The importance and impact of Training and Development of employees Essay

The importance and impact of Training and Development of employees - Essay Example Training and development do not come cheap, but in a competitive commercial environment a failure to realize the human potential within an organization can be very costly (HR Magazine). Training and development are not only the responsibility of the organization, but also of the individual employees. Given that training and development require an investment by both the individual and the organization, an investment that can be measured in both financial and time terms, it is important that both partners receive value for money. It is also important to note that training and development do not occur in an organizational vacuum – they should be linked to the overall goals and strategies of the organization and to the life goals and strategies of the individual (Aguinis and Kraiger 452).In this paper, I will endeavor to define what organizations, specifically the Human Resource Department, mean by training and development, and how these processes impact the organizations’ performance and success. Towards the end of this research stories of three recognized international companies that have shown success and growth through recognizing the importance of investing in training and development will be discussed.In order to understand how training and development benefit an organization’s performance and success, concepts relating to training and development need to be discussed first. ... Defining Training and Development: In order to understand how training and development benefit an organization’s performance and success, concepts relating to training and development need to be discussed first. These concepts that will be covered in this section of the paper are: learning, training, development, education, coaching, and mentoring. Learning Learning is the process by which behavior and attitudes are changed. One of the major debates in child development and education has been on the question of how much behavior is innate and how much is learnt – the ‘‘nature or nurture’’ debate. A psychological definition of learning is â€Å"any change in the general activity of an organism the effects of which persist and recur over a period of time and which are strengthened by repetition and practice† (Thomson 215). Although this is quite an old definition, it covers the major points about learning very comprehensively – the fact that learning persists and recurs and that it is strengthened by repetition and practice. Indeed, if the new behavior does not persist then it is generally accepted that learning has not occurred. Training Training is very specific and is concerned with the mastering of a particular task or set of tasks. At its most basic, training does not require understanding of the whys and wherefores. It is fairly easy to train a pigeon to select a particular shape from a collection of shapes or a Seeing Eye dog to guide a human being around obstacles or to sniff out drugs and explosives. The training process with animals involves rewards and punishments – a food treat as reward and a harsh word