Training of Employees: Meaning, Objectives, Need and Importance!

Training is concerned with increasing the knowledge and skills of employees for doing specific jobs, and development involves the growth of employees in all aspects.

Whereas training increases job skills, development shapes attitudes of employees.

Meaning of Training:

“Training is the act of increasing the knowledge and skills of an employee for doing a particular job.” — Edwin B. Flippo

Training is an organized activity for increasing the technical skills of the employees to enable them to do particular jobs efficiently. In other words, training provides the workers with facility to gain technical knowledge and to learn new skills to do specific jobs. Training is equally important for the existing as well as the new employees. It enables the new employees to get acquainted with their jobs and also increase the job-related knowledge and skills.

Objectives of Training:

The objectives of training are as follows:

(i) To provide job related knowledge to the workers.

(ii) To impart skills among the workers systematically so that they may learn quickly.

(iii) To bring about change in the attitudes of the workers towards fellow workers, supervisor and the organization.

(iv) To improve the productivity of the workers and the organization.

(v) To reduce the number of accidents by providing safety training to the workers,

(vi) To make the workers handle materials, machines and equipment efficiently and thus to check wastage of time and resources.

(vii) To prepare workers for promotion to higher jobs by imparting them advanced skills.

Need and Importance of Training:

Why is Employees’ Training Necessary?

The need for training of employees arises due to the following factors:

(i) Higher Productivity:

It is essential to increase productivity and reduce cost of production for meeting competition in the market. Effective training can help increase productivity of workers by imparting the required skills.

(ii) Quality Improvement:

The customers have become quality conscious and their requirement keep on changing. To satisfy the customers, quality of products must be continuously improved through training of workers.

(iii) Reduction of Learning Time:

Systematic training through trained instructors is essential to reduce the training period. If the workers learn through trial and error, they will take a longer time and even may not be able to learn right methods of doing work.

(iv) Industrial Safety:

Trained workers can handle the machines safely. They also know the use of various safety devices in the factory. Thus, they are less prone to industrial accidents.

(iv) Reduction of Turnover and Absenteeism:

Training creates a feeling of confidence in the minds of the workers. It gives them a security at the workplace. As a result, labour turnover and absenteeism rates are reduced.

(vi) Technology Update:

Technology is changing at a fast pace. The workers must learn new techniques to make use of advance technology. Thus, training should be treated as a continuous process to update the employees in the new methods and procedures.

(vii) Effective Management:

Training can be used as an effective tool of planning and control. It develops skills among workers and prepares them for handling present and future jobs. It helps in reducing the costs of supervision, wastages and industrial accidents. It also helps increase productivity and quality which are the cherished goals of any modern organization.