Training & Development Policy Recommendations for U.S. Competitiveness

Introduction: Purpose and Philosophy

This paper presents a recommendation with respect to training and development policy in America. The intended audience is the Office of the President, and it represents a vision for the President's Council on Training and Development.

The President's Council on Training and Development is a new body responsible for providing guidance to American companies regarding training and development policies. Training and development is viewed as an integral part of improving America's competitiveness in the world. Our nation possesses a very high level of collective knowledge, and the role of training and development is to ensure that as much of that knowledge is distributed as widely as possible. The Training and Development Council stands in support of free-flowing knowledge throughout the economy. The more people know, the more empowered they are to improve existing processes and to develop the innovations that move companies — and the American economy as a whole — forward. The core philosophy of the Training and Development Council is therefore that companies benefit from having comprehensive, focused training and development programs, and the Council should encourage companies by providing guidance about best practices within the field.

Recommendations for Organizational Training Programs

It is recommended that companies establish Training and Development departments within their Human Resources function. These departments should be structured to meet the needs of the organization, to work within the framework of best practices, and to encourage innovation as a means of gaining competitive advantage. Studies have shown that when training is conducted internally and focused on skills and competencies important to an organization's strategic objectives, there is a strong correlation with organizational performance (Sung & Choi, 2013). The same study did not find the same correlation with funding for external training — the key to successful training and development is therefore that it must be directed toward the specific needs of the organization.

The T&D Council must provide a system that helps companies identify their training needs and design programs to address them. The first step is to define those needs, which involves two key components: job design and skills inventory. Both are essential for an organization to understand what skills it requires and what it currently has. Training serves as the bridge to close any gap between these two things. The Training and Development Council will help by synthesizing the literature into accessible booklets and short courses that provide companies with a distilled version of these foundational steps.

It is important, however, that companies are aware of the role of soft skills. It is not enough to focus solely on basic functional skills, because in today's economy it is soft skills — such as leadership, motivation, salesmanship, and communication — that confer meaningful competitive advantage. Critical thinking is a highly valuable skill that supports problem-solving and innovation, yet most training programs do not teach it. These areas are harder to develop than hard, technical skills, and as such they represent a greater source of sustainable competitive advantage for American companies.

The Importance of Soft Skills in Training

American economic success has never rested purely on technical superiority. It has been built on the way we approach challenges, collaborate, and solve problems. These are precisely the kinds of soft skills that training programs need to cultivate in order to sustain competitive advantage in the global economy.

Conclusion

The Training and Development Council will play a critical role in improving America's competitiveness going forward by providing the resources companies need to institute and strengthen their internal Training & Development programs. By making the cost-benefit case for training and development, establishing guidance around terminology and objectives, and outlining best practices and emerging technologies, the Council can help overcome the barriers that currently limit American enterprises from enhancing their training programs.