A Modern Orientation to Training

What are the characteristics of training that are relevant for today and tomorrow? Essentially, according to the experts, the focus should be on:
- The learner rather than the trainer;
- People being seen as people rather than as human resources;
- Organisational goals and individual needs rather than organisational goals alone;
- Opportunities for all rather than an elitist approach;
- A process of needs analysis, preparation of outcomes, development of methodology, and implementation and evaluation of programmes, with feedback loops, rather than off-the-shelf packages;
- Facilitation and negotiation rather than dictation and obligation;
- Results and process rather than results or process alone;
- Optimisation rather than maximisation of quality;
- Technology as a means to an end – not the end itself;
- Formal training as just one method and not the only method for addressing performance problems;
- Individuals and teams rather than individuals alone;
- Open rather than closed learning;
- Holism rather than reductionism;
- Lifelong learning and short-term needs rather than short-term needs alone;
- Collaboration rather than competition; and
- Employability rather than employment.
Contributed by Dave Hornblow, December 2016