It is the process of enhancing the skills, capabilities and knowledge of employees for doing a particular or their job more effectively & efficiently. Training process moulds the thinking of employees and leads to quality performance of employees. It is continuous and never ending in nature but many organizations tend to get busy in fire fighting situations and this important aspect gets neglected.
Learning is like rowing against the stream….as soon as you stop, you drift back.
Investment in knowledge bears the highest interest.
Training can be
1. Subject related: serves to closing gaps
2. Process related: serves to address new systems/ concepts
Importance of training
Training is fruitful for both, organization & employees. It boosts the morale of the employees. It helps to increase productivity with less supervision. An employee will become more productive if trained well.
1. Training is given to new employees who join to make them aware about the organization & its policies.
2. It can be given to existing employees to refresh & enhance their kwowledge so that they feel motivated & are updated with current knowledge.
3. It can be given to cope up with the changes that happen by introduction of new systems/ concepts within organization
4. And last but not the least it can be given when an employee is promoted or given a new role
But if you see the trend most of the organization see training as an additional burden or cost to the company. The common excuses that we see are “We are too busy to learn something new right now” or “We don’t have the budget”. Another reason that you might come across is past experience. Just because the past training was done poorly the future training needs are neglected or not taken seriously. However not training employees comes at a cost too (which are unseen):
1. Untrained employees = Unhappy employees
2. Untrained employees = Lower productivity
3. Untrained employees = Inefficient employees
4. Untrained employees = Lost time/ money due to mistakes
5. And many more…….
The costs that do not come in the form of line item are often unseen and ignored but please note such costs are higher than training costs.
Training can often help to improve production or services, cut down the time to produce goods or deliver service, reduce costs, mistakes, build confidence and create a better working environment. If it’s done well, the payoff can be substantial in terms of long-term loyalty. If it’s not, the costs can be substantial in terms of long-term talent.
