Ch. 9: Training vs. Development

I have not really given this topic much thought prior to writing this blog post. However, after reading about this in the text and on other sites, I now see that there is indeed a difference in training and development. This blog post will discuss the distinct differences between the two and how they interrelate.

Photo found at Pixabay

As a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Arkansas, I have to attain 24 hours of continuing education every licensing cycle of two years. I am also a LADAC (Licensed Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselor), MAC (Master Addiction Counselor), RPT (Registered Play Therapist), and CAS (Certified Autism Specialist). Each requires their own amount of continuing education per licensing cycle. By the time I have to send in my CEUs (Continuing Education Units), I usually have around 100+ hours in various topics and subject areas. In my field we call this professional development. My husband is a teacher, and teachers call all of their yearly required additional education to maintain their license, as well as any other training sessions they attend, professional development. However, it requires us to attend trainings. So, what is the differentiation between the two? 

Photo found at Pixabay

Both training and development are important aspects to create value for individuals and organizations. According to the text, training focuses on the acquisition of skills, knowledge, and tasks, while personal development includes training on specific skills and is a long-term process designed to build stronger self-awareness and help individuals reach their potential (Gulati, Mayo, & Nohria, 2016). Using the above situational analogy that my position applies, each of my trainings help me to acquire new skills and increase my knowledge base. The personal development comes from the areas of specific skills that I am acquiring and increasing my knowledge towards, such as substance use, autism, or play therapy. Gladtutor puts this in an interesting way. Training provides employees with a great importance of the work before they actually do it and development is the result of the experience and focuses more on personal growth and is more future oriented (Piplani, 2019). 

Both provide us knowledge that is important in our fields and work environments and are meant to increase our overall performance. Further differentiation is broken down in the Gladtutor graphic below. 

Differences in Development and Training found at Gladtutor.com

As you can see there is a difference between training and development, but there are also some similarities and overlap between the two. Both are very important to the growth of an organization and each unique individual.  You cannot have development without training and training without the goal of personal development is ineffectual.

References

• Business Woman Pixabay. (n.d.). Retrieved July 16, 2020, from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/training-development-businesswoman-4497345/
• Gulati, R., Mayo, A. J., & Nohria, N. (2016). Management: An integrated approach. Australia: Cengage Learning.
• Piplani, J. (2019, February 28). Difference between Training and Development. Retrieved July 16, 2020, from http://gladtutor.com/difference-between-training-and-development/
• Training and Development Illustration. (n.d.). Retrieved July 16, 2020, from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/training-education-development-1848687/