Employees who feel their organization invests in their growth are 76% more likely to stay [1]. That single number explains why HR teams treat training and development as a strategic priority rather than a compliance checkbox.
This guide covers:
- What training and development in HRM means
- Why it pays off for the business
- The five-step process most L&D teams use
- Which training types get results
- How to measure whether a program worked
What training and development in HRM means
Training and development in HRM is the structured process of helping employees build the skills, knowledge, and behaviors they need for their current roles and their future ones. It sits within HR alongside recruitment, performance management, and compensation.
The two terms usually travel together, but they work on different time horizons:
| Training | Development | |
|---|---|---|
| Time horizon | Short term | Long term |
| Focus | Skill gaps in the current role | Capabilities for future roles |
| Typical formats | Software tool training, compliance courses, onboarding | Stretch assignments, mentoring, leadership programs |
| Question it answers | Can this person do today's job well? | Will this person be ready for the next one? |
Both matter. Training alone gives you a workforce that can do today's jobs. Development alone, without present-day competence, leaves gaps that hurt near-term performance.
Why it matters for the business
The business case is easy to make because the data points the same way:
- Income: companies with comprehensive training programs have 218% higher income per employee than those without formal programs [2].
- Productivity and profit: Gallup finds organizations are 17% more productive and 21% more profitable when employees get the training they need [3].
- Retention: LinkedIn's 2024 Workplace Learning Report found that companies with a strong learning culture see 57% higher retention than those with a baseline one [4]. That changes the math on recruiting costs.
There's a culture payoff too. A learning environment attracts people who want to grow, and that compounds: the team gets stronger, internal mobility rises, and more managers come from within instead of being hired in at a premium.
The five-step process
Most L&D teams follow some version of the ADDIE model, a framework developed at Florida State University in 1975 for the US military [5]. In practice, it breaks down into five steps.
1. Identify training needs
Run a training needs analysis: compare current performance or skill levels against what the role requires. Gaps surface through performance reviews, manager input, skills assessments, and exit interviews. Skip this step and programs tend to solve the wrong problem.
2. Design the program
Choose the format, content, sequence, and delivery method. This is where you decide between live and self-paced, group and one-on-one, in-person and virtual. Every design choice should map back to a gap from step one.
3. Develop materials
Build or source the content: slide decks, exercises, scenarios, assessments, or video modules. It takes longer than most people expect, so pilot with a small group before the full rollout. For self-contained modules that don't need a full LMS build, an online course creator gets materials to learners faster.
4. Deliver the training
Run the program. Delivery quality matters as much as content quality, because a well-designed course nobody engages with is wasted budget. In live sessions, interactive elements like polls, Q&A, and group activities tend to produce better retention than passive lectures.
5. Evaluate effectiveness
Measure whether the training worked, then feed what you learn into the next needs analysis. The Kirkpatrick Model below gives you a structure for it.
Common training types in HRM
Onboarding training
Covers role expectations, company processes, tools, and culture for new hires. How well it's run directly affects time-to-productivity and 90-day retention.
Amazon's onboarding approach is one example worth noting: the company uses structured day-one checklists, assigned onboarding buddies, and role-specific training tracks that vary by function. New hires in operations roles go through hands-on equipment training in the first week rather than classroom sessions.
Skills training
Targeted instruction on one technical or functional competency, such as using a CRM, running a data analysis tool, or applying a project management method. Usually short, practical, and immediately useful.
Leadership development
Builds management skills for people moving into or already in leadership roles: communication, decision-making, coaching, and organizational dynamics. It's the category most likely to be underfunded relative to its impact on everyone else.
Compliance training
Mandatory instruction on legal, regulatory, or safety requirements, such as harassment prevention, data privacy, and health and safety. The content is often required by law, so the real design challenge is making it engaging enough that people retain it instead of clicking through.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion training
Builds awareness and skills around equitable workplace practices. It works when it's part of a broader DEI strategy. Standalone sessions without structural follow-through rarely change behavior.
Measuring whether it worked
A widely used framework for evaluating training is the Kirkpatrick Model, first published by Donald Kirkpatrick in 1959 [6]. It has four levels:
| Level | What it measures | How |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Reaction | Did participants find the training useful? | Post-session surveys |
| 2. Learning | Did they actually learn? | Tests, assessments, skill demonstrations |
| 3. Behavior | Are they applying it on the job? | Manager observations, 360 feedback, performance data |
| 4. Results | Did it affect business outcomes? | Productivity, retention, error rates, revenue |
Where HR's role fits
In a training and development context, HR professionals typically handle:
- Running training needs analyses with managers
- Designing programs or sourcing external providers
- Managing the L&D budget and vendor relationships
- Tracking completion and compliance records
- Evaluating program effectiveness and reporting on it
- Connecting development to career paths and succession plans
In larger organizations, this work is split between HR business partners, who identify needs and consult with managers, and a dedicated L&D team, who designs and delivers programs. In smaller companies, one HR generalist often handles all of it.
