The relationship between the trainer and the student can stumble or falter for a variety of reasons. Understanding the enemy can help you to combat problems or avoid them outright. Invariably the relationship will suffer minor setbacks throughout the training but this is usually the result of the additional stress placed onto the student. In some cases the relationship may suffer a more permanent regression or plateau early and result in slower student progress. Action is required to remedy this problem and intervention from an external mediator may also be necessary. These difficulties are usually the result of one or more of the following five main hurdles to building and progressing the relationship.

• Miscommunication: This the most common relationship malady and can quickly end up in a catch-22 situation. You need the relationship for the communication to prosper but without communication, how can the relationship develop. The only solution is to take a proactive role and instigate open, honest interaction between the two of you so that any miscommunication is cleared up quickly.
• Ego versus empathy: The trainer has to be confident in their own ability and if this confidence is massaged often enough, ego will grow in its place. The trainer may feel the need to pamper this growth personally, often to the student’s detriment. In severe cases the trainer will neglect obvious signs for attention and place more emphasis on their training over the student’s learning. Comments like “you won’t understand this but” or “when you’ve been doing this as long as I have …” are indicators that this is occurring.
• Credibility: This may or may not have any bearing on the trainers aptitude for the task and is often based on intangible evidence such as social status (e.g. your trainer isn’t well liked by their peers). Unfortunately for the trainer, this is also the case of being guilty until proven otherwise. The best solution is prove them wrong but this can take valuable time. Students may be difficult to sway and the only remaining choice is to rely on coercive power to have them complete the tasks with some enthusiasm. The moral of the story; don’t blow any credibility that you do have with poor preparation or negligence.
• Expectations: The trainer has misread the ability of the student and set goals that are unrealistic or provide little to no challenge. Unachievable goals can lead to despair and the student may just give in or make half-hearted attempts with no expectation of success. If the student is not challenged, they may become bored or frustrated with the training, especially if they feel that they are being treated like a complete novice or simpleton. This problem lies solely on the shoulders of the trainer and occurs because they cannot assess or apply the correct training pace for optimum learning. Seek help before the student quits - it will be much harder afterward if this occurs.
• Professionalism: This covers the trinity of honesty, integrity and sincerity. In essence it is the trainer preaching a set of standards that they themselves do not adhere to and the student is well aware of it. Honesty means tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Integrity means do the right thing even though you think no-one is watching - act as though your boss, your mother and your eight year old child are scrutinising your every move. For sincerity it is simple; say what you mean and mean what you say. You may think a little rebellion or individuality will assist the student in identifying with you, but do so with caution, because any one of these professional sins will jeopardise credibility. If it causes moral dilemma in the student, then irreparably so.

You may or may not have control over any or all of these when the training begins but it is essential that you don’t add fuel to the fire of dissension. It is far easier to degrade the relationship than it is to rebuild it after a rift appears. Treasure the relationship with the student because it is the key to effective communication. Without effective communication, your efforts will be spent on salvaging rather than developing.

Tags: training, OJT, adult learning

What do fish and chips have to do with training? Back in the old days it was not uncommon to use some emotional flair in training to reinforce a message or express your distaste at a demonstration of poor performance. This could be the occasional rant, outburst or hurling a work aid across the room (yes, this sort of behaviour was as common as paying men and women different rates for the same job). It was known that physical abuse wasn’t an effective method but emotional abuse had it’s place in the training regime.

In the organisation I was working for at the time, this was known as FIBS (fear, intimidation, belittlement and sarcasm) or FISH (fear, intimidation, sarcasm and humiliation). FISH stuck with me. It was bullying fair and square and trainers used it more for themselves than for the student.

The alternative was considered to be ‘touchy feely’ or the ’soft touch’ and was used only when the situation warranted it (bosses son/daughter, your new boss or a really big, tough and scary sort of person). However, as times changed we started to realise the role that a positive relationship between the student and the trainer had in an effective training program.

Not all of us are meant to be trainers

The alternative to FISH is CHIPS.

Consideration
Humility
Inspiration
Professionalism
Sincerity

Consideration: Show consideration for for the student, their current strengths, their efforts and their ability to learn. They are not stupid just because because they do not understand your explanation or cannot replicate your demonstration. Remember that no matter how unskilled they appear, there is always something they can do better than you. Recognise their strengths and use them - there is no such thing as a ‘blank canvas’ in training.

Humility: You are human and you make mistakes, so admit them. They are not looking for perfection, they are looking for guidance. If you cannot do something it actually helps them to understand what the requirements of the job are. Remember once the shift is over, you are no different than they are.

Inspiration: Practice what you preach. The best way to get them to ‘be like you’ is to be someone that they want to be like. Be a shining example - before, during and after training. Be the absolute best that you can be at your job and show that you are still striving to be better. The key element is lead, not just direct.

