Employee Training and Development

Since companies can’t survive unless employees do their jobs well, it makes economic sense to train them and develop their skills. This type of support begins when an individual enters the organization and continues as long as he or she stays there.

New Employee Orientation

A new employee orientation, often referred to as onboarding, is a process within human resources (HR) designed to introduce new hires to their roles, the company culture, policies, and their colleagues. This orientation serves as a crucial step in integrating employees into the company and setting them up for success from the start.

Have you ever started your first day at a new job feeling upbeat and optimistic only to walk out at the end of the day thinking that maybe you’ve taken the wrong job? If this happens too often, your employer may need to revise its approach to orientation—the way it introduces new employees to the organization and their jobs. Starting a new job is a little like beginning college; at the outset, you may be experiencing any of the following feelings:

• Somewhat nervous but enthusiastic
• Eager to impress but not wanting to attract too much attention
• Interested in learning but fearful of being overwhelmed with information
• Hoping to fit in and worried about looking new or inexperienced ^[1]

The employer who understands how common such feelings are is more likely not only to help newcomers get over them but also to avoid the pitfalls often associated with new-employee orientation:

• Failing to have a workspace set up for you
• Ignoring you or failing to supervise you
• Neglecting to introduce you to coworkers
• Swamping you with facts about the company ^[2]

A good employer will take things slowly, providing you with information about the company and your job on a need-to-know basis while making you feel as comfortable as possible. You’ll get to know the company’s history, traditions, policies, and culture over time. You’ll learn more about salary and benefits and how your performance will be evaluated. Most importantly, you’ll find out how your job fits into overall operations and what’s expected of you.

Employee Training

Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one’s capability, productivity, and performance. In business, training is the investment of resources in the employees of a company so they are better equipped to perform their job. The types of resources invested may include time and money to develop, implement, and evaluate training programs.

Benefits of Training

Training can be a source of competitive advantage for a company. The primary benefit to the company is the result of an accumulation of smaller benefits. Training provides greater skills and knowledge to employees, which translates to improved job performance. Improved job performance, in turn, means greater efficiency, fewer errors, and better productivity. The result is reduced costs and higher profits. The company is not the only beneficiary of employee training, though; the employee can realize rewards, too.

The well-trained employee acquires an advantage for himself or herself. By participating in training, employees can deepen or expand their existing skill set and increase their understanding of the organization. In addition, a well-trained employee may be able to take advantage of internal promotion opportunities and become more marketable if he or she leaves the company. Other potential benefits are listed below:

• Increased job satisfaction and morale among employees
• Increased employee motivation
• Increased efficiencies in processes, resulting in financial gain
• Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods
• Increased innovation in strategies and products
• Reduced employee turnover
• Enhanced company image, e.g., building a reputation as a “great place to work”
• Risk management, e.g. training about sexual harassment, diversity training

Types of Training

The goal of training is for the trainee to acquire relevant knowledge, skills, and competencies from the trainer as a result of being taught vocational or practical skills. More generally, training is aimed at improving the trainee’s capability, capacity, and performance.

Generally, training is categorized as on-the-job or off-the-job:

• On-the-job training takes place in a normal working situation, using the actual tools, equipment, documents, or materials that trainees will use once they are fully trained. On-the-job training is not limited to but is most commonly used for technical or skills training.
  .
• Off-the-job training takes place away from the normal work situation, and as a result, the employee is not a directly productive worker while such training takes place. Businesses often cite this as one of the disadvantages of off-the-job training. However, this type of training has the advantage of allowing people to get away from work and concentrate more thoroughly on the training itself. Off-the-job of training has proven very effective in helping people acquire and master new concepts and ideas.

Professional Development

In addition to the basic training required for a trade, occupation, or profession, the labor market recognizes the need to continue training beyond initial qualifications to maintain, upgrade, and update skills throughout working life. This is known as professional development.

Individuals who take part in professional development run the gamut from teachers to military officers. Individuals may pursue professional development because of an interest in lifelong learning, a sense of moral obligation, to maintain and improve professional competence, enhance career progression, keep abreast of new technology and practice, or comply with professional regulatory organizations. Many professions have requirements for annual professional development to renew a license or certification, such as accountants, lawyers, and engineers.

There are a variety of approaches to professional development, including consultation, coaching, communities of practice, lesson study, mentoring, reflective supervision, and technical assistance. Professional development may include formal types of vocational education—typically post-secondary or technical training leading to a qualification or credential required to obtain or retain employment. Professional development may also come in the form of pre-service or in-service professional development programs. These programs may be formal or informal, group or individual. It’s possible to pursue professional development on one’s own, or through the company’s human resource departments. Professional development on the job may develop or enhance “process skills”—sometimes referred to as leadership skills—as well as task skills. Some examples of process skills are effectiveness skills, team-functioning skills, and systems-thinking skills.

The twenty-first century has seen significant growth in online professional development. Content providers have become well-informed about using technology in innovative ways, incorporating collaborative platforms such as discussion boards and Wikis to maximize participant interaction.  These content providers offer training on topics ranging from sexual harassment awareness to promoting diversity in the workplace. The ability to customize training for a business or industry has placed these providers in a position to supplement or even replace in-house training departments.  Because businesses can purchase access on an as-needed basis for as many or as few employees as necessary, the cost of training is reduced. Thus, businesses can provide more training and professional development opportunities to their employees at reduced costs and at times that are more convenient for both the employer and the employee.