Evolution of the Training Profession

Rebecca Ralph
AET/570
October 5, 2015
Instructor: Charity Jennings

The training profession has always been a component within employment. Whether it
goes back to the Middle Ages with on-the-job training to the present day with the use of
scorecards, employees have always seen some form of training used within their organizations.
It was during WWII that the training profession began to evolved more and more into the present
day training profession. WWII saw the need for training leadership and through the years up to
the present saw the use of scorecards.
Because the war drafted a number of skilled workers to fight the wars on the Pacific and
Atlantic fronts, the training profession needed leaders to take on these roles to train employees
for the war effort. There were titles such as training director became increasingly common in
management hierarchies (Estep 16). Moreover, there came the recognition of the need for
development in leadership more generally, which led to the emergence of the first management
development programs (16). WWII developed more management programs to carry out the
leadership roles to train new employees.
After the war, the 1950s kept the management programs, but introduced training by using
psychology. Behaviorism was introduced in the 1950s. Further the 1950s saw the introduction
of individualized instruction which would answer business need for cheaper and more efficient
training. This form of training was also adopted in the 1960s by involving into computer-based
training. The 1950s also saw the introduction of Blooms Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.
The 1950s still kept many of the training techniques during the war, but have introduced more
techniques that will make training cheaper and more efficient.
The 1960s saw more of a change to the training profession. This decade tried to find
some understanding to the need of business. Why is business necessary and how can business
professionals find better ways to train? Organizational development was the concept that was

adopted during this decade. With the adoption of organizational development came the adoption
of Human Performance Improvement (HPI) and Human Performance Technology (HPT).
Performance improvement is systematic, systemic, results-based approaches to helping
organizations meet their goals through the work of people (21). Businesses during the 1960s
began to be more organized within the organization to help improve the training of employees.
The 1970s saw the introduction of sociotechnical theory, sensitivity training, case
method, and expectancy theory. The most important training method especially in education that
the 1970s saw was Knowles Five Key Principles. Knowles introduced learning strategies that
helped trainers better trained their adult learners. These principles help cover every need that is
needed to bring about a thorough training experience. However, the 1980s did not see much
evolution in the training profession. Rather, the decade saw more and more managers being
downsized and ending up losing their jobs.
With the emergence of the internet in the 1990s, this decade saw training evolved even
further. This decade saw the adoption of e-learning, computer-based training (as seen in the
1960s), and online learning. Online classes began to make its debut into the training profession.
The 2000s also saw e-learning more and more. The traditional classroom is almost becoming
extinct. This decade also saw the adoption of scorecards. The scorecards:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Monitor and benchmark a broad range of learning function indicators

Compare the quality of the learning function with other organizations
Diagnose strengths and weaknesses in the learning function
Make decisions about all aspects of learning (28 & 30)

There have been a lot of improvements in the training profession from WWII to the present.
With the adoption of training management to e-learning each decade has seen improvements and
downfalls to the training profession. The last training I attended was a training session that

prepared me for being a caregiver. The training that was presented was a lecture where the
trainer read from a manual and we had to answer questions. I did not believe that it met the
needs of the professionals attending because when we face the clients every client has a special
need. The training covered the basics, but it did not cover the specifics. I believe that the
session could be better if we were actually trained on-the-job. If we were given a client and this
client would be our regular client than a professional trainer should train us when we first meet
the client. When I first started with this company I was thrown into a situation with a difficult
client and I had to use my judgment to provide the best services for her. I believe if I had been
trained on-the-job with her I would have been able to do a better job than what I did to start out
with.

References
Estep, Tora. The Evolution of the Training Profession, ASTD Handbook for Workplace
Learning Professionals.