Organizations are increasingly dependent on skilled technical and professional employees. There are many ways that skills training programs can be categorized. We organize our discussion around three categories: basic skills/literacy education, technical training, and interpersonal skills training. Basic skills/literacy education refers to training that focuses on upgrading the reading, writing, and computation skills needed to function in most any job.

Technical training refers to training that involves the process of upgrading a wide range of technical skills (such as computer skills) needed by particular individuals in an organization. Interpersonal skills training refers to training that focuses on an individual’s relationships with others, including interpersonal topics like communication and teamwork. Training in all of these areas can be critical to organizations.