Role of Training in Organizational Development

The most important asset in any company is the people who make up the various departments within the company. Each member of the organization must fully understand their role and be ready to do their job to the best of their ability if the company is to thrive and expand. For employees to reach the level of expertise needed to reach these expectations they must be properly trained by the organization. In the following paper the role of training within an organization will be explained including the relationship between employee and organizational development and how the human resources department factors into the training process.

Role of Training in Organizational Development

For many people their first memory of their job is when they started their training. Before an employee can be set free at the tasks they were hired to do they must first be trained on what those tasks will be, how the specific organization would like them accomplished, and what resources are available to them to accomplish those tasks.

Once the initial training of the new employee has been completed it is important that the employee still be developed in order for the organization to evolve. While the role of traditional training is effective when trying to teach someone about their job, the role training in organizational development is quite different. Traditional training is the transfer of knowledge about a task or job to a person about a job they are expected to perform in the present. Development is centered more around the future impact of the employee on the organization (Condrey p. 216, 2005). The role in training in organizational development must center on teaching skills to employees that will need in the future rather than skills that they need to complete their current job. For example, an organization looking to put someone in a supervisory role might invest in training for the individual that centers on people management and development.

Methods of Employee Development

Identifying the need for organizational development is just the first step in having a progressive organization. The next step is to decide which method of employee development makes the most since for the organization and then implementing it with the company.

Many companies find that rotation of job responsibilities is a great way to develop their employees. Job rotation has employees moving from one job to the next in order for them to learn more positions (Condrey, p, 212, 2005). This makes the employee more valuable to the company because of their expanded skills, but also can rob employees of the time needed to become an expert at a particular job.

A second method of employee development is using an employee in an assistant capacity. This method takes employees who show an aptitude for a particular job and has them work with a person who already performs those