Organizational settings have become very complex today than they were in the past (Noe, 42). In the past, job performance was affected by fewer changes such as technological advancement than it is today. For this reason, training and development of employees is crucial in preparing employees to adapt to the various changes and improve their performance as well as their organizations’ capabilities. Both training and development involve the learning process, but differ in some aspects. Training involves learning new skills, behaviors and attitudes towards work and others that are prompted by changes in the work environment. Training aims at improving the abilities of the employee in his/her immediate job through learning new skills behaviors and processes. On the other hand, employee development involves learning where there is a shift of focus from specifics to a holistic approach to the organizational processes. While training focuses on the current job and its improvement, development focuses of the future job and responsibilities of an employee in an organization.
Between training and development, training has the ability to solve short-term problems compared to development. This ability emanates from the different focuses of the two processes. Training, as mentioned earlier focuses on the current job performance and its improvement while development takes a futuristic approach. Training explores the current needs of the organization in terms of skills and knowledge compared to those possessed by the employees. The difference between the required skills and knowledge and those currently existing warrants the need for training. Since short-term problems occur in the daily routine procedures, training is the best suited approach in solving them.
In comparing training and development, development would require a long-term approach compared to training. There are obvious reasons for this, one of them being the purpose for which development is done. Development aims at improving the capacity of the employees and the capabilities of an organization to perform better in the future. Development, therefore, means a shift of focus from the technicalities of work procedures to a systems approach to an organization. In development, an employee is expected to perceive the organization as a whole system made up of inter-related parts that work to ensure goal congruence. Secondly, development involves a shift of focus which involves more responsibilities and advanced freedom to use discretion in decision making. This shift means that the knowledge learnt by the employee over time about the specifics of job performance needs to be integrated to the systems thinking. The integration and synchronization of information requires more time compared to the gaining of new knowledge that occurs during training. Therefore, development requires a more long-term approach compared to training.
Succession issues in an organization involve allocation of more responsibilities and a wider focus for an employee. Any problems related to succession in an organization would involve employee development more than training. Development would better suited in solving such issues because it insists on the importance of understanding the organization as a whole and knowing that a change in one department affects all the other departments and consequently, the whole organization. Succession planning involves identifying the employee with the requisite knowledge and skills to become a manager. A manger should have contextual skills that enable a holistic approach to situations. These skills are learnt during employee development where an employee shifts focus from specific job details to a wider and integrated approach. Therefore, development is well suited in addressing succession issues among managers.
Work Cited
Noe, A. Raymond. Employee training and development. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. 2002. Print.
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