuming practice. To minimize costs, and maximize results, companies human resource leaders are consistently reading training and development articles and fashioning a training or employee development plan that works best for their employees.
Getting the expertise they need, business owners are turning to new theories in the training and development in human resource management. HRM training and development have long since moved from simply showing the new hire their desk, introducing them to the person next to them, and setting them off on their own to sink or swim in a chaotic environment. The importance of a cogent training and development process can be seen in increased morale, higher productivity, lower employee turnover, and tangible outcomes like increased profits.
Looking to experts in the human resources training and development field, you can find out about the advantages and disadvantages of training and development, so you will be able to concentrate on achieving the learning outcomes you desire while navigating common pitfalls in training regimes. As such, the corporate training field is a burgeoning industry that is on the forefront of increasing your company’s productivity.
Tapping into the knowledge base that has developed in training and development in human resource management that you can harness for your own specific business needs allows you to maximize your training activities while lowering operational costs and boosting your profits. Doing so on a wing and a prayer is a poor approach, however, so knowing where to find the resources that you need is the first order of business when developing your own corporate training program. With the growth of the corporate training industry, finding that material has never been easier.
Differences between Training and Development
What differentiates training from development? At its most basic level, training is the process by which companies augment the skills of incoming employees in order for the new hire to perform the specific job for which they are hired. Development, on the other hand, refers more broadly to the subtle changes that enhanced education, mentoring, and ongoing professional development that serves to position employees for the leadership roles of tomorrow within your organization.
To appreciate the difference between training and development with examples is helpful. For instance, training a new sales associate would include familiarizing them with the organization’s paperwork trail, order fulfillment procedures, and other internal procedures that guarantee that the new hire is pulling the same oar as the rest of the team when it comes to meeting their sales numbers and following company procedures. That being said, however, the development of that associate takes a different form.
In terms of professional, personnel advancement, human resource management (HRM) teams understand the difference between training and development in HRM. By way of comparison, consider the sales associate in the previous example. While your company’s training regime quickly brought her up to speed in terms of what was expected of her regarding her daily performance. Her professional development takes a different cast when it comes to inculcating a sense of larger purpose in the promising employee. Conferences, continuing education, and advanced mentoring programs are all aspects of a cogent development program that serves to distinguish between training and development efforts.
When it comes to getting the most out of your employees, while simultaneously giving them the tools to enable the self-actualization of their professional goals, knowing the distinction between training and development is the starting point for a successful program that best serves the needs of both your employee and your organization.
