HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Human Resource Management is defined as the people who staff and manage organization. It comprises of the functions and principles that are applied to retaining, training, developing, and compensating the employees in organization. It is also applicable to non-business organizations, such as education, healthcare, etc Human Resource Management is defined as the set of activities, programs, and functions that are designed to maximize both organizational as well as employee effectiveness

Scope of HRM without a doubt is vast. All the activities of employee, from the time of his entry into an organization until he leaves, come under the horizon of HRM. The divisions included in HRM are Recruitment, Payroll, Performance Management, Training and Development, Retention, Industrial Relation, etc. Out of all these divisions, one such important division is training and development.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT is a subsystem of an organization. It ensures that randomness is reduced and learning or behavioral change takes place in structured format.

Training and development

In the field of human resource management, training and development is the field concerned with organizational activity aimed at bettering the performance of individuals and groups in organizational settings. It has been known by several names, including employee development, human resource development, and learning and development.[1] Harrison observes that the name was endlessly debated by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development during its review of professional standards in 1999/2000. "Employee Development" was seen as too evocative of the master-slave relationship between employer and employee for those who refer to their employees as "partners" or "associates" to be comfortable with. "Human Resource Development" was rejected by academics, who objected to the idea that people were "resources" an idea that they felt to be demeaning to the individual. Eventually, the CIPD settled upon "Learning and Development", although that was itself not free from problems, "learning" being an overgeneral and ambiguous name. Moreover, the field is still widely known by the other names. Training and development encompasses three main activities: training, education, and development. Garavan, Costine, and Heraty, of the Irish Institute of Training and Development, note that these ideas are often considered to be synonymous. However, to practitioners, they encompass three separate, although interrelated, activities:

training
This activity is both focussed upon, and evaluated against, the job that an individual currently holds.

education
This activity focusses upon the jobs that an individual may potentially hold in the future, and is evaluated against those jobs.

development
This activity focusses upon the activities that the organization employing the individual, or that the individual is part of, may partake in the future, and is almost impossible to evaluate. The "stakeholders" in training and development are categorized into several classes. The sponsors of training and development are senior managers. The clients of training and development are business planners. Line managers are responsible for coaching, resources, and performance. The participants are those who actually undergo the processes. The facilitators are Human Resource Management staff. And the providers are specialists in the field. Each of these groups has its own agenda and motivations, which sometimes conflict with the agendas and motivations of the others.

TRADITIONAL AND MODERN APPROACH OF TRAINING AND DEVLOPMENT

Traditional Approach Most of the organizations before never used to believe in training. They were holding the traditional view that managers are born and not made. There were also some views that training is a very costly affair and not worth. Organizations used to believe more in executive pinching. But now the scenario seems to be changing. Modern approach The modern approach of training and development is that Indian Organizations have realized the importance of corporate training. Training is now considered as more of retention tool than a cost. The training system in Indian Industry has been changed to create a smarter workforce and yield the best results

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES

The principal objective of training and development division is to make sure the availability of a skilled and willing workforce to an organization. In addition to that, there are four other objectives: Individual, Organizational, Functional, and Societal. Individual Objectives help employees in achieving their personal goals, which in turn, enhances the individual contribution to an organization. Organizational Objectives assist the organization with its primary objective by bringing individual effectiveness. Functional Objectives maintain the departments contribution at a level suitable to the organizations needs. Societal Objectives ensure that an organization is ethically and socially responsible to the needs and challenges of the society.

Importance Of Training and Development

Optimum Utilization of Human Resources Training and Development helps in optimizing the utilization of human resource that further helps the employee to achieve the organizational goals as well as their individual goals. Development of Human Resources Training and Development helps to provide an opportunity and broad structure for the development of human resources technical and behavioral skills in an organization. It also helps the employees in attaining personal growth. Development of skills of employees Training and Development

helps in increasing the job knowledge and skills of employees at each level Productivity Training and Development helps in increasing the productivity of the employees that helps the organization further to achieve its long-term goal. Team spirit Training and Development helps in inculcating the sense of team work, team spirit, and inter-team collaborations. It helps in inculcating the zeal to learn within the employees. Organization Culture Training and Development helps to develop and improve the organizational health culture and effectiveness. It helps in creating the learning culture within the organization. Organization Climate Training and Development helps building the positive perception and feeling about the organization. The employees get these feelings from leaders, subordinates, and peers. Quality Training and Development helps in improving upon the quality of work and work-life. Healthy work-environment Training and Development helps in creating the healthy working environment. It helps to build good employee, relationship so that individual goals aligns with organizational goal. Health and Safety Training and Development helps in improving the health and safety of the organization thus preventing obsolescence. Morale Training and Development helps in improving the morale of the work force. Image Training and Development helps in creating a better corporate image.

