Skill development forms the basis of learning in any organizational culture and an increasing number of organizations are paying more attention to it. The idea of skill development is to identify the skills needed and the gap present, and then with the right skill development training bridging this gap for best results and high productivity. It is true that on-job learning does wonders for employees, but when done in the right way.

What is skill development?

Whenever we talk of skill development training, it is important that we understand what is skill development? So let’s start with the basic. For a learner, skill development is an amalgamation of these 4 parameters –

1. The skills or knowledge that you acquire as a part of academic qualification
2. A skill you pursue as passion
3. Any other skill you invest in to be ready to face the challenges of future
4. Natural behavioral strengths

With the ever evolving corporate culture, the need of the hour is to have talented employees and leaders who can master any skill and become an asset for the organization. There are so many kinds of skill development training programs available, it is best that you choose one suited for your organizational needs.

Training and skill development can be initiated for a variety of different reasons like – when performance appraisal suggests improvement of skills is required, to provide training about a specific topic, as part of succession planning so that employees can become eligible for change in roles, for overall professional development, or to test the operation of new management system.

What are the benefits of skill development?

Given below are some of the most common benefits of skill development training.

1. It helps in increasing employee engagement so that employees can work towards their goals and accomplish them.
2. It creates a culture that’s backed by accountability and ownership.
3. It increases employee motivation by helping them be updated with latest trends in the industry.
4. It reduces employee turnover and increases the adaptability towards accepting new technologies and policies.
5. It transforms organizational cultures to high performing cultures.
6. It enables leaders to shape up their experiences and beliefs of the people they are leading to help them achieve their goals.
7. It helps in risk management by training employees about topics like sexual harassment, diversity training etc.
8. It helps in persistent and long term change-related problems as well.
9. It enhances company’s image and brand value by conducting targeted ethical training.
10. It increases productivity and morale of employees which leads to overall growth of the organization.

Professionals these days are always on the lookout for methodologies that can help them recede the gap between their skills and on-job requirement. There’s so much that you can learn on-job that’s never taught in B-schools or in textbooks. And when an organization encourages the culture of skill development and invests in skill development training programs for employees it automatically helps them become more engaged towards their job.

Organizations shouldn’t just focus on people who are already in leadership positions, but they should also focus on developing junior level employees as well.

Why is skill development needed?

The main reasons why skill development training is needed in organizations are –

• For employees to think beyond their job and be more dedicated towards being successful in their career. When you groom and develop employees, they start taking interest in shaping their career rather than just being in the rat race of the corporate world.
• It is so important that one experiences personal growth as well as witness the growth and success of the organization for greater motivation. Employees should always learn new skills and polish existing one to steer ahead in this competitive world.
• Skill development always leads to competitive edge. In order to rise above completion your organization and employees should have that something extra, and that can be achieved through skill development.
• Employers need to ensure that their employees are equipped and skilled enough to handle the changes of the corporate world.