Workplace Training Initiatives

Reasons for Training

There are many reasons to implement training within an organization. If an organization demonstrates a need for performance improvement in one or more areas, training initiatives can help define goals and motivate employees to improve. Training initiatives assist with the development of performance programs and with professional development as part of organizational goals and objectives. Training initiatives are necessary for any organization that is committed to quality or continuous improvement initiatives.

Goals of Training

Training initiatives typically focus on several key areas of performance. These include improving communications, diversity, enhancing computer skills, enabling more comprehensive customer service in the global market place and improving corporate safety. Other goals of training might include reducing stress within the organization and improving other quality initiatives, which might include quality control and continuous improvement. Training initiatives as a whole might work toward enhancing multiculturalism, which can have rippling effects, including reducing sexual harassment or mitigating other human relations issues within the organization.

Benefits of Training

According to William Rothwell in his book, “The Workplace Learner,” training initiatives within an organization can help workers more productively use resources by teaching them to better allocate time, money, staff, and material. Training initiatives can also help build interpersonal skills, and enable employee’s to acquire and organize the data they later use for negotiations and to process information. Other benefits might include improved job satisfaction, morale, and improved retention rates among employees. Companies that routinely train their employees are more likely to attract high-end candidates, particularly if the organization has a reputation in the industry for innovation.

Information Processing

Training initiatives inspire information processing at the most basic level within an organization, allowing employees to develop over time. As employees develop in various areas, information slowly processes and becomes part of a new paradigm that employees incorporate into their day-to-day work processes. This results in more efficient workflow, which might impact financial gain for the company. The side effects of improved information processing from training initiatives can include positive personality adaptations, a demonstrated interest in advancement and commitment among employees, as well as consistent positive behavior and cooperative values. By making different types of training available to employees, such as on-the-job training, mentoring, web-based training and the use of video training or classroom training, information processing can occur at a steady rate within the organization.