Professional growth opportunities are one of the top non-financial motivators for employees. Employees have a desire to learn. Training and development are both processes of growing employees. Both training and development are critical for employees and although the two are often grouped together, they not the same thing. What is the difference between training and development? Training is the program by which the organization develops the knowledge and skills in the new employee to perform the specific job for which they are hired. On the other hand, Development is the educational enhancement process in which through mentoring and professional development employee leadership qualities are enhanced. Here are some key distinctions between training and development:A group of people will go through training. The training will be related to the specific job. The information is relevant to a number of individuals. An instructor trains the multiple individuals. Development is concentrated on one individual. It prepares the individual with specific knowledge related to them for their overall growth. It’s more self-assessed and hence the employee is responsible for their own development. Training is dedicated to prepare an individual for a job. A job is something that an individual does in the short term. A career is a long-term pursuit of a lifelong ambition. Job preparation has a limited scope because it centralizes on a job. Development focuses on career and preparing individuals to grow in their pursuits. People in a career are more driven to have higher retention rates for companies. Development has a larger scope of information. Training is focused on the need of today. The new hire is learning how to gain the knowledge to meet the need of the job he is hired for. It is for a set time period. Development is a continuous process leading to the results for tomorrow. The individual is expanding on the knowledge. Employees will be encouraged to learn long-term growth concepts that aim at future needs rather than present problems. The objective of training is to improve the work performance of the hire. The focus is on the present and short-term mindset. The objective of development is to prepare employees for future challenges. Development has a mindset of long-term. Even though training and development in hrm differ, it is important to see the two as a partnership. Both are value driven. Training provides the skills; development capitalizes the skills. We have created both a customizable training plan and employee development templates for you to design to meet the specific needs of your organization. Image source: Giphy