Training & Development for a Competitive Advantage

     

     Often, training is viewed as optional and peripheral to core business functions. Yes, it's true that your organization may be able to survive without it, but the goal of any organization is to survive and prosper (Beach, 2006). Organizations need to continually innovate in order to carve out and maintain a competitive advantage. Financial and physical capital are tangible and usually visible to anyone who might be interested in knowing what resources your organization has. Today, businesses are concerned with leveraging human and intellectual capital to gain a competitive advantage (Noe, 2010). Training in and of itself may not be the answer, but Learning and Development as an organizational initiative can improve business outcomes. Experts agree that training is only effective when it's aligned to true business needs, so training professionals should always work collaboratively to identify them (Noe, 2010, Stolovitch & Keeps, 2004). When this happens, employee learning is strategic, new skills are transferred to the work environment, and organizational benefits are apparent in improved performance as well as time and money saved. When learning and development is a priority, the organization also makes gains by capturing and sharing knowledge so that it doesn't leave the organization when people do.      

     According to the American Society for Training & Development, U.S. organizations continue to invest in learning and development (Paradise, 2008), and rightly so. A recent study by the same organization involved 500 publicly traded companies. Of those, the companies investing the most in training and development realized a shareholder return that was 46 percent higher than the market average (Noe, 2011).  Table 1 includes some interesting facts and figures on the status of the training industry today (Kranz, 2008; Noe, 2011; Paradise, 2008). Is your organization committed to learning and development?



Table 1



References

Beach, R.B. (2006). Leadership and the art of change: A practical guide to organizational transformation,     Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications

Kranz, G. (2008) E-learning hits its stride. Workforce Management Online.  Retrieved June 28, 2012, from http://static-71-166-250-129.washdc.east.verizon.net/eLibrary/ARCHIVES/GENERAL/GENREF/W080200K.pdf

Noe, R. A. (2010). Employee training and development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill
 
Paradise, A. (2008). State of the Industry Report.  Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and Development

Stolovitch, H. D., & Keeps, E. J. (2004). Training ain’t performance. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press

Hi everyone!  If you’re new to my blog, it’s a discussion space where I share information on topics germane to the Human Performance Technology and Instructional Design fields. By the way, I’m closing in on a master’s degree in this area.   I’ve taken a break from posting for a while, but I’m excited about getting back to it.  For the next eight weeks, I’ll be focusing on Workplace Training & Development topics like:  

• Planning for Needs Assessments
• Evaluation Design
• Tools for Trainers

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