Training is Different from Development - Why That Matters to You as a Leader

The new year is nearly upon us, and I am sure you have already worked on your planning process for the year ahead and are beginning to get pieces in place. Inevitably as part of planning, we think about ourselves and our team and what they will need to be successful in the year ahead. When changes are in order, training or development may be subjects that surface.

Training and development are two of my favorite topics. I have always been interested in training. I recall many years back talking about training in two different lights during separate interviews. There had been an internal position available for an Area Training Manager, which I was very interested in. Shortly after that position was available, another District Manager position became available for which I applied as well. Some of the interviewers for the positions were the same. I was challenged that I was interviewing for every job - why? Which one was I committed to?

I was interested in both positions, but my response to that question solidified what I was most interested in. I knew that I would be able to satisfy my interest in training with the initial position. I would be able to work on different training programs and help many associates get the information they needed to do their jobs better. What I determined at that moment was that I could do something more. I could develop and build a team.

Training and development do go hand in hand, but they are distinctly different. I knew in the District Manager's role that I could still do a lot of training, sharing, and passing along information. However, I also realized that I could do more than that. I could help people that worked for me use that information at a higher level. I could assist in developing their skills as leaders. I had done it as a Store Manager, which would serve as a new platform to build something more than training programs.

Development is an activity that aspiring leaders want to do. Development is about personal growth.

Training and develop both play critical roles in long-term success

As much as training and development are similar, the difference lies in the application. The easiest way I can explain it is that development is about the WHY and the WHAT of your activities. Training is the HOW. Vision, purpose, and motivation drive development. Development is an activity that aspiring leaders want to do. Development is about personal growth. Development connects back to what you do every day. Your why drives your behaviors and actions. Training is information to help with how you do your job. It transfers knowledge about the necessary skills needed to complete the role you are in. In many cases, training is compliance-related or technically related to your specific workplace. Development can be applied anywhere.

I must stress that there is a role for each and, in fact, I see training as a critical aspect of development itself. Development still requires the transference of new knowledge to everyone. From there, that knowledge must be transferred into repeatable actions and behaviors. That is the development component. The piece that takes time, effort, and practice to make that transition from knowledge to action.

Our role as leaders is to create an environment in which training can play the role it needs, and development embeds that knowledge. In a previous article, I spoke to the importance of believing in training. This is that moment. Belief will lead to a culture where training is not an event; it is something to be invested in, then nurtured as development for all team members. When I was answering that question about why I wanted the District Manager role, this is what I was speaking to. I didn’t know it at the time, but my goal was not to just transfer knowledge through training but use my role to make training something more. It was about helping to build strong, future leaders that would take information and turn it into result producing activities and behaviors. You can do the same thing.

How do you see training and development as separate but equally important aspects of your role as a leader?

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