BACKGROUND

Many organizations view employee training as no more than running an orientation for new employees and offering a small selection of training modules. In the WPF, however, the concept of employee development expands our understanding of employee training to include education, credentials, on-the-job training, and mentoring. By using the term enablers, the WPF broadens the conception of employee training and development even further.

Key to the enabling process is opportunity. Do workers have opportunities to grow and develop? Do they understand the value of various opportunities, and do they actively pursue them? Or do they instead accept just those opportunities clearly placed in front of them? Or, perhaps, do they actually thwart or reject opportunities that might dramatically improve their work performance, career success, and lives? All of us can identify instances where we benefited from some opportunities and missed out on others, but it is quite clear that the people who make the most of enabling opportunities are more likely to maximize their work performance and get the most out of life.