Training and development is a term typically related to employment. Employees would receive on-the-job or off-site training to develop new job skills. The term could also apply to education designed to get a person ready for a specific career.
The most important thing about career training and development is growth. This provides a setting and opportunity to work with experts in specific skillsets to help augment your current knowledge. It helps to inspire and motivate you and gives you a boost of confidence with the newly acquired knowledge. It is like adding fertilizer to your plants. They do fine without it but become something even stronger and greater when applied.
There’s no better way to figure out what will help people the most than to just straight up ask them. Surveys, interviews, emails, whatever tool works best – as long as people are getting helped! I asked a few of my visitors, test takers, and researchers to share their thoughts to help me better understand how people work. I’m sharing it with you in hopes you’d get something out of it, too. I’m also trying to bring their words to you with as little filtering as possible, so please bear with the awesome level of personal-tough this article has.
Now’s the time to focus on your professional development, your career growth, and the overall future of all things job related.
Today’s Focus: Training And Development
‘R’ = Richard N. Stephenson (me!)
‘I’ = Interviewee (anonymous by request unless otherwise noted)
R: How would the average person out there benefit from this topic?
I: By learning and using this topic, you are able to find better ways in which to implement it. Also by learning more, you can direct your training and development in a more efficient and productive way. By doing this, the overall quality and benefit of the time put into the training would increase exponentially.
R: This is very interesting stuff here and I think it could help people. What do you feel is the most life-altering thing about the topic?
I: This can change someone’s life for the better because it can teach them new skills which could lead to a better job. This would in turn lead to a better quality of life and also a new outlook on life in general. I believe it is important to continue learning because overall, it will make you a better person and give you a better quality of life.
R: Share some of your inner feelings on just how useful this topic is for making people want to be better.
I: Knowing proper protocol for training new hires is essential to the workplace. Often, employees will take on new responsibilities and it is crucial that more experienced employees can guide them through the process. By ensuring a comfortable working environment for new employees and those training for new positions, morale around the workplace increases.
R: At the end of the day, who would you pick to be the best at doing what matters most regarding this topic?
I: A personal trainer would be great at this topic. They are in charge of helping people develop physically in a healthy way. This topic has everything to do with who they are and what they do.
R: Provide us with an example of what kind of person is better of never talking about this subject ever again.
I: The type of person would be someone with no direction or motivation. Someone young may fit this category but not always. Someone who needs training themselves would not understand how to train as well as someone who has seen it in progress or experienced it. Maturity plays a huge role, as well.
R: Think of your daily routine and then tell us how this topic fits into the overall scheme of things?
I: They should get started by enrolling in classes that were offered by the company. Then they should continue to go to the classes as well as try and learn outside of class. If they are interested, they’ll want to continue.
R: Can you let us know when you think a good time to pay attention to this subject is?
I: I think a good time to bring this up would be when an individual is on an upward swing in their life. Often after personal accomplishment, or even introspection, an individual would be more receptive to ideas of bettering theirs own person. The idea of a return on personal investment would be fresh and desirous in their mind.
R: When do you think folks should absolutely NOT work on this topic?
I: When made aware that a person has suffered severe loss in any capacity, such decisions about training and development should be moved to the back burner. An insensitive co-worker can trigger an undesirable emotional response from someone. Training and development shall resume once that person has come back to work from their leave of absence.
R: In a few short sentences, tell us where people could get some good use out of this topic.
I: Training and development is best when someone is trying to learn a new skill. This would be used when someone is training for a job. With training and development, people learn and understand more.
R: Where is this subject considered inappropriate for practice or use, in your opinion?
I: A situation in which the individuals receiving the training and development were detached from the overall direction of the company. It is hard to motivate people to focus on a goal, when the only true purpose they have is to maintain an even keel with no real hope of advancement. An environment that does not support those it wishes to train will not find people very receptive to its suggestions.
R: Do you know of any people, organizations, or groups that could benefit from learning more about this topic?
I: One type of person would be someone who is brand new to an organization and completely unfamiliar with how that organization operates. For example, there was a time when I went through a major career change, switching from radio announcing to working for the county as a clerk. This was a brand new situation for me. The training I received is something I still remember. On my first or second day of work, I went through an orientation process which made me feel comfortable. Rather than rush me into something I wasn’t really ready for, I was shown a bit of how things worked. This helped put my mind at ease which in turn helped me become a good employee.
R: How would you recommend people get started on this topic?
I: If you are not taking training and development (ie continuing education) you can find your information outdated. You sometimes get into a routine and fail to progress. Being in a training setting can get you fired up about something new or give you a fresh perspective. It can also introduce cutting edge ideas and technologies as well.
R: Please, let us know what you think is the biggest problem related to this topic?
I: If you are trying to train and develop, one should avoid soon the opposite. Do not set yourself up by putting yourself in an environment that makes you unproductive. If you want to train and develop, you cannot sit around and be lazy. You will get nowhere.
R: Give us an example of something we can do today to get more up to speed on this topic.
I: People can use the simple step of preparation to better use or understand training and development. If you prepare to train, than you will be better trained. Also, if you use real life scenarios in training, they will be better trained.
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Did you find at least one or two golden nuggets of useful information in there? I hope so – I know I love reading these and seeing how I can apply this wisdom to my life. Make it your goal today to take at least 1 thing away from this post and try to live your life more focused from now on.
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