Training vs. Development: What's the Difference?

Introduction 

As much as training and development use common techniques, the two activities do not have the same meaning, since the former provides the preparation that an individual needs to perform specific tasks, while the latter provides the trainee with a broad vision, preparing them for more challenges and enhancing their professional perspective in the medium and long-term. It is possible to affirm that training is oriented to the present, focuses on the current position that the individual occupies and seeks to improve their abilities and competencies that have a direct relationship with the tasks that they perform. On the contrary, development has a specific focus on the positions that will be occupied in the future along with the new skills and competencies that may be required. 

Overview: Employee Training vs. Employee Development 

An example of employee training is compliance and legal training while an example of employee development is succession planning. Regarding the former, companies must bear in mind that the implementing a program of effective compliance can place it in a more favorable position if it is recognized guilty of violating the competition. Indeed, the position concerning the regulation of out-of-court disputes, immunity, and recommendations for sentencing can be favorably influenced by the fact the existence of an effective program of corporate compliance (Mandhanya, 2015). Of course, such a program is primarily aimed at preventing the occurrence of anti-competitive acts. 

The focus of legal training is on corporate legal risk prevention. The operation of the enterprise always faces the threat of various legal risks especially if the entrepreneur does not pay attention to and guard against them. If it is allowed to breed and develop, once it encounters an external cause, it may lead to the occurrence of a legal crisis. Mandhanya (2015) affirms that “legal training is necessary for employees as a proactive defense against the pervasive legal risks in the contemporary business world.” 

Principles and codes of ethics are seldom sufficient in themselves. They must be accompanied by dissemination actions, promoting the development of corporate culture through a consistent strategy. It is in this context that the training of employees, through communication and training, is a strategic tool for prevention and guidance so that professionals act in an ethical manner and by the laws and standards of the company. The objective is to deepen the employees' knowledge of legal requirements and responsibilities, as well as corporate guidelines, enabling them to identify, prevent, treat and communicate situations of risk or with signs of irregularities (Mone & London, 2018). In the context of succession planning, many organizations feel they are at risk in the current economic climate because they cannot assess the future of the economy more accurately. But a certainty exists: within the company, it is possible to guarantee improvements and develop its most strategic capital - human capital. This becomes even more concrete when succession plans are taken into account. 

Developing a succession plan is essential for employees to position themselves and to understand their professional purpose better. Empowering a succession plan is crucial for the organization to take an attractive position for its talents. It is very common to outsource when an employee is leaves. However, outsourcing can be very expensive. “In the long-term outsourcing limits profitability since it increases the operational costs of the organization” (Mone & London, 2018). These new employees need a period of adaptation because they are often not aligned with the culture of the organization. In this way, internal contracting may be the best way to reduce this adjustment period, minimizing the impact of the change and maintaining the motivation of employees to raise higher flights within the organization.

Analysis: Training - Benefits to the Employee 

Benefits of compliance and legal training program to the employee include: It raises the awareness of employees to requirements of the organizational policies and thus recognize legal acts; enables the employee to detect the potential of an illegal act and; reduces the risk of the civil or criminal liability the employee. 

Analysis: Training - Benefits to the Organization 

The advantages of compliance and legal training to the organization are: It reduces the costs of litigation, fines, negative publicity as well then the disruption of activities due to investigations and court proceedings or hearings; makes the workforce aware of their actions and increases the chances of settling a situation through legal recourse and; helps the company in its relations with competitors, particularly in detecting violations of the law early enough and so allow the company to file for criminal immunity (Armstrong & Landers, 2018). 

Analysis: Employee Development - Benefits to the Employee 

The benefits of succession planning to the employee include: It improves the participation of the employee and therefore; increases the employee’s ability to attain organizational objectives; enhances the level of confidence for the employee and; develops the employee’s work output or efficiency. 

Analysis: Employee Development - Benefits to the Organization 

The advantages of employee development to the organization are: It creates a pool of qualified candidates ready to fill key positions and sectors; promotes better knowledge of employees by managers; boosts progress toward the achievement of employment equity; helps retain organizational knowledge; increases the diversity of the workforce and; enhances employee engagement (Ford, 2014). 

Summary 

The combined function of employee training and development in organizations is to meet the needs and demands of the market by aiming to improve the individual skills and competencies of employees. Through the analysis of compliance and legal training as well as succession planning, we can see that it has become necessary to develop a more effective instructional design with the accompaniment of human resource specialists, training managers and instructors capable of creating motivation systems in which individuals could learn what is needed during their participation in the programs. Therefore, employee training and development cease to be single-focus activities in creating learning conditions in diverse environments. 

References  

Armstrong, M., & Landers, R. (2018). Gamification of employee training and development.  International Journal of Training and Development ,  22 (2), 162-169. doi: 10.1111/ijtd.12124 

Ford, J. K. (Ed.). (2014).  Improving training effectiveness in work organizations . Psychology Press. 

Mandhanya, Y. (2015). Training and Development Strategies: Motivational Tool for Increasing Employee Retention.  Training & Development Journal ,  6 (1), 15. doi: 10.5958/2231-069x.2015.00002.5 

Mone, E. M., & London, M. (2018).  Employee engagement through effective performance management: A practical guide for managers . Routledge.