Professionalism: This should go without saying. Know the standards of dress, bearing and conduct and stick to them. Be on time (early is better) and ready to work. Don’t leave early at every opportunity and restrict those breaks. Once again, this is the lead that your student follows. This doesn’t mean that you cannot be personal when the situation warrants (emotional support, empathy etc) but it does mean not making your problems your student’s.

Sincerity: Say what you mean, mean what you say. Feed back is always constructive and impersonal; we change behaviours, not feelings or opinions. No sarcastic, insulting or harassing comments.

Now not everybody will embrace these traits naturally (or at all in some cases). This means that some of us are more suited to the trainer’s disposition more than others. That’s not to say these can be overcome and in some circumstances students may want a trainer strong or weak in a particular area. The importance thing is that even though CHIPS aren’t necessarily the ‘be all’ of training, the FISH is certainly the ‘end all’.

Trainers never stand still. There are always different students even more difficult than before, new content or changes to the old and innovative theories, strategies and techniques to explore. This is actually part of the job and does not account for your own growth as a trainer. In essence it just being dragged forward (kicking and screaming in some cases) just for the sake of progress.

So how do you get ahead of the game and on to the leading edge of training in you profession?

Read, observe, discuss and get involved.

Read: Look for other resources. There are countless books on training, learning theory and facilitation. It doesn’t stop there. I listened to psychology lectures and learnt the four golden rules of behaviour modification (aka learning multipliers). I even experimented with students to see them in action (and invoked rule #2 for myself). An off sider of mine once remarked on the child-like behaviours of one of their students and that led me to some videos on child sociology. 

What about business practices? This site was inspired by a management pod cast called ‘manager tools’. There are many similarities between the managerial environment and training environment. What about books on change management and politics? The resources are out there.

Observe: Observe other trainers. Watching other trainers can give you new ideas and suggestions for improving your own practices. Not only that, you can observe their student’s reactions to assess the effectiveness without having to experiment yourself. Where they open to it, did they give it a try and did it work? Also keep an eye on other students in normal circumstances. What are their ‘tells’ or behaviours when they become stressed, uncertain or overwhelmed? You may need to train them some day.

Discuss: Discuss your training strategies with other trainers and students. Other trainers may have a wealth of knowledge on tips or strategies that have proven successful (or unsuccessful – may as well make use of other peoples mistakes) in the past.

Invite feedback. If you openly display a willingness to accept suggestions, others will be more likely to offer some advice. Some people will not be able to help themselves and remember, you are under no obligation to implement it. Regardless, take it graciously and thank them sincerely - they may be right.

Students are an excellent source of information. In some cases you may actually find that they student has had more experience in learning than you have, despite never being a trainer themselves. This exposure helps regardless of which side of the fence you find yourself on. They may be able to help you with what worked for them, found other resources or even previously been employed as trainers elsewhere.

Get involved: Another valuable resource is your training manager. Mine was always incredibly busy and I usually had to wait for the opportunity to arise before I could glean any information from him. The trick was to help him with his administrative tasks. This has two benefits; first you start to see training from management’s perspective and second, when they are absent you are in a better position to fulfil their role temporarily.

This works both ways. Also look down and across the chain to look for opportunities to broaden your experience. If you can get some training in different elements of the organisation you will learn more about the various roles, as well as see how training is conducted elsewhere. In air traffic control we looked at how pilots were trained as well as various support agencies such as aircraft loaders and fire fighters. We also paid close attention to how our civilian and international counterparts were doing their training to see if there was anything else we could learn.

Conclusion

Improving your ability as a trainer starts with the desire to do so. Without the motivation to move forward, any development will be accidental and may not be in areas that attention is most needed. Organisations need skilled trainers with the ability to keep up with the current learning demands and as such, it is in the best interests of the trainer to continue to develop their own skills and knowledge. Student have also come to expect more from their training and if your strategy is to wait until the need to improve arises, you may find yourself reacting just to keep your job.

Over the last couple of months I’ve laid down what I consider to be the foundations for an effective OJT trainer, but this is just the beginning. Like Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) said to Neo (Keanu Reeves) in “The Matrix” - “I can only show you the door”. I hope that I have demonstrated that greater effectiveness is only a few simple actions away. Sure there is no substitute for experience, but there are certainly better ways of doing some things.

The next steps

I posted a series on student development and the actions they can take to enhance their post-training development. Why should it be any different for the trainer? This is a rhetorical question of course and the answer is, “it isn’t”. The trainer can rest on their laurels and get by or they can take positive steps and go from just being a ‘trainer’ to being a ‘great trainer’.

To recap, the first post gave an overview of student development and listed the three areas they could work on to improve their knowledge and skills. The following three posts gave some more detail information on each of these avenues.