 Profitability Training and Development leads to improved profitability and more positive attitudes towards profit orientation. Training and Development aids in organizational development i.e. Organization gets more effective decision making and problem solving. It helps in understanding and carrying out organisational policies Training and Development helps in developing leadership skills, motivation, loyalty, better attitudes, and other aspects that successful workers and managers usually display.

Models of Training

The three model of training are: 1. System Model 2. Instructional System Development Model 3. Transitional model

System Model Training

The system model consists of five phases and should be repeated on a regular basis to make further improvements. The training should achieve the purpose of helping employee to perform their work to required standards. The steps involved in System Model of training are as follows: 1. Analyze and identify the training needs i.e. to analyze the

department, job, employees requirement, who needs training, what do they need to learn, estimating training cost, etc The next step is to develop a performance measure on the basis of which actual performance would be evaluated. 2. Design and provide training to meet identified needs. This step requires developing objectives of training, identifying

3. Develop- This phase requires listing the activities in the training program that will assist the participants to learn, selecting delivery method, examining the training material, validating information to be imparted to make sure it accomplishes all the goals & objectives. 4. Implementing is the hardest part of the system because one wrong step can lead to the failure of whole training program. 5. Evaluating each phase so as to make sure it has achieved its aim in terms of subsequent work performance. Making necessary amendments

to any of the previous stage in order to remedy or improve failure practices.

Transitional Model
Transitional model focuses on the organization as a whole. The outer loop describes the vision, mission and values of the organization on the basis of which training model i.e. inner loop is executed. Vision focuses on the milestones that the organization would like to achieve after the defined point of time. A vision statement tells that where the organization sees itself few years down the line. A vision may include setting a role mode, or bringing some internal transformation, or may be promising to meet some other deadlines. Mission explain the reason of organizational existence. It identifies the position in the community. The reason of developing a mission statement is to motivate, inspire, and inform the employees regarding the organization.The mission statement tells about the identity that how the organization would like to be viewed by the customers, employees, and all other stakeholders. Values is the translation of vision and mission into communicable ideals. It reflects the deeply held values of the organization and is independent of current industry environment. For example, values may include social responsibility, excellent customer service, etc.

The mission, vision, and values precede the objective in the inner loop. This model considers the organization as a whole. The objective is formulated keeping these three things in mind and then the training model is further implemented.

Instructional System Development Model(ISD)Model

Instructional System Development model was made to answer the training problems. This model is widely used now-a-days in the organization because it is concerned with the training need on the job performance. Training objectives are defined on the basis of job responsibilities and job description and on the basis of the defined

objectives individual progress is measured. This model also helps in determining and developing the favorable strategies, sequencing the content, and delivering media for the types of training objectives to be achieved. The Instructional System Development model comprises of five stages: 1. ANALYSIS This phase consist of training need assessment, job analysis, and target audience analysis. 2. PLANNING This phase consist of setting goal of the learning outcome, instructional objectives that measures behavior of a participant after the training, types of training material, media selection, methods of evaluating the trainee, trainer and the training program, strategies to impart knowledge i.e. selection of content, sequencing of content, etc.

3. DEVELOPMENT This phase translates design decisions into training material. It consists of developing course material for the trainer including handouts, workbooks, visual aids, demonstration props, etc,

course material for the trainee including handouts of summary. 4. EXECUTION This phase focuses on logistical arrangements, such as arranging speakers, equipments, benches, podium, food facilities, cooling, lighting, parking, and other training accessories. 5. EVALUATION The purpose of this phase is to make sure that the training program has achieved its aim in terms of subsequent work performance. This phase consists of identifying strengths and weaknesses and making necessary amendments to any of the previous stage in order to remedy or improve failure practices. The ISD model is a continuous process that lasts throughout the training program. It also highlights that feedback is an important phase throughout the entire training program. In this model, the output of one phase is an input to the next phase.

