The success and failure of an organization depend on its employees, truly making them the brand ambassadors for an organization. It is rightly said that employees can either make or break a brand. Employees ought to be treated with utmost respect by the management to expect the best out of them and for the employees to develop a sense of attachment towards the organization. You just can’t afford to ignore an individual who is directly responsible for accomplishing the goals and objectives of your organization.

Trainings and employee development activities play a crucial role in developing employees and preparing them for adverse situations and unforeseen circumstances. Trainings are essential both for the professional as well as personal growth of employees.

New skills and learnings acquired by an employee through trainings would not only help him/her in his present job but also for all his future assignments.

Senior management really needs to highlight the importance of employee development activities for employees to take trainings seriously and gain from the same, eventually yielding higher profits and benefitting their organization. Trainings should not be conducted just for the sake of it. Employees should not attend trainings simply to mark their attendance or just because their bosses have asked them to do so. It is really essential to upgrade your skills and knowledge to stand apart from the rest. Remember, one needs to grow with time.

Human resource professionals need to encourage growth and career development of employees by organizing relevant training programs, seminars, sessions, meetings, performance appraisals, regular feedbacks and so on. Performance monitoring is imperative, if you really want your employees to do well.

You really need to know what your employees are upto? Team managers must sit with their teams at the end of every week to find out in which all areas they are lacking and what all new skills would help them improve their performance. Employees must enhance their skills and upgrade their existing knowledge to adjust easily in the rapidly changing workplace. Find out what is new in the market and what all skills you still need to acquire?

Remember, you are your best critic. Do not feel embarrassed if you do not know something. Walk up to your reporting officer or your human resource manager and do discuss the need for trainings. An employee can also register for various online or distance learning courses, something which would help him in his professional career.

Managers or human resource professionals must take initiatives to assess the skills and knowledge of employees and design relevant training programs in line with their interest areas, needs and requirements. The training programs ought to be meaningful and must add value to the employees. No two employees are same. You can’t have similar training programs for every employee. First identify the training need of an individual. Employees with similar training needs can be put in one group.

Employee development activities or training programs in organization generally fall under following categories:

• Management Development
• Soft skills development
• Technical Skills Development (Department wise training)
• Personal Effectiveness
• Basic Skill Development
• Time Management
• Effective leadership, and so on

Trainings and employee development activities help employees to identify their weaknesses, strengths, needs by encouraging two way communication among employees. Employees should have the liberty to express their views, opinions, needs and problems for employers to suggest appropriate solutions and act accordingly.

Trainings help in the continuous acquisition of new skills and learnings. Trainings and employee development activities play an important role in helping the employees to refine their skills and knowledge and acquire job mastery. They indeed help employees to think beyond their routine work and defined key responsibility areas.