Review of the Article Development Opportunity Essay

Review of the Article Development Opportunity - Essay Example The article gives some guidelines in toning down what is necessary in learning and development (L & D) programs. An approach called RAM is suggested. R stands for relevance, which asks, â€Å"What is it for? Why are we doing it? Has the work changed? Has the business changed?†. A stands for alignment, which asks consults the stakeholders who will benefit from it. Lastly, M stands for measurement, which looks into the impact and value of the L & D (Scott, 2010). Since options to save up on L & D expenses have been cut short, online training services have been made available by a few groups where employees can log on to the company’s learning management server and choose a program they believe will help them in an area they need training for. Such service conducts an impact and learning study to monitor how they improved from the training. When people want to learn more to improve themselves, the article said they should not be controlled but instead given freedom and opp ortunity to do so. Social learning is one option. People can work across the company to network, â€Å"share knowledge and experience, collaborate and learn for their benefit and that of the company (Butler as mentioned in Scott, 2010, p. 25). Learning from colleagues could be an effective way of improving skills and experience while keeping company costs down. Leaders may also avail of outside training first and then cascade their new knowledge and skills from the training down to their employees. It is one way of imparting the culture of the organization to its people. In any case, the training expert should keep in mind the goals of the training – to improve the business and not only the people, so it yields a return on investment. L & D should focus more on practical strategies and not just theories. Review of Related Literature The global financial crisis has turned some companies to scrimp on their budgets just keep them afloat in these difficult times. Many people hav e lost their jobs as a result of the budget cuts. For employees left to work to help their companies rise above the economic crunch, training and development are ensured in the expectation that it will contribute towards the betterment of not only the individual employee but of the whole organization as well. Employee development has been identified as key to improving overall organizational effectiveness. Jones and Washington (2003) have defined it as: â€Å"Employee development refers to an integrated set of planned programs, provided over a period of time, to help assure that all individuals have the competence necessary to perform to their fullest potential in support of the organization’s goals† ( 344). Like what the article indicated, nowadays, people have more access to learning. More and more training courses are developed and offered in schools and online for people who want to go further in what they know to gain skills and knowledge in their