Methods of Training
There are various methods of training, which can be divided in to cognitive and behavioral methods. Trainers need to understand the pros and cons of each method, also its impact on trainees keeping their background and skills in mind before giving training. Cognitive methods are more of giving theoretical training to the trainees. The various methods under Cognitive approach provide the rules for how to do something, written or verbal information, demonstrate relationships among concepts, etc. These methods are associated with changes in knowledge and attitude by stimulating learning.

The various methods that come under Cognitive approach are:

LECTURES

DEMONSTRATIONS DISCUSSIONS COMPUTER BASED TRAINING (CBT) INTELLEGENT TUTORIAL SYSTEM(ITS) PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION (PI) VIRTUAL REALITY

Behavioral methods are more of giving practical training to the trainees. The various methods under Behavioral approach allow the trainee to behavior in a real fashion. These methods are best used for skill development. The various methods that come under Behavioral approach are:

GAMES AND SIMULATIONS BEHAVIOR-MODELING BUSINESS GAMES CASE STUDIES EQUIPMENT STIMULATORS IN-BASKET TECHNIQUE ROLE PLAYS

Both the methods can be used effectively to change attitudes, but through different means.

MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
The more future oriented method and more concerned with education of the employees. To become a better performer by education implies that management development activities attempt to instill sound reasoning

processes. Management development method is further divided into two parts: ON THE JOB TRAINING The development of a managers abilities can take place on the job. The four techniques for on-the job development are:

COACHING MENTORING JOB ROTATION JOB INSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE (JIT)

OFF THE JOB TRAINING

There are many management development techniques that an employee can take in off the job. The few popular methods are:

SENSITIVITY TRAINING TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS STRAIGHT LECTURES/ LECTURES SIMULATION EXERCISES

TRINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN WIPRO

Wipro Technologies, a division of Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT) is the first PCMM Level 5 and SEI CMM Level 5 certified global IT services organization. Wipro Technologies was recently assessed at Level 5 for CMMI V 1.2 across offshore and onsite development centers. Wipro is one of the largest product engineering and support service providers worldwide. Wipro provides comprehensive research and development services, IT solutions and services, including systems integration, information systems outsourcing, package implementation, software application development, and maintenance services to corporations globally.

In the Indian market, Wipro is a leader in providing IT solutions and services for the corporate segment in India, offering system integration, network integration, software solutions and IT services. Wipro also has a profitable presence in niche market segments of consumer products and lighting. In the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets, Wipro provides IT solutions and services for global corporations. Wipro's ADS' are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and its equity shares are listed in India on the Stock Exchange Mumbai, and the National Stock Exchange.

Training aids and advantages - Employee training Advantages of Training

The contribution of imparting training to a company should be readily apparent .The major values are: 1. Increased Productivity: An increase in skill usually results in an increment in both quality and quantity of output. However, the increasingly technical nature of modern jobs demands systematic training to make possible even minimum levels of accomplishment. 2. Heightened Morale: Possession of needed skills help to meet such basic human needs as security and ego satisfaction .Collaborate personnel and human relations programs can make a contribution toward morale ,but they are hollow shells if there is no solid core of meaningful work down with knowledge , skill and pride 3. Reduced Supervision The trained employee is one who can perform with limited supervision. Both employee and supervisor want less supervision but greater independence is not possible unless the employee is adequately trained. 4. Reduced Accidents: More accidents are caused by deficiencies in people than by deficiencies in equipment and working conditions. Proper training in both job skills and safety attitudes should contribute toward a reduction in the accident rate.

