Q.Distinguish between training and development.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Training focuses on improving an employee’s current job skills, while development prepares them for future roles and broader organisational growth.
Training and development are two closely related but distinct concepts in human resource management. Think of training as sharpening the tools you already have, and development as building entirely new tools for a different kind of work. Both are essential, but they serve different purposes and operate on different timelines.
Training is job-specific and short-term. Its goal is to bridge the gap between an employee’s current performance and the standard required for their present role. For example, teaching a salesperson how to use new software, or showing a factory worker the correct safety procedure for a machine — that is training. It is about immediate, measurable improvement. Training is a systematic process aimed at enhancing the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to perform a particular job effectively. It is reactive in nature — you train because there is a specific deficiency or a new requirement in the current job.
Development, on the other hand, is career-oriented and long-term. It is not about fixing a current problem but about preparing an employee for future challenges and responsibilities. Development activities include leadership programmes, mentoring, job rotation, and advanced management courses. The NCERT textbook describes development as “a continuous process” that helps an individual grow in all respects — not just in technical skills but in conceptual, human, and decision-making abilities. A junior manager might be sent to a leadership workshop not because they are failing at their current job, but because the organisation sees potential in them for a senior role five years from now.
In practice, training often has a clear, immediate outcome — like passing a test or reducing errors — while development is harder to measure because its benefits unfold over years.
The key differences can be summarised in a few points:
- Focus: Training is job-centred; development is career-centred.
- Time horizon: Training is short-term; development is long-term.
- Objective: Training aims to improve current performance; development aims to prepare for future roles. …
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