Learning at any field is a core part of the development of a person. During the brief tenure of my interaction with the student community, I realized there is a huge lack of application oriented methods of learning in our educational system. Un-employability thus is an issue only because graduates are not skilled enough to bag the coveted jobs.

Learning and development which is now popularly known as training and development or human resource development in some cases, girdles a range of on-the-job and off-the-job methods for acquiring necessary knowledge, skills and behaviors.

At organizations there exist myriads of activities that can be undertaken to develop the employees which can act as a catalyst for their performance including induction, internal and external courses, on the job training, workshops, training of compliances,coaching and mentoring.

It is a time-test fact that it is an organisation’s responsibility to ensure that its employees posses requisite skills and knowledge to fulfill the strategic and operational objectives of the organization. Though it has obvious implications for recruitment, but it also mandates organisation’s commitment to learning and development. Maintaining and developing skills and knowledge ensures competitiveness and adaptability.

Keeping this in mind, we can define learning as a gradual process of bringing about new behaviors in an employee,attainment of knowledge, skills and most importantly attitudes which enhances his/her ability to meet the job requirement. This is applicable for corporate sector too where I reckon a new approach is needed – one that mixes learning with on-field strategy development, implementing the same and solving the problem.

A mixed learning approach can be such whereby people come to know about the importance of being self-directed and thereby realize the need to convert life experiences into a learning experience

There are various approaches to learning and development. A plethora of activities can be undertaken to learn. People are most used to thinking of the formal and other-directed activities such as attending courses or lectures. A new approach is needed – one that mixes learning with on-field strategy development, implementing the same and solving the problem.

A mixed learning approach can be such whereby people come to know about the importance of being self directed and thereby realizing the need to convert experiences of life into a learning experience. It is true that a great part of learning happens while doing the job. However, there exists one more funnel of learning which is learning from the feedbacks of other people for the works we are engaged in which subsequently helps us in improving skills.

Learning and Development helps in influencing and affecting the effectiveness and quality of individual employees as well as teams positively across the organization and enables others to acts by motivation and encouragement. Discussions should be encouraged to overt people’s behavior in an organization who are positive role models. They should be encouraged to mentor others so that positive behaviors are inculcated all around the organization. An atmosphere where people interact and learn from each other is the most apt environment for proliferation of role modeling.

Professionals involved in Learning and Development professions can play a greater role to create awareness for positive role models. The main idea being nurturing leaders who are aware of what they symbolize. At the same time the demonstration of their behaviors and the resultant impact they have on others.