Careers:TRAINING

Continuous employee development is an important key to continuing success, says the Institute of Personnel Management's national committee for training and development. IPM: A positive policy for training and development ecompasses the Institute's stance on national training and development issues, and will serve as a basis for future more detailed comment on specific topics. The Institute believes that social, economic and technological success lies in developing a workforce capable of assimilating and adapting to rapidly‐changing work and employment patterns. There is national, commercial and personal profit in each individual making his maximum contribution. This contribution depends largely on the education, vocational preparation and training that one experiences. A vital part of the process, however, must now be to encourage continuous development; and young people must be urged to acquire learning skills in addition to job‐specific skills. Management commitment to the implementation of employee development programmes is an essential ingredient for their success; but rewards for the organisation will include increased job satisfaction, closer identification with corporate objectives, more effective job performance, and improved efficiency. The policy statement supports the view that more responsibility for initial training and retraining should reside in the local community, enabling all affected to play their part in making the training relevant to real job needs. Training standards must be linked to measures of performance and proficiency in the job rather than to age, length of training, or the possession of a general qualification.