• The development plan explain how a carefully considered course of action can help you make measured progress over a period of time. This may be given as part of you annual performance and review program but  there is nothing stopping you from adding additional challenges to the program.
• The ongoing actions lists behaviours you can adopt as part of your work routine to identify and better receive developmental opportunities.
• Self investment describes some activities you can undertake to ‘invest a little time back in yourself’. In essence, it is looking for opportunities to improve your overall knowledge and skills and make you a ‘more rounded’ employee with a wider scope of experience. The suggestions are targeted at a newly endorsed employee but in the next post I’ll add a few extra resources that are a bit more relevant to your current situation.

Take a few moments to review these and consider how they could apply to your development.

Let me know if there is anything else that you do to avoid becoming ’stale’.

Tags: trainerdevelopment

In previous posts, I often referred to actions or activities that the student could take to improve on identified deficiencies. These are known as remedial actions. We measure performance and evaluate overall progress but this doesn’t fix the problem, which is the essentially the primary reason we are involved in the training in the first place.

Remedial actions differ from feed back in that they are not an actual solution to the identified problem, but a path to finding resolution. In some cases there is no simple fix and the student must transfer existing skills, problem solve or use repetition to hone the targeted area. However, remedial activities can extend beyond simple practice activities.

To overcome a problem the student can;

• learn how to avoid the problem or employ defences against it reoccurring (avoidance),
• reduce the severity of the problem to a level able to be overcome (mitigation), or
• increase their knowledge or skill to be able to overcome the problem (improvement)

Remedial activities for your students

• Study/Training: This is the most common choice of activities and involves the student either hitting the books, practising an action or a combination of the two until they essentially get it right. Setting goals will improve the effectiveness because it gives the student a target (eg make sure you can recites this list or complete this sequence without errors) and at the very least, specific competencies must be targeted. It is most often used ineffectively by lacking clarity (telling the student to “study more” or “more practice required”).
• Use organisational process: This asks the student to think about the big picture or role that the weakness falls within the overall process. Ask the student to identify where and how it fits into the larger organisation or surrounding environment. Follow on with cause and effect scenarios to identify what the impact of poor decision making or errors will be. Establish measures that can be used to assess the impact that they are having on the environment or increase their overall situational awareness.
• Discussion:  Explain the processes or procedures using your perspective or the perspective of other agencies. If different parties are involved, paraphrasing or jargon free descriptions become necessary. As an alternative have the student describe the process in a discussion or presentation format. This incurs preparation and additional study to complete and is an excellent way to really test whether or not the student understands.
• Planning: Have the student continually look ahead or prepare for the next set of actions. This may be part of their responsibilities any way but having the student look at things differently or further ahead may help them learn valuable planning or problem identification skills.  A technique I employed was the three way approach - list the possible outcomes and Identify the worst that can happen, the best that can happen and most likely to happen. In about 90% of cases the outcome will be one of these (anecdotally speaking). Formulate responses for these in advance - this may not solve identifying a solution but there will be rapid improvement in analysis and implementation.
• Control and Monitoring: A natural response by the trainer is to tighten the leash by asking the student to verbalise responses and actions prior to initiating them. This forces the student to think things through and can give valuable insight into why they act or behave the way they do.
• Identify Failures: Have the student identify critical points in their process or thoughts and establish measures or means of assessing when a failure is imminent. This will assist the student recognising when action is required early (when there is usually less correction necessary).
• Add defences: This can be physical such a guide or barrier to the process such as a template (eg before cutting, line up the edge with ….) or measuring device (make it about two fingers wide). It can also be a non-physical barrier such as an additional check (just to make sure, check ….) or a rule of thumb (eg stay three seconds behind the car in front). Quite often these will be in excess of a standard and only used until the student has the appropriate level of skill or knowledge.
• Use Materials: Handouts, tables and diagrams to assist the process. These provide ready reference to procedures and usually summarise the content for a quick review and application. In a lot of cases, these are useless without the background knowledge and like defences, may only be used until the student’s knowledge improves.
• Procedures: Encourage the student to suggest their own procedures or flowchart for dealing with a situation. This can then become a guide or check list (see materials) for the student. Even if it isn’t suitable, it can be a great starting point by Identifying inherent weaknesses and how to overcome them. This technique is more suited to situations where a a robust process is not promulgated or easily understood.
• Regulation: Formalise the procedures for them (eg. when this happens, you do this …). It is essentially taking the decision making away from the student and it usually involves a ‘one size fits all’ solution. This procedure is best suited to when there are no promulgated methods or there are multiple solutions available to a problem.

This isn’t comprehensive list of remedial advice or actions that you can prescribe to address a student problem. The purpose is to highlight that ‘try harder’ isn’t your only option. In some cases these may not suffice but thinking beyond the way you were probably taught (If you were like me, you heard a lot of “don’t worry - keep at it and you’ll get it eventually”) may present with better more effective solutions. Of course, not every solution will work with every student, however, having additional options to try is never a bad thing.

