Saturday, May 7, 2016

The Process Of Training And Development

By Peter Powell


Acquiring knowledge is a process and not an event. It occurs during our entire lifetime in two main ways: incidentally and intentionally. Incidental learning occurs with very little effort. It is the knowledge that we acquire as we attempt to solve various challenges in our lives. Intentional learning, on the other hand, is due to a deliberate effort. Training and development should take place at personal and institutional level.

Every organization should make it its responsibility to train its employees. The employees should, on their part, collaborate with the employers and make themselves available for the training. There is a need to develop personal development objectives that should be designed in a manner in which they will be in line with the aspirations of the organization.

The management can encourage growth and development in employees by providing them with the necessary resources and environment. Having a clearly defined job description is one of the steps that can be undertaken to provide such an environment. With such a job description, developing a training curriculum becomes easier. Every employee should be equipped with basic competencies that contributes to the success of the organization both in the present and in the future.

Learning opportunities can be found in day to day activities. It is important that one takes on new challenges often and avoid staying to long in their comfort zones if any form of growth is to be attained. Some supervisors will assign new duties that are not necessarily within the job description in a bid to stimulate professional growth. This is known as job expansion. A similar tact known as job rotation ensures that employees get exposure from different departments.

You need to conduct regular self-assessments so as to determine whether or not any progress is taking place. The assessment is usually centered on skills, strengths values, experiences and weaknesses. There are numerous tools that can be used for this on the internet. They may be obtained freely or at a small fee. If you are not in a position to get them, then you can conduct the same exercise by comparing yourself to persons that have similar job descriptions.

Participating in committee activities is one of the ways of gaining exposure to different areas. Committees comprise staff from different departments in an organization. They often have different ideas and approaches to solving problems which help in the professional development of individual committee members as well as the prosperity of the entire organization. All employees should be allowed to sit in these committees on a rotational basis.

Learning from a more experienced colleague is one of the most effective ways of getting knowledge and skills. This may be done through coaching or job shadowing. In job shadowing the learner follows the more experienced individual around and observes what they are doing but does not have to help with the work. A coach helps demonstrate skills and impart knowledge that is needed in discharging specific duties within the organization. They give feedback from time to time.

Another way of making progress in the work place is to go for further studies. One of the ways of achieving this is to enroll in a college or university where the training is done formally. Some of the institutions also provide their curricular online which makes the learning process very flexible. Informal training can also be done online by individuals that are considered to be experts in their industries.




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