Training in America

This document, one of the results of a 3-year study, provides an overview of training in the United States in terms of who gets trained and how the training itself is organized, structured, and delivered. The findings were developed through a literature review, the work of advisory panels, feedback from 400 experts and practitioners, interviews with employers and employees, and site visits. Part One considers who provides training, how the employer-based training system works, and who receives training. Part Two addresses how employers form linkages with training providers, how those partnerships function, and how employers select and use providers for various types of training. Part Three describes organizational strategies and training roles, lists questions training advocates within organizations should ask, and gives practical approaches for connecting training to strategic decision making. Part Four offers policy recommendations for improving training. Among the recommendations are that: (1) employers should integrate human resource development into institutional climate and structure, use the applied approach to learning, decentralize the learning systems, and foster learning linkages; (2) educators should invest in the occupational preparation of secondary students who do not go on to postsecondary education; and (3) government should provide human capital development to the disadvantaged, craft programs for the dislocated, investment incentive for training to employers, and improved access to training for employed people. The document concludes with 94 references. (CML)