Importance of Human Resource Training and Development:

John Thomas Howe quotes, “In today's marketplace, a well-trained workforce is no longer a competitive advantage, it's a competitive necessity.”


Training refers to a planned effort by an organization to make possible the learning of job-related behaviour. The term behaviour is used broadly to include any knowledge and skill acquired by an employee through practice. When management wants to prepare employees for future job responsibilities, this activity is called human resource development. Training prepares people to do their present job. Development prepares them for future jobs.

New employees seldom perform satisfactorily. They must be trained in the duties they are expected to perform. Even experienced employees may need training to reduce poor work habits or to learn new skills that improve their performance. Although training seeks to help employees do their present job, the benefits of training may extend throughout a person's entire career and help develop that person for future responsibilities.

New employees need to know what is expected of them and what their responsibilities are, and they have to be trained properly to carry out these responsibilities effectively. A concerned employer will provide a career path for each employee and will provide the opportunities to develop all employees to their fullest potential. Also, employees need feedback on their performance to experience job satisfaction or to find out where they can improve.

Bill Black, Maritime's past president and CEO, made it very clear what he thought of training and development:

Training and development is a crucial part of our company's strategic plan. If we want to reach our company objectives of customer satisfaction, growth, and quality we have to make sure that our human resource system provides us with the effective managers and motivated employees to reach these goals. We can do this by making better hiring decisions, improving skills, developing leadership, and fairly rewarding superior performance. Training and development is a good investment and for us it pays off in the form of satisfied customers and happy employees. I also believe strongly that the second outcome really causes the first. And happy customers mean higher profits.

“If employees are properly selected, there should be no need for an orientation program or training.” Do you agree or disagree? Why?