What is “training” anyway?
Down through the years, academicians and training practitioners have wrestled with the distinction between “training” and “education.” The best definition of training I’ve ever seen was from Ron Zemke, former editor of Training Magazine:
“The essence of training is identifying what trainees are supposed to be able to do and figuring out an efficient and effective way to teach them to do it. Not understanding this simple truth is what leads to customer service courses that try to teach psychology to cashiers or classes for beginning bank tellers that wander off into accounting principles.
Training is about figuring out what absolutely has to be committed to memory, what can be stuck on a job aid, and what is simply “appreciation” information. It’s about giving people practice on the tasks they must be able to perform to do a job, and eschewing academic bodies of information. It’s about being able to distinguish when trainees may actually need to know how a computer works, when all they really need to know is how to type.
Training is about giving people the knowledge and skills they need to do their jobs…no more, and no less.”