Learning and development are very important for an individual to achieve set goals. And above all how you can use it to remain competitive by continually educating yourself. Employee learning and development programs are important to businesses worldwide. Because these programs offer opportunities for staff to improve their skills, help employers to enhance employee productivity, and also improve company culture.
Most importantly, learning and development activities can help you successfully reduce errors in high-risk settings such as lecture rooms, and aviation, also in traditional organizations.
What is Learning and Development in HRM?
Learning and development is a subset of HR, and its purpose is to improve individual and group performance by improving and increasing skills. It is a way of adding value to employees that involve accessing staff for potential and then honing it, “on-boarding” new staff, and developing the skills of current employees. You can do this by using the right curriculum and methods such as coaching, individual and team training, and staff assessments.
Learning VS Development: What You Need to Know.
Learning is a self-directed, work-based process leading to increased adaptive capacity, says Sloman. In addition, this process is an ongoing, lifelong journey that is not always clearly planned or even intentional and is considered the heart of human resource development._Garavan, Heraty, and Barnicle. Development is a process that helps you enhance your potential and be more effective. Furthermore, development Involves a wide array of activities, including coaching and more formal educational commitments and experiences.
And is generally used to describe a wider scope than ‘learning’ or ‘training’—which may, in fact, be included in the concept of development (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), 2007).
Why is Learning and Development Important for Employees?
Learning and development help the employees by:
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Enhancing employee performance, and their skills and helping them get a better understanding of their work.
- Improving the company’s culture, and enhancing the organization’s reputation.
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Increasing an employee’s satisfaction as they now have access to those resources which were not available to them.
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Addressing weaknesses within a company by bridging the skills gap and reducing the weak links.
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Boosting productivity with the new-found knowledge as employees are able to do the same task without any guidance.
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Reducing turnover of staff by investing in their talent and making them feel valued.
What Are Some Examples of Learning and Development Activities?
In this paragraph, you will learn about various activities you can engage in to improve your professional growth and development:
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Skill-based training (for instance, technical and soft).
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Continuing education.
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Improving job performance.
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Increasing your duties and responsibilities.
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Participating in professional organizations.
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Professional certifications.
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Benefitting from employer-subsidized degrees.
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Engaging in job assignments.
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Doing research.
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Instructor-led training activities (for example, role-play, games, and polling).
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Elearning training activities (for example, slide-based courses, quizzes, dialogue simulations, and microlearning courses).
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Effective leadership training.
Learning & Development Activities
To gain a better understanding of how these activities can benefit you, here is a detailed article by Valamis on employee development methods.
The ADDIE Model
Human resource development professionals use the ADDIE model as a framework for determining what training needs to be created when creating a learning and development program.
Here Is What Addie Model Means:
- Analysis – HR development professionals work with subject matter experts to determine what is needed for training.
Also, as the numbers of employees to be trained, and the predicted outcome of the training.
- Design – Human resources development professionals design learning objectives, create a course content outline, and decide the best way to deliver training material.
- Development – So at this stage the course content is fully created.
HR works with stakeholders over several drafts of the content to ensure accuracy and that objectives are met.
- Implementation – This stage involves inviting learners to take courses and engage with the material.
During the learning process, you will collect the tracking data used in the next step.
- Evaluation – A combination of data including implementation data is used to determine if the course meets desired objectives.
Then if the course needs some work, there will be a repetition of the process.
The process of creating learning and development courses is cyclical and continuous. Companies are always growing, evolving, and challenged by demands in the marketplace.
Above all, you need the training to help you keep up.
How can I Improve my Skills?
Your age or grade shouldn’t hinder you from learning or developing yourself.
Every day you learn something new constantly, sometimes even without realizing it. And the knowledge you gain today may help you in the future.
But how do you develop your learning and development skills?
Here Is a List of Proven Methods to Help You:
- Firstly, take notes in a journal: This is a form of self-organization that allows you to keep a record of your tasks, achievements, problems, or thoughts.
A journal is a good way to make observations, analyze results and make changes where necessary.
- Secondly, socialization – Interacting with people is an effective way of gaining knowledge. So collective learning activities such as forums, and seminars help.
And, this helps you master new skills faster and improves your communication skills.
- Thirdly, develop your memory – Having a good memory helps you recall, and store information. For example, do you have a list of tasks to accomplish?
Create vivid images of yourself completing them and your reaction when you do
- Fourthly, do things differently – Changing your routine leads to the use of the part of the brain that aids memorization.
So next time you are heading out, try a new route, also try eating with your non-dominant hand.
- Fifthly, take care of your health – Maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating well, doing physical exercise, going out with loved ones, and relaxing.
Basically, activities that make you genuinely happy.
- Lastly, remove obstacles – Always try to avoid or remove anything that could distract you from learning.
In conclusion, equally important is a desire to achieve results because this will help you overcome any obstacles.
Getting People Right (GPR) is an educational website providing professionals from all types of businesses with practical education in human resources and leadership. To keep
evolving your leadership toolkit, additional GPR resources below will be useful:
4 Reasons why the best leaders embrace continuous learning at work.
Women in leadership are more powerful than before and here is why.
5 proven ways to improve your concentration skills.
Procrastination: Everything You Need to Know and How to Stop.