5. Increased Organizational Stability: The ability of an organization to sustain its effectiveness despite the loss of key personnel , can be developed only through creation of a reservoir of employees. Flexibility , the ability to adjust to short-run variations in the volume of work requires personnel with multiple skills to permit their transfer to jobs where the demand is highe

Procedures to determine training needs

New employees have to learn new skills, and since their motivation is likely to be high, they can be acquainted relatively easily with the skills and behavior expected in their new position. On the other hand, training experienced employees can be problematic. The training needs of such employees are not always easy to determine and when they can be, the individuals involved may resent being asked to change their established ways of doing their jobs. Managers can use four procedures to determine the training needs of individuals in their organization or subunit: 1. Performance appraisal: Each employees work is measured against the performance standards or objectives established for his or her job. 2. Analysis of job requirements: The skills or knowledge specified in the appropriate job description are examined, and those employees without necessary skills or knowledge become candidates for training program. 3. Organizational analysis: The effectiveness of the organization and its success in meeting its goals are analyzed to determine where differences exist. For example, members of a department with a high turnover rate or a low performance records might require additional training. 4. Employee Survey: Managers as well as non managers are asked to describe what problems they are experiencing in their work and what actions they believe are necessary to solve them.

Wipro wins award for employee training

Wipro Technology has been awarded by the Amerian Society for Training and Development (ASTD) for its employee training and development activities. Wipro was ranked sixth among the 39 companies, which won the ASTD's BEST awards. Wipro has won the award for the third year in a row. ASTD is an association dedicated to workplace learning. Seven other Indian companies, including Reliance Petroleum, Infosys Technologies, ICICI Bank and Hindustan Petroleum also won the award. Reliance Petroleum made it to the top five. The award is given to companies based on the evidence that the employee training programmes have added to the companies' overall performance and that the companies have made a significant investment in building talent. BEST is an acronym for 'build talent enterprise wide, supported by the leaders, through learning'. The award winners are chosen from amongst 71 entries from across the world and the winners set the standards for excellence and foster a good learning culture, Wipro said its intensive talent transformation programme had helped them win the award. The company spends one per cent of its total revenue on training. The company has eight dedicated employee training centres with four in Bangalore. These centres impart training in HR, leadership skills, behavioural skills and cross-culture training. The centres train about 3,500 employees daily. Talent Transformation division's senior vice-president Selvan D says the programmes have actually helped retain people. Wipro also has a dedicated learning centre for its Japanese businesses, in Chennai. The Japanese market is the hardest to penetrate and also very complicated. They try to make sure that we teach our employees their culture,"

Combating high attrition

Alarm bells are ringing loudly in corporate corridors as attrition rates in IT organisations average 22 percent as per a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) with a sample of 1,028

IT companies in the country. Another survey done by Peoplea Gartner group company specialising in the management of human capital in IT organisationshas observed that the average tenure of an IT professional is less than three years.

Below the surface

Being a people-intensive industry, it is characterised by knowledge workers who are professionals. The HR issues here are quite different from those in other people-intensive industries. We therefore need to understand them in the context of various forces affecting the industry both directly and indirectly. Going by the opinions of industry analysts, as well as exit interviews conducted by different companies, IT professionals are switching jobs for either money, career satisfaction or the opportunity to work with newer technologies. However, when attrition is dealt with microscopically, other reasons surface. Says Dr Nandkishore Rathi, placement officer of IIT-B, After doing the survey, we found that the lack of match between personal requirements and organisational culture was quite prevalent. Along with the three main reasons mentioned earlier, an employee may be concerned about the environment in the organisation, his compatibility with his supervisors, the attention paid to him, and so on.

Money is not everything

Although the importance of higher packages is slowly diminishing, among freshers or laterals with less than three years of work experience, money is still considered to be the highest priority. Observes Rakesh Tiku, vice-president, deliveries, Infinite Computer Solutions, With the overall package, the demand for performance-based salaries is going up. Employees want not only work recognition, but also extra perks. A number of IT professionals are looking at more challenging jobs, exposure to newer technologies, expansion of their domain capability, and movement from offshore to onsite. Adds V Bharathwaj, vicepresident, global marketing, 24/7 Customer, In several cases, faced with a choice between more money and a challenging job, employees have opted for the latter as it allows them to learn new technology and increase domain expertise. People analyse the training programmes of

prospective companies with those of their current organisation, which means that how an organisation grooms an employee is weighed to a greater extent. This is because they know that developing next-level skills will keep them ahead in the job market, and finally result in better compensation. They also look for a job with higher levels of responsibility. Hence, the reason for an employee leaving a company could be nothing other than his growthboth vertical and horizontal. If companies take proper steps and adopt methods to serve their employees needs, the challenge of managing attrition will remain low.

