This paper examines employee training and development as a fundamental component of human resource management. It traces the concept's origins from the first corporate training programs established in 1927 through the evolution of career development practices across subsequent decades. The paper outlines the essential goals and activities of training and development — including on-the-job and off-the-job training, education, and organizational development — and explains why these programs matter for employee performance, organizational productivity, and workplace satisfaction. It also weighs the key advantages and disadvantages of training programs and discusses their role as a non-monetary employee benefit.
One of the most important functions of human resource management is training and development, which focuses on organizational activity geared toward improving the performance of individuals and groups within an organization. This component is commonly known as organizational learning and development, as well as human resource development. Its significance in human resource management stems from its direct link to organizational productivity. Generally, organizational productivity and success is mainly influenced by the contributions of individuals and groups within the organizational setting. As a result, organizations constantly face the need to enhance employees' contributions to their business objectives in order to become profitable and successful. Employee training and development is regarded as the most suitable means of enhancing employees' contributions toward the realization of organizational objectives.
Employee training and development is not necessarily a new topic or concept in the field of human resource management. The first training and development program for employees was established in 1927 by General Motors through its first corporate universities (Shelton, 2001). However, the idea did not grow rapidly until the 1950s, when several organizations followed this example and established their own employee training programs. For instance, General Electric created the Crotonville Management Development Institute, while Walt Disney established Disney University in the 1950s. McDonald's establishment of Hamburger University in the early 1960s was also a significant step toward employee training and development. Despite this progressive growth, the expansion of the concept was accompanied by several challenges.
One of the most significant periods in the growth of employee training and development occurred in the 1970s, when career planning and development initiatives were centered on young employees with high potential. This model served not only as a way for organizations to groom young employees for senior management positions, but also fit the conventional expectation that these workers would demonstrate lasting commitment to the organization. In essence, employees were given job security and training in exchange for loyalty and commitment. However, the trend changed in the 1980s when organizations shifted to flattened hierarchies that offered minimal opportunities for promotion, which contributed to the decline of traditional career advancement pathways.
In more recent years, career planning and development has become increasingly meaningful to both individuals and organizations due to the unreliability of long-term employment commitments. This shift has also been driven by enormous changes in the job market, which have resulted in significant transformations in employee development programs. Training and development has become an important aspect of modern human resource management in part because of the erosion of job security and organizational loyalty. Consequently, employee training and development no longer focuses solely on promotion and job security, but rather on skill development (Shelton, 2001). This shift has in turn led to the creation of employee development programs that differ in shape, size, and focus, and are associated with varying advantages and disadvantages.
Generally, the goal of training and development is to enhance the human resource capacity of an organization in a manner that advances the organization's objectives (Stuart, 2013). This is primarily because the role of human resources in an organization is to promote its growth, which is the foundation of training and development. The inputs into organizational training and development programs include unskilled employees, new employees, and potential managers. Through these programs, the outputs become skilled employees, motivated and committed workers, and competent managers. This output is achieved by imparting the required knowledge and skills to organizational employees.
Given the significance of human resources to an organization, employees need to constantly enhance their knowledge, skills, and attitudes in ways that contribute to professional growth and organizational progress. Through training and development, an organization ensures that its employees remain aligned with organizational goals and up to date with industry trends and market changes. In most cases, employee training and development takes the form of on-the-job training, which is training conducted at the job site (Sleight, 1993). This mode of training is widely used because of its numerous advantages and its focus on direct instruction regarding how to perform a task along with the tools and mechanisms required. In this case, the organization does not need to arrange special training sessions — it simply assigns an experienced employee to train an inexperienced colleague. However, organizations also arrange off-the-job training and specialized programs for employees. This method not only addresses the performance of specific tasks but also encompasses various dynamics that contribute to an employee's professional growth through broader skills development.
In modern human resource management, training and development comprises three major activities: training, education, and development. Training focuses specifically on the job that an employee or group of employees currently holds within the organization. Education, by contrast, is centered on jobs or skills that a person may hold in the future. Development entails activities that the organization itself may undertake in the future.
The success of training and development programs depends on effective communication among staff, supervisors, and human resource personnel (Martson, 2010). This means that an organization's employees and management need to be comfortable with one another in order to foster the effective communication that will in turn support the success of training and development initiatives.
"Benefits for employees and organizational productivity"
"Balanced evaluation of program trade-offs"
"Training as a non-monetary employee benefit"
Training and development is a concept with a long history that can be traced back to 1927, when the first corporate training programs were established. Since then, the concept has developed into an essential aspect of human resource management. Its significance stems from its contribution to organizational productivity and success, achieved through expanding employees' knowledge base and skills, which in turn translates to better individual and organizational performance.
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