Promoting training and development is one of the crucial parts of implementing proper talent management in the workplace. By insisting on continuous development and encouraging employees to train and acquire new skills, an HR manager will create a team of competent and reliable staff members with the propensity to self-directed learning (Noe et al., 2019). As a result, employees will be able to adjust to rapid changes that a global company is likely to undergo, as well as deliver the best performance possible (Noe et al., 2019). However, the process of shaping staff members’ attitudes toward the idea of continuous e-learning and bolstering their enthusiasm toward the prospects of gaining new knowledge will require adopting a combination of the Transformational and Situational Leadership approaches, while also determining the factors that motivate them and creating an appropriate setting for professional growth.
Training and development in the workplace are often conflated as the notions are often used interchangeably. However, while training suggests a temporary measure, development implies a continuous process (Noe et al., 2019). Specifically, Noe et al. (2019, p. 34) offer the following definition of training: “A planned effort to enable employees to learn job-related knowledge, skills, and behavior.” As for the concept of development, Noe et al. (2019, p. 34) suggest the following idea: “Development involves acquiring knowledge, skills, and behaviors that improve employees’ ability to meet the challenges of a variety of new or existing jobs, including the client and customer demands of those jobs.”
Though being a rather recent introduction into the HRM framework, e-learning and, particularly, e-training has proven to produce rather positive and overall impressive outcomes. For instance, the research by Kumar and Kumar (2021) establishes that the use of e-training as an HRM tool allows staff members to develop the much-needed resilience in their professional development. Specifically, the authors state that the focus on the constant renewal of the corporate strategy and performance quality standards as the basis for survival in the modern global business setting is generally understood by staff members (Noe et al., 2019). Therefore, by creating a setting where employees feel inclined to improve and develop new skills and competencies, an HR manager will succeed in advancing the option of continuous learning and consistent training.
The opportunity to build more capable teams is another advantage that e-learning provides. Studies show that employees tend to develop skills faster when being provided with an e-learning option (Noe et al., 2019). Therefore, when building a virtual team and encouraging the development of the necessary skills within the help of e-learning tools, an HR manager can focus on other issues while amplifying the speed and extent of the learning process in staff members.
Simulations and the opportunity to model the situations and scenarios that employees are likely to face in the target environment is another advantage of e-learning as an integral part of modern training and development in the compare setting. Namely, the adoption of digital tools for creating the scenarios that staff members will have to address in the organizational context will build the necessary levels of preparedness in the target audience (Noe et al., 2019). Finally, the ability to use the newly developed skills immediately makes the notion of e-learning one of the most useful concepts in the contemporary training and development framework for employees.
However, the use of e-learning in an attempt at directing the training and development process to a new and fascinating path may be fraught with several major obstacles. Namely, staff members are likely to show noticeable resistance to change that an HR manager may find rather difficult to overcome. Indeed, resistance to change is a rather common phenomenon observed in the workplace where the focus on innovation is established yet poorly communicated: “’ (Noe et al., 2019). In the e-learning setting, the specified obstacle is even more difficult to remove due to the absence of rigid control over the attitudes of staff members to the idea of training g and skill building (Noe et al., 2019).
Once the atmosphere for workplace training and development is set, and staff members are engaged and motivated enough to participate in the training process, e-learning as the tool for quick and effective development of the necessary skills can be set into motion. Due to the specifics of the online learning environment, exerting control over the training process and the development of new skills will need to be loosened, which is why staff members must develop the responsibility to control their progress on their own. Therefore, it is vital for an HR manager to build the setting of mutual trust, cooperation, and corporate social responsibility as the basic principles and values that will allow employees to continue learning. Furthermore, by bolstering the extent of motivation and engagement in the staff members through a combination of incentives and consistent support, the HR manager will create the environment for the staff members to build the skill of self-directed learning. Thus, opportunities for incremental development will be built, allowing the organization to increase the value of its human capital substantially.
Reference
Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. (2019). Fundamentals of human resource management (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.