This multiple-trainer scenario can be the most challenging to keep efficient and at it’s most effective. It usually works as a “shotgun approach” simply because statistically there is a greater chance that the student will derive benefit from one (or more) of the trainers there is usually the opportunity for more training to be conducted. Statistically there is also a greater chance of something going wrong.

The main problems that arise are;

• competing training styles,
• standarisation issues,
• repetition of content, and
• content not covered or adequately practised.

Overcoming problems with multiple trainer teams

Once again the key elements are planning, coordination and communication. The strategies outlined in the three previous posts (taking over, handing over and covering for a trainer) will assist maintaining a team cohesive environment. There are a few additional actions that will be necessary. These are;

Appoint a leader: This doesn’t need to be the most senior or experienced person in the team although that would help keep the team ‘all pulling in the same direction’. The best person for the job is the most attentive to detail or process driven member in the team. They will need to motivate (or enforce) the team to adopt and maintain the behaviours that promote efficiency and effectiveness. This person will take responsibility for the background administration (responsibility doesn’t mean they’ll do it themselves) and standardisation issues associated with the training process including ensuring that all reporting is completed and submitted within the appropriate time frames.

Everybody pre-briefs and debriefs: Each trainer conducts a pre-training brief and a post training debrief after each session or day as appropriate. You cannot cover for another trainer in this aspect and you shouldn’t skip these just to get another 30 minutes of training. This will take coordination with your other team members so as to work together and avoid over tasking the student with remedial activities.

Everybody reports: At the end of each week (or specified training period), each trainer submits a training report regardless of the amount of training conducted in that period. In fact, even if no training was conducted, you should still submit a training report stating that fact and any circumstances that may have contributed to it. You are documenting the training and by do this, training management can identify for which training periods that you were not involved in training (as opposed to forgetting to report on training).

Complete a hand-over card at the end of each session: Each trainer completes hand-over form (such as a SCORE card) for the next trainer to review for their session. This is vital if an actual handover is not available and it will assist the process greatly if there is one. If there are more than two trainers, review all of their cards to spot trends and coordinate you attacks with theirs.

Meet daily: Get together with the other trainers daily to discuss aspects of the training and the student’s progress. Obviously if no training was conducted, a meeting is not necessary but if any training at all was conducted, all of the trainers meet, even those that didn’t actively train on that day. The more you collaborate and coordinate your efforts, the greater the combined result will be.

Meet regularly with student: Get together with the student to clarify any standardisation issues or training methodology discrepancies. How regularly will depend on the length and type of training. Some environments are standards driven, whilst others are based on individual perspectives and may need constant review to identify best practices. This is where the trainers discuss issues that the student is finding as either conflicting or unclear and come to an agreement on removing the ambiguity. Failing to do so is a two way lose because the student has to demonstrate to two performance standards (and if one is clearly wrong, may have moral dilemmas as well). There is no such thing as agreeing to disagree in this matter and if necessary, this meeting can be used to identify those items that need to be submitted to a higher authority for resolution.

Follow the plan: The plan is there for a reason - to coordinate your training efforts. If something is missed during training or time is wasted on ground already gained, it is usually because one or more of the trainers deviated from the the plan. The lead trainer is the person who coordinates any cross activity (lessons of opportunity for example) and any deviation from the training plan is to be notified to them immediately after training.

Conclusion

Using a team of trainers can be very beneficial to the student by having access to a wider range of skills, knowledge and perspectives of the workplace. Additionally, more training can be conducted and things like trainer absences or availabilities are more easily overcome. The drawback is that additional coordination and communication between the trainers is required to avoid them competing and degrading the benefits of their collaboration. However, with leadership and the adoption of some effective techniques, the combined efforts of the training team will far exceed the sum of the individual contributions.

Occasionally a trainer will be asked to fill in for another trainer during a short period of absence. Usually there is not enough time to effect any major changes and any effort to do so will be wasted on the student adapting to the new strategies. The key to success is to follow the lead of the primary trainer as near as possible whilst still applying the benefit of your differing strengths and perspectives.

Taking over

There are only a few minor differences from taking over temporarily to moving in permanently. You will still need to take the lead but in this case make it less intrusive and consider yourself more as a guest of the relationship than as a resident. The student will only be under your tutelage briefly and your goal is to get the best results in that period with the least damage.

• Review: Review the training plan and the most recent training reports, including pre-brief and debrief notes. At the very least, look at the last three to identify what the most recent objectives were, what goals have been achieved and what remedial activities have been prescribed. It is easy to focus on the student’s weaknesses or failures but remember that their successes were built on their strengths. You will have a better chance at achievement by leveraging these to combat the shortcomings.
• Coordinate: Quite often the primary trainer will be unavailable for a face-to-face meeting so this may not be an option. This is a compelling reason to complete training administration promptly and use the SCORE card or similar system. Hopefully, the primary trainer has such a system in place and you can refer to this for some additional information on the student’s current progress. I expect that in most cases this will not be the case - Which means is that you may need to combine this step with the student meeting to gain their input on the current strategies being used. This is not ideal as they are not ‘experts’ in this realm and may be ‘to close’ to the situation to provide an accurate assessment.
• Communicate: Meet with the student prior to training (prior to the pre-brief if possible) to discuss the training and your plan for the period you will be covering. Reassure the student that you are not about to start changing the goal posts and at most, you will offer a different perspective for them to consider. You will be continuing with the plan that the primary trainer has established and there will be very little disruption from your usual regime.

