In the past few years, employee training and development has emerged as a crucial strategy to grow the talent in the company. Investing in employee training motivates and enables organizations to create a highly-skilled workforce. Employee training and development improve company personnel by investing time, energy, and resources. It is essential because it improves employees’ job skills and knowledge to make them more effective in the workplace. It prepares employees for higher responsibilities; it shows they are valued and satisfies the recommendations for performance appraisal.

Importance of Initiating Training and Development Program for Employees

Training and development programs provide a large number of benefits. They hone employee skills, thus improving employee performance, boosting productivity, and reducing employee turnover. These programs help employees learn the required skills and knowledge needed in the future. With strengthened skills, the employees’ performance increases, and so does productivity. Training and development programs have measurable goals such as learning how to perform a particular task with accuracy and acquiring broader skills that can be applied to a wide range of situations. It helps employees address their weaknesses, improve their performance, boost company profile and reputation, and foster creativity.

Objectives of Training and Development for Employees

In days of explosive improvements and innovations, employees need to be well-versed with contemporary trends. Employees are exposed to the training and development programs to improve their utility to the organization. The objectives of the training and development for employees are:

• Assess employees strengths and weaknesses

• Upgrading proficiency in the current job or task

• Learning new systems, procedures, and technologies

• Acquiring role-related skills, knowledge, and abilities

• Enhancing and improvising skills not related to the existing roles to attain self-determined goals.

• Reduce employee turnover

Purpose, and Goals of Training and Development for Employees

The purpose and goals include:

a. Functions of Training and development:

• Provides employees with career growth opportunities with the company’s goals, objectives, and strategies.

• Supports the workforce to acquire role-specific knowledge and skills for effective performance.

• Organizes and facilitates employees’ training and development programs and events.

b. Effective employee training and development programs:

• Help in aligning to business goals to maximize resources and to offer effective learning solutions throughout the organization

• Supporting and responding to training and development needs.

• To prepare employees to meet the varying and challenging needs of the job and the organization.

Relevant Categories of Training and Development

Training and development have three basic categories:

Formal job training- This job training is assigned to employees who are presently assigned the duties. It improves an employee’s performance and prepares them for a future assignment. Formal job training is often job-related and the duties and responsibilities associated with it.

Self-development training- This training may or may not be related to the employee’s current job and is taken to attain the self-determined goals or career objectives. It is investing in self to build skills, knowledge, and experience. It includes stress management, efficiency, creativity, time management, and career development.

On-the-job experience- This training helps improve, maintain, and develop employees’ skills, knowledge, and abilities. It is a short-term training provided at the actual workplace. In this training, employees are familiarized with their workplace environment and get their hands on using machinery, tools, equipment, etc.