Week 5, blog 2

In chapter 10, on page 322, the author mentions that “…employee training and development- formal and informal efforts to develop employee skill- has always been a function of management.” Based on my personal experiences with the California State University (CSU) system, I want to point out that at the CSU “employee training and development” has not been the function of management. At the CSU, there is a culture which requires the “employee” to take charge of his or her training and development. Therefore, it is common to find certain CSU employees doing the same job, in the same department for more than 15 years. The CSU employees who have progressed or moved in different job functions over the years are the ones that took charge of their own training and development.

It would be interesting to compare the CSU’s employee training and development practices with other universities in the country and bench mark best practices. If the CSU Human Resources office improves this aspect then it will improve the performance management system for its employees which tracks their success and provides specific feedback on where they must improve and training and development can be provided for those areas.