As organizations increasingly leverage human capital to gain competitive distinction, HR and talent management executives are eager to understand how different employee skill sets factor into talent management activities. This requires a greater awareness of how training and development can be tailored to the individual employee to ensure each understands and applies the knowledge critical to the successful execution of his or her role and the organization’s overall business objectives.

Developing custom training content is one way companies can make sure business objectives are addressed, and the practice is more common today than in the past. However, content alone will not ensure a successful training outcome or ROI, and how content is delivered is of equal, if not greater importance.

Non-college graduates are one segment of the employee population that would benefit greatly from a more tailored learning approach. Nongrads often feel unprepared for the expectations they face when entering the workforce, even at the entry level. Conversely, their college-grad peers believe postsecondary education gave them the fundamentals needed to meet the requirements and expectations placed on them by their employers, giving them an edge from the onset.

The overall value of a college education is it prepares students to become more productive employees with a more defined sense of their individual roles within a corporate environment, as well as awareness of the goals a company has for them. College grads often enter the workforce with greater confidence than their nongrad counterparts, regardless of their actual abilities.

Of course, there are plenty of professionals who did not have the opportunity to work toward a college degree and nevertheless achieved success and proficiency in their careers. Despite these successes, there aren’t many nongrads in C-level positions in the Fortune 500, which suggests there are barriers to the level of success attainable by nongrads. Once identified, barriers can be minimized or removed entirely with more strategic planning of training and development.

According to a 2005 survey of approximately 1,500 college and non-college bound high school graduates by Achieve Inc., 40 percent indicated their secondary education did not prepare them for the skills, abilities or work habits expected of them in the workplace. Additionally, of the recent graduates, professors and employers surveyed, all agreed high schools need to raise the bar and provide more rigorous content if students are to be more successful after graduation.