During training

Your purpose during training is to cover for the primary trainer, not fix up their training. There will be things that you wouldn’t have done in the same circumstances but as long as it doesn’t contradict the training purpose, you should endeavour to assist the student without passing judgement on the training itself. This will be difficult but remember, if you criticise the trainer, their efforts or the student’s application of their advice, it will play badly for you. You will lose what relationship you have with the student, cause friction between their existing relationship with the primary trainer and potentially effect your credibility amongst the training team.

Standardisation issues are not for you and the student to debate. Take it up with the primary trainer and allow them to address the issue with the student afterward. If there is an issue that must be resolved, point out the correct way, the appropriate reference and leave it at that (ie no snide or deriding comments). If there is no reference, then who says what they are doing is wrong - arguments degrade training effectiveness 100% of the time.

After training

Document, document, document. Assume that you will not be be available to meet with the primary trainer to conduct a hand over and complete the SCORE card. Hand over all of your notes; pre-brief, debrief and those taken during training. You will also need to complete a training report for the training period, regardless of the length of your tenure. Even if it was only 30 minutes of training, all training must be accounted for.

Conclusion

Although you may be the substitute teacher during the training and less is riding on your performance, the student’s still matters.  The disruption will affect their performance and they may be ’stand-offish’.  Poor handling of the situation will actually degrade you efforts and retard their progress. It is not uncommon for the primary trainer to have to recover some ground lost on their return. As a stand in trainer, focus on the objectives and remember, this is not about you.

Although this is technically the same scenario as the previous post, the role of the outgoing trainer is a little different. The reason behind the change of trainers really has no affect on your actions and will only change the actual content of your hand-over information.

It is easy to quickly wash your hands of the process and leave it all up to the oncoming trainer. Its their problem now, isn’t it? Technically yes, but that doesn’t mean that your responsibility ends with the decision to change trainers. Anything that you can do to help the ongoing trainer deal with the student’s transition will assist the training and the organisation. Even if the parting wasn’t a friendly one, you will still have valuable information that can save the new trainer discovering it the hard way.

Your actions

Take an active role in the hand-over by preparing one. The purpose of this exercise is to assist the student (not to save face or degrade the student’s efforts) and you can do this by following these steps:

• Gather all of your evidence: Collate all of your training documentation including scribble notes, any assignments handed in, pre-brief notes, debrief notes, training reports and all of the training plans (current and revised). Give these to the oncoming trainer with sufficient time for them to review before the hand over meeting. Don’t offer any additional information at this stage, let them draw it all from the documentation.
• Prepare the hand over: The oncoming trainer will want to formulate their own plans and strategies to implement. Why? Because they are better at being themselves than they are at being someone else - don’t take it personally (a change may in fact be warranted). They will want two things from you; first, how to minimise the disturbance to the student and second, insight into effective / ineffective training strategies. This step has two sub parts
• Part A - Complete the SCORE card: This template captures the relevant training information that will allow the oncoming trainer to continue on where you left off.
• Part B - Prepare your answers: The oncoming trainer is going to have some questions for you and if you can prepare for these now, you will be able to give more meaningful answers. Expect things like “What was the most effective training technique?”. The least? Their biggest strength? Your greatest challenge? How does the student respond to feed back? How was their participation in pre-briefs and debriefs? Overall demeanour? Ability to cope with pressure? Failure? Success (I had a student once that was easily overwhelmed by their own success and became very embarrassed)?
• Conduct the handover: This is formal and will be documented - so expect to hand in your preparation notes. The oncoming trainer will wish to discuss the training in a professional manner. This is not judgement on you (your actions maybe) so the more honest and open you are, the more the oncoming trainer will learn and the better it will be for the student.
• Withhold future comment: The best role you can play at this moment is ’supporting actor’. Feel free to offer advice to the new trainer but only do this in private and share this with absolutely nobody else. Regardless of the circumstances, your public criticisms will only cause harm to the training, your credibility and the organisation.

Conclusion

Once again, you may find their are additional ways that you can assist the oncoming trainer and their new challenge. If you can do so but not at the expense of the relationship between them and their new student. These are the minimum actions you can take and if it benefits the training, it is worth the effort.

