Training is a process of learning a sequence of programmed behavior. It is the application of knowledge & gives people an awareness of rules & procedures to guide their behavior. It helps in bringing about positive change in the knowledge, skills & attitudes of employees.

Thus, training is a process that tries to improve skills or add to the existing level of knowledge so that the employee is better equipped to do his present job or to mould him to be fit for a higher job involving higher responsibilities. It bridges the gap between what the employee has & what the job demands.

Training refers to a planned effort by a company to facilitate employees’ learning of job related competencies. These competencies include knowledge, skills, or behaviors that are critical for successful job performance. The goal of training is for employees to master the knowledge, skill, and behaviors emphasized in training programs and to apply them to their day to day activities. Training is seen as one of several possible solutions to improve performance. Other solutions can include such actions as changing the job or increasing employee motivation through pay and incentives. Today there is a greater emphasis on-

• Providing educational opportunities for all employees. These educational opportunities may include training programs, but they also include support for taking courses offered outside the company, self-study, and learning through job rotation. 
• An ongoing process of performance improvement that is directly measurable rather than organizing one time training events. 
• The need to demonstrate to executives, managers, and trainees the benefits of training. 
• Learning as a lifelong event in which senior management, trainer manager, and employees have ownership.
• Training being used to help attain strategic business objectives, which help companies, gains a competitive advantage.

The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at institutes of technology (also known as technical colleges or polytechnics). In addition to the basic training required for a trade, occupation or profession, observers of the labor-marketrecognize as of 2008[update] the need to continue training beyond initial qualifications: to maintain, upgrade and update skills throughout working life. People within many professions and occupations may refer to this sort of training as professional development.

Training usually refers to some kind of organized (and finite it time) event — a seminar, workshop that has a specific beginning data and end date. It’s often a group activity, but the word training is also used to refer to specific instruction done one on one.

Employee development, however, is a much bigger, inclusive “thing”. For example, if a manager pairs up a relatively new employee with a more experienced employee to help the new employee learns about the job, that’s really employee development. If a manager coaches and employee in an ongoing way, that’s employee development. Or, employees may rotate job responsibilities to learn about the jobs of their colleagues and gain experience so they might eventually have more promotion opportunities. That’s employee development.

In other words employee development is a broader term that includes training as one, and only one of its methods for encouraging employee learning. The important point here is that different activities are better for the achievement of different results. For example, if the desire is provide an employee with a better understanding of how the department works, job rotation might work very well. If the goal is to improve the employee’s ability to use a computer based accounting package direct training would be more appropriate than, let’s say, job rotation.