Human Resorce Menagement

            A Comparison of Training and Development Programs.
             In today's workforce, training and development systems or programs have become critical features. These systems often have diverse goals. Perhaps, the primary objective is to provide a new employee with the skills necessary to adequately perform his or her job. Even college graduates must generally be taught the specific tasks that will be required in the individual organization. Development issues are also prominent during the course of an employee's tenure with a company. When new technologies become available the employees must receive training in order to learn additional skills. Given the numerous legal rules by which employees must conduct themselves, training and development in such issues as discrimination and appropriate conduct between the two sexes may prevent expensive lawsuits. Additionally, by training workers to be culturally sensitive, they become better suited to global commerce (Stumpf, Watson, & Rustogi, 1994). Appropriate methods of maintaining safety also becomes vital material in training and development systems in occupational workstations that are potentially hazard. Thus, whether training and development consist of a department or an individual, most organizations will determine such a need existing in their company. Unfortunately, some companies often feel the need to cut back on training programs even though the long-term impact may be disastrous ("Feeling Frugal,?2002). The purpose of this paper is to examine selected training and development programs in various companies, noting positive and negative features. Training and development systems do not always involve the employees of an organization. It may also include the training of vendors or customers. Nowhere is this more clearly necessary then in organizations that sell complicated or technical products. While many items may be purchased with instructional manuals or instructional sheets, other products require more assistance.