The first scenario involves a trainer taking over the responsibility for training a student for a significant period of training. What constitutes a ’significant period’ will vary with circumstances the length of the planned training etc). For this situation we are considering it to mean either a permanent change, where the previous trainer is not expected to contribute further, or for a period of at least a few weeks where the new trainer may have to adjust the training plan significantly.

Changing trainers part way through training will always incur a transition period of reduced training effectiveness as the new relationship forms. The length will vary depending on the persons involved and in particular, the circumstances that necessitate the change.

Why did the change occur?

The reason behind the change in trainers will affect the student and their receptiveness to the new situation. There are three main circumstances that will have driven the change;

• The student has progressed to a new stage of training (graduation)
• The initial trainer is no longer available (secondment)
• The initial student/trainer combination was ineffective (replacement)

Graduation is the best circumstances that an oncoming trainer can hope to encounter. The student comes to you with known achievements and has at least established a minimum level of competency that you can build on. In addition, the student is usually confident and has an amicable relationship with the previous trainer.

During secondment, your greatest concern is uncertainty. The student may be apprehensive about the new relationship and may not actually want the burden of forming a new one. Additionally, the outgoing trainer may not be available for a comprehensive hand over and at the least, is distracted by their new priorities (otherwise they would continue with the training).

In a trainer replacement, the situation is mixed blessing. The positive is that the student is looking forward to a change in trainers, even if it was a very amicable parting with the previous one (nobody likes failing, even in good company). The drawback is that the previous relationship may have failed. The trainer may have misread the student and the student’s confidence is usually suffering from lack of progress.

My actions

The trainer certainly has a significant part to play in the impact the change has on progress. How they act can mean the difference between a slight hiccup or having to re-start at the beginning. The circumstances will dictate how these actions are implemented and in some cases may seem obvious, but none should be overlooked.

The trainer has two objectives; resume the training as soon as possible and build the relationship. To do this, the trainer must;

• Take the lead: As the oncoming trainer, it is now your responsibility to pick up the pieces and take control of the training. By all means accept any assistance from the student and the previous trainer but remember that the buck stops with you. This is not technically an action but the first step you must take is to accept this responsibility.
• Review existing documentation: review the current training plan first to see what should have already been achieved and what should be outstanding (I say should because it may be well out of date). Then move through all training reports to identify what has been achieved, what strategies have been applied, what worked, what did not and what remedial actions were prescribed.
• Coordinate with the previous trainer: Meet with the previous trainer to discuss the student. Set this meeting up with this one sole purpose. It is not a casual chat - it is a formal handover that will be documented and submitted with the rest of the training reports. Sure you can keep some things off the record if they are assumptions or the like, but if it affects the student’s ability to be trained, it goes on the report.
• Plan: Armed with this information you can now develop a training plan. You may need to consult with other agencies to account for some of the unknowns like available resources. Don’t assume that it has remain unchanged since the previous plan was implemented - the workplace has changed just by shuffling a few trainers around.
• Communicate: Meet with he student and discuss the plan. That may mean changing it to meet student needs, but that is perfectly acceptable if it instils ownership upon them. This is a joint effort and collaboration is essential in building the new relationship, especially if the previous one soured.

This is just the beginning and additional actions may be necessary when all of the circumstances are taken into consideration. These as just the minimum steps necessary and if there is anything you can do to improve the relationship or resume effective training more quickly without harm to the other, then you should seriously consider it. Additionally, some of these are entire topics in themselves but rest assured, they’ll be covered in later posts.

Typically a new trainer will want to do things ‘their way’ so as to utilise their own strengths but effective trainers realise that the best course of action is to initially follow the lead of the previous trainer and not ‘rock the boat’ straight away. This allows the student to adjust to the new training conditions at a slower rate (less stress) and gives the trainer time to assess the student themselves and build the relationship before implementing any major changes.

The SCORE card is a hand-over template that the outgoing trainer completes to give the incoming trainer information on how to take over the training with the least disruption to the student.

The template

There are five parts to the template:

• Status,
• Current progress,
• Outstanding assignments,
• Recent successes and failures, and
• Expected next.

Status: List the student’s main strengths and weaknesses as well as current training strategies to accentuate or mitigate these. What other strategies have been tried, which were effective and what failed? Is the documentation and administration up to date? How is the student throughout the process - confident, unsure, uncaring etc?

Current progress: list the current short to medium term goals and describe any progress that the student has made toward these. Identify exactly where along the training plan they are and what is being done to maintain or remedy the progress?

Outstanding assignments: List any homework or additional exercises given with due dates and any follow up activities. What remedial activities are in use or about to be introduced to the student’s training?

Recent Successes and Failures: List these, identifying any trends or anomalies. This information is used to assist assessment of current progress and will help the new trainer evaluate how much they will need to motivate the student. Don’t forget to include any assignments or activities away form the workplace.

Expected next: What are you going to do next? What is the next new topic or skill that will be introduced to the student? What resources have been lined up and who were you coordinating these with? Are there any resource “choke points” that you were avoiding? When are any assessments due?

