Educational Quest: An Int. J. of Education and Applied Social Science: Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 1-8, August 2017 DOI: ©2017 New Delhi Publishers. All rights reserved Professional Development of Employees in ODL Institution: A Case of IGNOU K. Gowthaman* and Ashish Kr. Awadhiya Inter- university Consortium (IUC), Indira Gandhi National Open university, New Delhi, India *Corresponding author: gowthaman@ignou.ac.in ABSTRACT Training and development is the fastest growing industry as a result of replacement of industrial workers with knowledge workers. An efective and sustainable organizational training produces signifcant 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 identifed as a signifcant 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 staf 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 identifed 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. Keywords: Barriers on implementation, impact of training, training and development, ODL system, utilisation of training The term ‘Professional Development’ can be referred as different types of knowledge and skill enhancement activities, which may include conventional teaching learning, domain specific standardised training for the target stakeholders to improve their knowledge, competence, skill, and efectiveness (Professional Development, 2013). These activities may be performed in-house at the work place or may at diferent places and may be at various levels, starting from basic to advanced. However, in industrial terms the professional development could be defined as “Process of improving and increasing capabilities of employees through access to education and training opportunities in the workplace, through outside organization, or through watching others perform the job” (Professional Development, 2017). Professional development, through in-house training activities, helps to improve and sustain the productivity of the organization, inculcate staf motivation and job satisfaction, reduce their atrition rate. Training is a process that involves the acquisition of knowledge, comprehending concepts and rules for sharpening of skills and changing of atitudes and behaviours to enhance the performance of employees. Training and development is the fastest growing industry because of replacement of industrial workers with knowledge workers. In United States, for example, according to one estimate