American Society for Training & Development: A Closer Look

Organizations exist for different purposes. There have been countless successful organizations but there were also equal numbers of unsuccessful ones. The American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) is clearly a successful organization. It is considered as the world’s largest association that is committed in workplace learning and performance professionals. Its members originate from different countries worldwide. ASTD is a committee organization which consists of a group of people who usually lead the whole organization. This type of organization, though it has a broad decision making, has a limited functional authority.

The good thing on committee authority is that there is harmony between executives and co-workers. Even executives who have lesser experience can broaden their perspectives through active participation. Moreover, there is an assurance of continuity of committee functions. On the other hand, this type of organization is time consuming. Others also say that “committee is made up of the unfit selected by the unwilling to do the unnecessary. ” There are also instances when the chairman is forced to make a decision when the committee members have difficulty arriving at a unified agreement.

The responsibility is divided among the members and it seeks unanimous decisions. Committee organization is best used to represent interest groups, training, innovation and coordination of planning. The ASTD have the following services: they provide resources for the professionals, which are helpful for researches and publications. They also conduct conferences and expositions in different locations and facilitate the online communities. Aside from these, the ASTD offers programs and choices for careers. ASTD seeks to create a world that works better through exceptional learning and performance.

They envision a world-wide leader in workplace learning and performance. Harrison says that leadership is really all about performance. In this case, wherein a 16-member team leads the members, the ASTD is spearheaded by designated leadership. The 16-member team takes responsibility for the whole members and drives them towards their goals. The designated leaders also think of how they will achieve these goals. One of the best things about what ASTD offers to its members is the wide array of resources from the marketplace that they can have access to.

They have online environments where the members can gain access to resources such as articles, book summaries and reviews on topics ranging from management to trainings. Aside from these, there are also magazines, newsletters, research reports, Webpages and blogs. The organization also made way for the Training Fundamentals Community where the members can have access on different resources available and connect them to their peers who can help in developing training solutions for a particular organization.

The ASTD also conduct conferences and expositions with world-renowned leaders as speakers. The members learn a lot of new things, whether theories or models, that they can adapt to their organization. This facilitates a better workplace learning and performance. The organization also offers exhibit and sponsorship opportunities for their training suppliers. It also offers many choices of certificates from education programs. ASTD also holds the Benchmarking Forum which offers opportunities to benchmark the practices and processes of the members.

ASTD is clearly a place where a professional can be more professional. Their resources and programs will be the vehicle for an organization to achieve its success. Being a good leader or a professional means you follow principles that are good for the organization. You have to find ways on how to improve your skills and competencies. There will always be room for improvement to be able to lead the organization to that sweet success. REFERENCES http://www. astd. org/ASTD