The more information in this brief, the better. It is far easier to filter out the useless than it is to fill in the blanks and feel free to include any additional information that affects the training (such as student planned absences, training downtimes etc).

This is not intended to replace the hand-over / take-over component and should include an opportunity to elaborate on points or a Q&A session for the incoming trainer. However, most of us recognise that with shift-work, outsourcing and the requirement for organisations to respond quickly to demands, the opportunity to have the two trainers meet may not be available. This template provides a ‘band aid’ solution to not being able to complete a full handover and under these circumstances, any information is better then none.

Training, like most events will rarely ever go completely according to plan. Circumstances will dictate that training goals be reassessed, strategies be revised and occasionally, trainers will be replaced. Like or not, trainer participation is personal (that’s we use them) and changing trainers will impact on the student’s training, even if only temporarily.

In some circumstances multiple trainers may be used to increase training opportunities (to facilitate things like shift work, temporary absences) or subject matter expertise (trainers with different strengths). Although this does increase the amount of training that can be conducted (trainers usually have higher overheads than the student), there are a few problems that come with the advantages. For example, there is;

• an increased chance of student/trainer conflict,
• increased coordination between trainers to avoid overlap / missing information, and
• an increased possibility of conflicting information or trainer interpretation of standards.

Why use multiple trainers

There are four main circumstances where a trainer would be used as part of multiple trainer environment. These are

• You are taking over from another trainer
• You are handing over a student to another trainer
• You are temporarily covering for a trainer
• You are part of a multi-trainer team

Regardless of why, it takes three things to use multiple trainers effectively; planning, communication and coordination.

Planning: A training plan is a road map for the trainers and laying this down formally ensures that all of the team members have a shared direction. This is essential if all of the individual units of the team are to work together, move in the same direction and at the same pace without impeding the steps of any other team member. The plan will outline goals – long, medium and short term, identify training strategies and resources required. In a team environment, it will identify the responsibilities of individual team members.

Communication: Communication is essential and goes hand in hand with documentation. If it isn’t communicated to the entire time, it has not been communicated. It is equally important that the communication extends to the student and it is easy to leave them out of the equation if the trainers are alternated often. Documenting the training ensures that both the trainers and student have access to a record of what has been achieved, what is outstanding and most importantly, what the next step is.

Coordination: Coordination between the trainers will allow the next trainer to pick up where the previous one left off. It will also reduce the replication of content or ineffective training strategies. It usually occurs through handover and takeover briefs between sessions but may be achieved through regular scheduled meetings to coordinate a plan of attack. Introducing some additional procedures such as a SCORE card (a form filled out at the end of training to assist the next trainer) or using a check list will assist the hand over process.

I’ll cover each circumstance over the next few posts and next I’ll explain the SCORE Card.

In a recent post I spoke of the change to the trainer’s role that would be necessary to maintain the relationship with the student beyond the completion of training. Which leads us to an interesting point - what is the trainer’s role during training?

The trainer may be considered a teacher of sorts because of their need to transfer knowledge to the student. This is certainly true some of the time but it isn’t the only role that they will need to fulfil during the training. The trainer will also need to be an assessor to identify shortcomings, a reporter to pass on their findings and a motivator to help focus the student on the task at hand. It doesn’t stop there; what about a shoulder to cry on or someone to pass on remedial advice?

The many faces of a trainer

A trainer will need to fulfil a variety of roles to meet the students needs. The best descriptor I have heard is catalyst - which by definition is something that speeds up a reaction without being consumed in the process. The trainer plays a similar role and will need to adjust according to the demands of the relationship.

These are just some of the roles a trainer will adopt during the course of training

• The fixer is a pure problem solver. The student has a problem and they need a solution.
• The facilitator assist the student in gaining knowledge through leading questions or progressive learning strategies.
• The coach provides advice on improvements and offers remedial actions.
• The motivator provides incentive or inspiration for the student.
• The director shows the student what to do or what to focus on next and leads them through the process.
• The assessor primarily observes and scores or critiques performance, identifying strengths and weaknesses.
• The supporter is an ear or shoulder to cry on and gives words of encouragement or reinforcement.
• The reporter is the link back up the chain, passing on any comments, concerns and recommendations.
• At the other end of this scale is the spokesperson. They pass on company stance or polices.
• The judge in this sense is a sentence giver and enforces the penalties for failures or offers reward for the successes. 
• The peer recognises that the student is a co-worker and fosters general teamwork and camaraderie.
• The presenter is the teacher or demonstrator and leads by example to show the student how it is done
• The story teller relates what they are doing, or are about to do, with experience or practical examples.

There are many more available and each trainer will have there strengths and weaknesses. They will also have their preferences but they must remember that it is the student that dictates what role they will need to assume. The trainer will therefore need to be able to recognise what is required, when to apply it and be able to respond accordingly.

