When an individual seeks additional training and education to improve her or his ability to find work this is called?

Human Resource Development is the framework for helping employees develop their skills, knowledge, and abilities, which in turn improves an organization's effectiveness.

Find out what types of activities are part of human resource development and the benefits they can have for an organization.

Human resource development helps organizations develop their workforce through employee training and career development which improves organizational effectiveness and performance.

Human resource development may include many different opportunities, activities, and employee benefits, such as:

The focus of all aspects of Human Resource Development is on developing a superior workforce so that the organization and its individual employees can accomplish their work goals in service to customers.

Organizations have many opportunities for human resource development, both within and outside of the workplace. Human resource development can be formal or informal, and it can begin as soon as you onboard new employees.

Informal learning could include:

• Coaching by managers
• Mentoring by more experienced employees
• Collaborating with highly trained colleagues

Formal development might include:

• In-classroom training
• College courses
• Planned organizational change
• Internal training provided by staff or a paid consultant or facilitator

Healthy organizations understand the power of human resource development and cover all of these bases.

To illustrate how human resource development can work, imagine a new sales rep has been hired by your company. They receive formal training by staff as part of the onboarding process, and regular informal coaching by managers as they learn the ropes.

As they continue their career with you, more opportunities arise for formal internal training, which is then implemented on a regular schedule. Perhaps you assign this new employee a mentor who can help them navigate any difficulties and even work to identify their special strengths; this enables the employee to be directed toward a path of advancement tailored to their unique abilities and desires.

Finally, as the employee gains more experience, knowledge, and training, they may be tapped for a leadership role, which could then involve more specialized management training.

During this time, the employee, with help from the organization's focus on human resource development, has improved their effectiveness and productivity, boosting your company's bottom line and overall success.

By providing internal management training, you help develop your employees' strengths as well as their ability to contribute to your organization.

Management training might include internally supplied, customized management development sessions. You can also provide internal management development through book clubs at work, challenging work assignments, and coaching from the manager's boss. Other options include classes, internal work assignments, field trips, and self-study. Many options for management training can be identified through the performance management planning process.

One way to offer developmental sessions is to have a facilitator or presenter meet with employees in a group once a week for a two-hour training session. These sessions can recur for several years, although you will want to limit their frequency over time.

The key to successful training sessions is that all the different elements—the time together, the discussion, the training topics, the new information, the shared reading—both educate and build the team.

With a facilitator who is attuned to the language and culture of your organization, these training sessions provide an effective approach to employee development.

Additionally, the learning comes in bites small enough that participants are not overwhelmed with information and have an opportunity to practice what they have learned. They also have the chance to discuss the lessons they applied in the workplace and what worked for them during the next training session.

Applied effectively, human resource development is a key way to attract and retain talent to your organization.

Ongoing learning is one of the opportunities that employees seek when they consider an employer. Providing the ability and encouragement for employees to continue to develop their skills will help retain and motivate staff. When employees feel they have received proper training and support, they're more likely to remain loyal to the organization and experience higher job satisfaction.

Human resource development also provides the means to identify and prepare employees for advancement, so that your company's leadership is experienced and well trained.

Lastly, a highly trained workforce performs better, and when employees excel, the business performs well. As such, human resource development also ensures the improved effectiveness of an organization, helping it to achieve its goals.

• Human resource development is the training and development of a company's workforce.
• Human resource development may be conducted formally, through training and education, or informally, through mentorship and coaching.
• Human resource development is important for cultivating an engaged and motivated workforce and leads to superior business results.

Training isn’t just important to any company, it is vital.

Although there are many categories of training such as management training and or sales training, employees with Project Management skills are an important asset to any organisation.

But what does training and development,  mean to your organisation?

Training presents a prime opportunity to expand the knowledge base of all employees, but many employers in the current climate find development opportunities expensive. Employees attending training sessions also miss out on work time which may delay the completion of projects. However despite these potential drawbacks, training and development provides both the individual and organisations as a whole with benefits that make the cost and time a worthwhile investment. The return on investment from training and development of employees is really a no brainer.

So what are the benefits?

Improved employee performance – the employee who receives the necessary training is more able to perform in their job. The training will give the employee a greater understanding of their responsibilities within their role, and in turn build their confidence. This confidence will enhance their overall performance and this can only benefit the company. Employees who are competent and on top of changing industry standards help your company hold a position as a leader and strong competitor within the industry.

Improved employee satisfaction and morale – the investment in training that a company makes shows employees that they are valued. The training creates a supportive workplace. Employees may gain access to training they wouldn’t have otherwise known about or sought out themselves. Employees who feel appreciated and challenged through training opportunities may feel more satisfaction toward their jobs.

Addressing weaknesses – Most employees will have some weaknesses in their workplace skills. A training program allows you to strengthen those skills that each employee needs to improve. A development program brings all employees to a higher level so they all have similar skills and knowledge. This helps reduce any weak links within the company who rely heavily on others to complete basic work tasks. Providing the necessary training creates an overall knowledgeable staff with employees who can take over for one another as needed, work on teams or work independently without constant help and supervision from others.

Consistency – A robust training and development program ensures that employees have a consistent experience and background knowledge. The consistency is particularly relevant for the company’s basic policies and procedures. All employees need to be aware of the expectations and procedures within the company. Increased efficiencies in processes results in financial gain for the company.

Increased employee engagement – Boredom is a productivity and morale killer. Employees who are not challenged by their role can develop feelings of dissatisfaction and negativity towards the company. By offering regular employee development and training programs the staff will feel challenged and valued resulting in stronger company loyalty and increased productivity.

Increased productivity and adherence to quality standards – Productivity usually increases when a company implements training courses. Increased efficiency in processes will ensure project success which in turn will improve the company turnover and potential market share.

Increased innovation in new strategies and products – Ongoing training and upskilling of the workforce can encourage creativity. New ideas can be formed as a direct result of training and development.

Reduced employee turnover – staff are more likely to feel valued if they are invested in and therefore, less likely to change employers. Training and development is seen as an additional company benefit. Recruitment costs therefore go down due to staff retention.

Creating future leaders – Offering training and courses to your staff means they can nurture their natural abilities and curate their career progression in the organisation. By helping your staff to upskill in areas that will help the business you’ll be able to create staff who can fill the roles you need filling rather than outsourcing or recruiting.  

Increase in Profit- According to a Gallup study, companies that engaged in employee development reported a sales increase and profit doubling compared with those who did not offer any employee development. Offering employee development and training at your organisation is an investment that pays off.  

Enhances company reputation and profile – Having a strong and successful training strategy helps to develop your employer brand and make your company a prime consideration for graduates and mid-career changes. Training also makes a company more attractive to potential new recruits who seek to improve their skills and the opportunities associated with those new skills.
Training can be of any kind relevant to the work or responsibilities of the individual, and can be delivered by any appropriate method.

For example, it could include:

• On-the-job learning
• Mentoring schemes
• In-house training
• Individual study

Blended learning is becoming more and more popular and as a company we have seen a definite increase in this method of training over the last year. Blended Learning is the effective combination of online learning and classroom learning. Many of 20|20’s clients prefer their staff to learn on-site rather than attend off-site training programmes – especially in industries like oil and gas where it is often very impractical to attend off-site courses. On-site learning programmes like the blended learning approach, allow 20|20 to train more people working across a larger international footprint than just the UK. This makes it much more cost-effective and allows for greater process consistency.

The importance of training your employees – both new and experienced – really cannot be overemphasized.

First published on 2020 Project Management and edited for Asset College 12/3/21.