Treat employees like customers

should have a similar Companies approach to employees and customers. A company should strive to retain an employee in the same way it tries to retain a customer . Some employees prefer development development to being in a support and maintenance job. To hold back these people, we give first preference to training them.

Vision and objectives of wipro

Observes R Natarajan, vice-president, finance and HR, Tavant Technologies India, Mentoring and handholding new recruits from day one to four months are important tasks; during this period, they should be familiarised with the culture of the company. It is at this time that new entrants experiment with different options. Hence they should be exposed to the best values the company has. If they are informed about regular happenings in the company, employees will be confident about the future and not try to look for better options. Notes Satish Venkatachaliah, head of HR at SAP Labs India, We communicate

SAPs goals and mission to employees at all levels on a regular basis this has brought down the attrition level. Understanding an employees needs at various levels is a recommended HR practice. The Meet Your People Programme carried out at Wipro aims to increase the effectiveness of supervisors. Under this initiative, all team leaders meet regularly to exchange information about the challenges and successes of their respective teams. Through this, we are able to adopt best HR practices and tackle attrition to a great extent, explains Sahoo.

Consider feedback
Offering medical insurance, taking care of employees families, and a good overall package should make sure these processes are not derailed. Going to onsite locations matters a lot to IT workers, so organisations should allow all employees to avail of this chance on a rotational basis. It is important to take feedback from employees through different means and work with the HR department to iron out differences. As industry experts point out, feedback can be got in two waysduring the employees tenure, and through exit interviews. Inputs can be secured from existing employees through various employee relationship management tools. The Wipro Listens and Responds initiative at Wipro aims to capture the concerns and grievances of its employees. The feedback we get through this tool will be analysed, and action will be taken on it. Our employees are very excited that their feedback is being taken seriously, says Sahoo. Exit interviews help management learn the reasons why employees leave the company; based on their revelations, the organisation can address the problems of existing employees, thereby curb attrition.

Employees advocate
One of the main reasons why employees leave IT companies is because of problems with their managers. An HR professional can be termed an employees advocate and a bridge between top management and employees at all levels. There is a huge gap between HR professionals and IT professionals in terms of understanding challenges and

delivering requirements. HR has not really understood the problems associated with employees careers and jobs, opines Rathi. The companys overall plans and strategies also depend on HR professionals as they voice employees problems and requirements. Says Dr Solomon Suresh, vice-president of HR at HTMT, The HR department should have genuine interest in the employees welfareit is responsible for making sure that their expectations are met. By doing this it is easier to meet the companys business target

Management development in wipro

Wipro Technologies to open software development centre in Atlanta Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that Wipro Technologies, the global IT services business of Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT), will open its new global software development center in Atlanta. We are proud that Georgia can offer the top-notch technology, workforce and other business assets Wipro is looking for to grow its presence in the United States, said Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. Im especially pleased about the partnership between Wipro and the University System of Georgia to train and educate close to 500 employees. Wipro is in the process of choosing a location in metro Atlanta for its first development center in Georgia; the center will help Wipro in hiring a certain profile of skilled workers and domain experts who will be critical to Wipros business growth plans in the US. The new center will also enable Wipro to move forward with its business growth strategy to invest and recruit skilled talent within the U.S. in order to provide localized and closer-to-customer service for its expanding technology services business in the Americas. The work were doing requires more and more knowledge of the customers businesses, and you want local people to do that, said P.R Chandrasekar, President, Wipro Technologies. The Atlanta center is an investment that will help Wipros existing customers as well as help address new business opportunities.

