Professional Development of Employees in ODL Institution: A Case of IGNOU

Training and development is the fastest growing industry as a result of replacement of industrial workers with knowledge workers. An effective and sustainable organizational training produces significant results such as improved employees’ skills & productivity, enhanced retention & morale. Training and continuing professional development is an integral component of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system, which is characterized by division of labour where the teaching and learning is performed through use of media and technology. However, in contrast to the above, lack of appropriate training has been identified as a significant barriers in ODL institutions and there is an immense need of continuous professional development activities in these institutions. This study highlights the professional development activities for the technical staff of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) engaged in web-based application development. The study aimed to identify if the training outcomes could be utilised in the routine work followed by the barriers to implement them in the work environment. The results indicate mixed responses that knowledge and skills gained during the training were useful majorly for their learning and development, routine work, front-end and back-end activities. The barriers faced by the respondents to implement the learning gains in their work place were identified as pertaining institutional (unavailability of training, infrastructure and internet) and individual (lack of motivation and time). The ODL should plan and implement well structured trainings followed by mitigating the barriers to implement the knowledge and skills gained during the training.