What are the two types of training programs relate training to kinds of jobs?

Employee training and development programs are essential to the success of businesses worldwide. Not only do these programs offer opportunities for staff to improve their skills, but also for employers to enhance employee productivity and improve company culture.

They also can reduce employee turnover — and a 2020 Work Institute study shows just how important that can be for a company’s bottom line. Voluntary employee turnover, according to the report, costs U.S. businesses more than $630 billion annually.

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It’s no surprise that employees who get regular opportunities to learn, develop, and advance are more likely to stay with a company. Bob Nelson, author of 1,001 Ways to Engage Employees, reports that learning and development are among the top factors in employee engagement.

Employee development is the continuous effort to strengthen work performance through approaches like coaching, training sessions, and leadership mentoring. Training is a specific event that teaches new information or skills, often provided to new or newly promoted employees. Both are key functions of corporate human resources staff, who typically are responsible for planning and implementing these efforts. A bachelor’s degree in human resource management can help prepare you to lead training and development programs at your organization.

Training and Development Enhance Employee Performance

Employee training and development programs are critical for enhancing employee performance. In fact, a 2019 report published in The International Journal of Business and Management Research indicates that 90% of employees surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that training and development programs improved their job performance.

Companies can offer many kinds of in-person or online training and development opportunities for employees. And they can use in-house training, third-party training, or off-site activities to provide those opportunities. These are some types of training and development often available to employees:

• Management training
• Sales training
• New employee training
• Mentoring programs
• Apprenticeships

Following are some ways employee training and development efforts improve employee performance.

Training for New Responsibilities

Whether they are cross-training to understand multiple roles or moving into new positions, employees can prepare for additional responsibilities through training and development opportunities. Training and development programs can help employees learn the skills they need in their current roles and introduce leadership skills and software knowledge they will need in the future. One form of training, apprenticeship, allows employees to start as trainees and progress to a higher-level role.

Learning About Industry and Technology Updates

Employee training and development programs can help staff stay up to date on changes in their industry, such as in ethics, safety, or quality standards. They also can show staff new ways to think and work, employing updated technology and processes and educating workers about cybersecurity threats. Putting these new tools and practices to work in their day-to-day roles can lead to better outcomes for employees — and their employers.

Adapting to Remote Work

Safety precautions related to the COVID-19 pandemic moved about 80% of employees to remote work, according to research firm Brandon Hall Group. Since most of the employees previously worked on-site, companies and those working for them have grappled with finding and implementing new tools and resources to accommodate this new environment for work. Training and development focused on these new processes can aid in making this transition.

Updating New Employee Training

New employees often receive training as part of the onboarding process. But refreshers on the information they learned in that training are valuable. The lessons often are easier to digest once employees are more familiar with the organization and their own roles. Additionally, these updates provide opportunities to reinforce diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) education. Companies often mandate that employees complete annual training courses on important issues such as anti-harassment and legal compliance.

Addressing Performance Review Findings

Training and development programs can help employees build on strengths and address deficiencies identified in their performance reviews. These reviews often recommend knowledge or skills on which an employee should focus for improvement, and training and development efforts can help the employee meet that need. Training and development programs also can help employees discover areas in which they could use additional educational opportunities and support.

Developing Soft Skills

Employee training and development programs can strengthen the soft skills that are essential in adapting to changes at work and in society. Training that highlights examples of soft skills such as resilience, emotional intelligence, and agility in professional settings can create an atmosphere that fosters productivity and camaraderie.

Training and Development Boost Employee Productivity

Employee productivity is another area where the importance of training and development can be seen. Employees who take part in effective training and development programs work more efficiently. To evaluate the effectiveness of their employee development and training programs, organizations can perform these measures, according to HR Technologist:

• Measuring performance results — Evaluating work outcomes to determine levels of improvement
• Giving pre- and post-training assessments — Asking employees to share what they expect from training and development programs and whether the company’s efforts met those expectations
• Mining data — Studying data such as time spent on a course or dropout rates to glean insights about how employees are engaging with the content
• Conducting polls and tests — Polls and competitions within the training can measure employees’ knowledge and engagement

Employee productivity can be an indicator of a training’s effectiveness. Below are some examples of ways that training and development programs boost employee productivity.

Improving Task Management

Training and development programs help employees manage tasks individually or in teams, relying on a greater understanding of processes and clearly defined goals. Because employees are well-versed in the skills required for their job, they will require less time to find ways to perform tasks.

Targeting Required Skills

Providing training and development to employees allows employers to pinpoint the knowledge and skills they want their employees to have. Training and development programs can educate employees about new skills or provide updates on existing skills to enhance productivity.

Encouraging Continuous Improvement

Today’s ever-changing technologies call for upskilling on a regular basis, and training and development programs provide that opportunity. These efforts encourage innovation and a willingness to take risks to improve processes — with less need for supervision.

Instilling Confidence

Not only will employees who have participated in training and development programs be more confident in their knowledge and abilities, but so will their managers. This confidence fosters a sense of enthusiasm and accountability for work results.

Clarifying Expectations

Training and development programs can help organizations clarify for staff the expectations they have of them. This effort promotes a performance-based culture in which employees set attainable goals based on well-defined organizational principles.

Enhancing Employee Engagement

When employees know they have a supportive employer, they are more engaged and enthusiastic about performing at a high level. Providing employees with training and development opportunities shows an employer is willing to support its employees throughout their careers.

Training and Development Help with Reducing Employee Turnover

Considering the costly prospect of employee turnover, companies are seeking ways to keep employees on board. Training and development are important to reducing employee turnover.

The Work Institute study shows job characteristics such as training comprised the fastest-growing category of reasons for voluntary turnover — up 117% since 2013. And, in 2019, educational technology company Instructure released results of a survey showing that 70% of U.S. employees say they are at least somewhat likely to leave a current employer and take a new role with an employer that invests in training and development. The following are some ways that employee training and development are key in reducing employee turnover.

Committing to Employment Development and Promotion

Regularly providing impactful training and development opportunities improves employee motivation and job satisfaction, and opens up opportunities for advancement and promotion. Work Institute reports that, in 2019, 20% of employees who voluntarily left their companies did so because of a lack of career development opportunities, the most frequently cited reason for leaving.

Companies also reap benefits from providing these opportunities — saving them the $1,000 to $5,000 that Epay Systems, a human capital and workforce management company, reports it costs to hire each new employee.

Fostering a Sense of Self-Worth and Discouraging Stagnation

Opportunity is a key driver in retaining employees. With this impact in mind, the Society for Human Resource Management, “How to Reduce Employee Turnover Through Robust Retention Strategies”

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