Professional development is a wonderful thing, considering people need to be employed for at least half their lives. However, there are a few things companies do to sabotage their employee's growth. Training must be done properly in order for it to work. So follow these tips when implementing professional development programs at your company.

First, you must be able to measure the effectiveness of your training. Make sure it is in alignment with your business needs. To do this, assess needs before embarking on a training program. Don't train because of trends or perceived needs. Also, keep in mind that while training is a solution to many problems, it's not a panacea. If a problem requires a different solution, then training is not the issue.

Training and development is a process that needs to be focused, so you can concentrate on your desired outcome. Have goals and objectives for development. That way, you will have a direction for your training program and ensure that the desired outcome is reached. But training is not a single event, either. Developing your staff is an ongoing part of overall objectives. If you look at professional development as a two-day seminar, it is likely that behavioral change will not happen. And without that, development is a failure.

Accountability for Professional Development

Finally, you need to hold accountable your participants. They must individually drive change and often, employees don't take responsibility for it. Often, trainers are blamed for lack of results when it's the participants who are not being held accountable. Remember that participants must do just that--participate--and learn and grow from development, or it doesn't happen.