Wipro chose to establish its presence in Atlanta because of the technical talent pool available in the region, given its proximity to key universities. For the first year, the Atlanta facility will hire more than 200 positions. By its third year of operation, the facility is expected to employ over 500 employees. Wipro will also set up a training center in Atlanta to provide both technical and soft-skills training to its employees in Georgia, and plans to sponsor higher education degrees for up to 40 percent of its employees for training and development. Wipro told us what they needed, and the University System of Georgia responded with a comprehensive workforce development program, said Erroll B. Davis, Jr., Chancellor. Through ICAPP (Georgias Intellectual Capital Partnership Program), we tapped into the resources of Georgias 35 public colleges and universities to find the best solution for this company. Kennesaw State University and Southern Polytechnic State University are collaborating with Wipro to create an innovative curriculum development and delivery system. The center is part of Wipros strategy to build global delivery capabilities and will significantly increase the companys presence and base of local hires in the United States. Wipro has over 12 offices in the United States, and the Atlanta center will strengthen the companys growing global delivery capabilities, which include development centers in Brazil, Eastern and Western Europe, China, Mexico and Canada. Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) Statewide Project Manager Mary Z. Douglass assisted the company with its location, as did the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce (MACOC). The Wipro investment is significant for metro Atlanta, and will create additional quality jobs coming from India, said Hans Gant, senior vice president of Economic Development for MACOC. Metro Atlanta continues to expand its global connections, and attract companies half a world away because weve got everything they needa home base located in the heart of the nations fastest-growing metro area, a low cost of doing business, access to the world through our international airport and world class universities.

Custom Content Development

As a part of the Custom Content Development Service, Wipro provides innovative and affordable learning content solutions. This service is customized specially to meet your requirements and help you get a competitive edge. Wipros Custom Content Development Service goes through a rigorous development cycle to ensure Quality and Timely Delivery of the solution. The development cycle is given bellow:

Custom Content Development Service includes:

Application Training Process Training Compliance and Regulatory Training Product Training Rapid Training Solutions

Wipro Technologies is the No.1 provider of integrated business, technology and process solutions on a global delivery platform. Wipro Technologies is a global services provider delivering technologydriven business solutions that meet the strategic objectives of our clients. Wipro has 55+ Centers of Excellence that create solutions around specific needs of industries. Wipro delivers unmatched business value to customers through a combination of process excellence, quality frameworks and service delivery innovation. Wipro is the World's first CMMi Level 5 certified software services company and the first outside USA to receive the IEEE Software Process Award. Wipro wins ASTDs BEST Award third time in a row - the only Indian firm to achieve this hat-trick

Award Recognizes Organizational Commitment to Employee Learning Wipro Technologies, the Global IT Services Division of Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT), today announced that it has been ranked sixth in the American Society for Training & Development`s 2006 BEST Awards Program. Wipro is among 39 organizations from India, South Africa, and the United States to receive the ASTD BEST Award and the only Indian IT organization to win the award three years in a row. Wipro is ranked 6th globally and is the only IT services firm in the top 10. The ASTD BEST Awards recognize organizations that demonstrate enterprise-wide success through employee learning and development. According to Jennifer Homer, Sr. Director, Public Relations & Public Policy, ASTD, The winners set the standard of excellence for exceptional learning practices, and demonstrate that a skilled workforce is vital to achieving results. Homer continues, The 2006 ASTD BEST Award winners use learning as a strategic tool and have the support of senior leaders who champion a learning culture. A team of 125 dedicated faculty spread across Wipro locations nurtures the talent of employees covering Technology, Behavioral, Domain, Project Management and Leadership. Commenting on the award, Selvan D, Sr. Vice President . Talent Transformation, Wipro Technologies said, The ASTD award is a testimony to our efforts in providing a rich learning experience for our employees that translates into delivering higher value and improved customer satisfaction. Wipro is geared to train up to 5000 employees simultaneously. In 2005-06, Wipro

delivered over 380,000 person days of learning of which 30% was through technology enabled learning. Through an online survey, the 2006 BEST Awards received applications from 78 organizations in seven countries. These organizations submitted quantitative and qualitative information to ASTD about their learning and development practices and programs. Their applications were assessed by members of the BEST Awards advisory committee, a group of experts in the learning and performance field. Wipro has learning centers in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon and Kolkota and the learning centers are connected with virtual class room network with two broadcast facilities in Hyderabad and Bangalore. About ASTD ASTD (American Society for Training & Development) is the world`s largest association dedicated to workplace learning and performance professionals. ASTD`s members come from more than 100 countries and connect locally in 140 U.S. chapters and 24 Global Networks. ASTD started in 1944 when the organization held its first annual conference.