Running training sessions that people actually engage with
Content is only half the problem. The other half is participation: employees who have mentally checked out of a mandatory session won't absorb or apply what's covered. Three things change that dynamic:
- Relevance beats production value. People engage when they can see how something applies to their actual work. Abstract concepts with no link to the job lose attention fast.
- Short feedback loops keep people active. A quick poll, scenario question, or show-of-hands check during the session catches confusion before it compounds.
- Psychological safety drives candor. People who fear looking incompetent don't ask questions or admit gaps. How a facilitator handles wrong answers sets the tone for the whole room.
This is where AhaSlides fits in. L&D teams use it to add live polls, rating scales, Q&A, and word clouds to training sessions without switching tools. Compliance trainers run knowledge-check quizzes mid-session instead of one test at the end, and leadership facilitators use anonymous polls to surface honest views before opening a discussion. Results appear in real time, so trainers can respond to what the room actually knows.
AhaSlides has more than 40 slide types across its plans and adds new ones roughly every month. A few of the newer ones map neatly onto common training moments:
| Slide type | Use it to | Or try this |
|---|---|---|
| Draw Answer | Run a fast comprehension check where learners sketch a workflow step on their phones | Have a new cohort draw what the company values look like to them, then compare |
| 2x2 Matrix | Rank skill-gap priorities by effort versus impact during a needs analysis | Have leaders place real projects on a risk-versus-reward grid and defend their spot |
| Split the Points | Decide which topics get the most time in next quarter's curriculum | Have teams split a fixed training budget across competing programs to expose trade-offs |
| Idea Board | Run a structured brainstorm when scoping a new program | Hold a keep, stop, start retro after a rollout and vote the top items into an action list |
| Duck Race | Pick who presents first or draw a quiz leaderboard winner | Use it as a quick mid-session energizer to reset attention |
Common mistakes to avoid
1. Skipping the needs analysis. A manager asks for a leadership workshop, one gets delivered, and six months later nothing has changed, because the real problem was poor communication between two specific teams. Training without diagnosis is usually wasted effort.
2. Stopping at level 1. Post-session surveys look positive because people are polite, but satisfaction doesn't prove anyone learned anything. Build a level 2 knowledge check into every program, and schedule a 60- or 90-day follow-up for anything consequential.
3. Treating development as a reward. When only top performers get development, most of the workforce never gets investment in future capability, and solid mid-level performers feel invisible. Hold development conversations with every employee, not just those flagged as high-potential.
4. Running training as a one-time event. Hermann Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve, from his experiments in the 1880s, shows memory fades fastest in the first day after learning unless it's reinforced. Follow-up sessions, manager check-ins, and on-the-job practice produce much better retention than a single workshop.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between training and development in HRM?
Training closes skill gaps in a current role and tends to be short-term and job-specific. Development builds the capabilities an employee will need in future roles, through mentoring, stretch assignments, and leadership programs. Both belong to HR, but they work on different time scales and toward different goals.
How do you measure the ROI of a training program?
Set a baseline on a business metric before the program runs, then compare afterward. Common metrics include error rates, time-to-competency for new hires, internal promotion rates, and retention in the roles the training targeted. Level 4 (results) of the Kirkpatrick Model covers this layer. The hard part is isolating the effect of training from everything else, which is why a clear before-and-after measurement point matters.
Who is responsible for training and development in an organization?
Formally, HR. Larger companies split it between a dedicated L&D team (design and delivery) and HR business partners (needs and manager coordination), while smaller ones rely on an HR generalist. Line managers carry real responsibility too: they set expectations, spot gaps, reinforce learning on the job, and decide whether development gets prioritized. Programs that never involve direct managers tend to have limited impact.
Sources
[1] SHRM. Workplace learning and development statistics. Cited in Devlin Peck, "Employee Training Statistics" (2025). https://www.devlinpeck.com/content/employee-training-statistics
[2] Forbes / Association for Talent Development. Cited in Devlin Peck, "Employee Training Statistics" (2025). https://www.devlinpeck.com/content/employee-training-statistics
[3] Gallup. Cited in eLearning Industry, "Employee Training Statistics, Trends, and Data in 2025." https://elearningindustry.com/employee-training-statistics-trends-and-data
[4] LinkedIn Learning. 2024 Workplace Learning Report. https://learning.linkedin.com/resources/workplace-learning-report-2024
[5] Branson, R. K., Rayner, G. T., Cox, J. L., Furman, J. P., King, F. J., and Hannum, W. H. Interservice Procedures for Instructional Systems Development. Executive Summary and Model. Center for Educational Technology, Florida State University, August 1975. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA019486.pdf. Prepared for the US Army Combat Arms Training Board.
[6] Kirkpatrick, D.L. "Techniques for Evaluating Training Programs." Series in the Journal of the American Society of Training Directors, from 1959; reprinted in Training and Development Journal, June 1979. https://assets.td.org/m/4a306d561507658e/original/TECHNIQUES-FOR-EVALUATING-TRAINING-PROGRAMS.pdf