If the trainer is unable to fulfil these roles, the relationship will suffer and this is the critical factor in their ability to communicate openly and effectively. Once communication suffers, then so does their ability as a catalyst.

Many employees commit a significant amount of time to their organisation but forget about the most important person of all. As part of the organisation you are expected to evolve and not just to meet the challenges of today, but also prepare for the unknown ones of tomorrow. The organisation aside, you still need to spend time on improving your own knowledge and skills. Businesses come and businesses go as do your needs and motivations. It is impossible to tell what role you’ll need to fulfil in the future or what competition lies ahead just to maintain your current one.

The development plan and ongoing actions are for the short and medium term pay-off, whilst the self investment strategies are typically for the long haul. Encouraging the student to start focusing a little of their efforts on themselves will help them move onto new or more challenging roles using an ‘all round approach’.

Give 101%: Although this is theoretically impossible, the idea is to devote an extra 1% of your time toward self-improvement. This equates to around an extra five minutes per day to spend on improving your knowledge or skills. This can be reading a trade magazine article during lunch or listening to an audio book or pod-cast on the trip home. If you invest in yourself this way and your peers do not, you will start to excel in your field for two reasons. Firstly, the extra efforts will result in better performance because the more you try, the more you achieve. Secondly, enthusiasm rarely goes unnoticed and more opportunities will avail.

Broaden your horizons: Find out what everyone else in the organisation does or at least those in the immediate vicinity if yours is a particularly large one. Start by moving down the chain (your customers) and find out what they do with your product, the challenges they face and what you can do to make their life easier. Afterward, head the other way (your suppliers) and find out the same information. The better you know where you fit into the organisation, the better you can make that fit.

Enrol in relevant courses: This may not be possible in some positions and can be seen as ‘resume building’ but ask your supervisor none-the-less. Offering to assist by completing the course in your own time or in work time at your expense can sweeten the deal if they are relevant and have something to offer back to the organisation. Also consider non-accredited study, seminars or work-shops, even those run by your competitors to gain a greater understanding of the industry.

Look for additional resources: What do your competitors use? Are there industry standards or training packages that have been modified to form organisational policies? What about international standards? Check with your co-workers - what do they read to keep up on the latest industry news? What about blogs, pod-casts and forums? Also consider other related disciplines (eg flying and sailing share a lot of common elements)?

The goal is to build up your knowledge quickly but not at the expense of your experience on the job so it is crucial that you don’t neglect your primary responsibilities and skills. However, never stand still and while you are moving, why not make it forward? This adds value to the organisation on two fronts; a employee with a diverse range of skills is an asset that can be deployed against a variety of problems, and a well rounded employee recognises the value of their contributions and the difference that they can make.

In addition to a development plan, the former student can adopt some behaviours that will assist their continuing improvement. Pro-activity will drive progress quicker than idle waiting and these habits will identify them as someone who is willing to learn how to improve their overall effectiveness in the workplace.

As a trainer turned mentor, you can encourage these actions by explaining how they can be adopted and what the benefits are for doing so. Assist, but don’t do it for them. The value comes in the result and the result will be proportional to their effort in the process. Make it clear that if you assist to much, the benefit of the process will be lost.

The actions

There are a multitude of actions that the former student can take to improve their performance but what we are trying to achieve are regular behaviours that become automated and persist throughout their careers. There are six behaviours that the trainer can immediately introduce to the student.

• Set Goals
• Pre-brief daily
• Debrief daily
• Invite feed back
• Find a coach / mentor
• Get involved

Set goals: This is usually part of a development plan but some people don’t like the associated structure or pace that this places on them. Regardless, goal setting is an integral part of measured success. Without goals, success is coincidental. Write them down and review them regularly. However, the importance of a full development plan should be stressed and the student encouraged to use one.

Pre-brief daily: Use the pre-briefing model as a template for a daily brief to prepare for the work day. Don’t neglect the value of short term goal setting because aside from the motivational aspect, it will really assist measuring performance at the the end of the day. If this was used during training, it will be easier to have the student continue the practice.

Debrief daily: Use the debrief model to evaluate your performance and set remedial actions to overcome any shortfalls that are identified. Knowing your own weaknesses is valuable insight into your own capability and looking at ways to improve on them shows courage and conviction. If you have a development plan, you can also assess progress toward longer term goals.

Invite feed back: This means actively seeking comments and suggestions form your co-workers and supervisors to assist your own development. Use open ended questions utilising ‘How’ and ‘What’ the their fullest - don’t ask ‘how did I do?’, instead ask “how could I improve?’.  If you are only after a measure of performance, ask specifics that require quantitative or definitive answers.

Find a coach / mentor: Use your trainer or a co-worker to help you set goals and find the means to meet them. Their insight into the workplace, it’s structure and the dynamics will give you a ‘leg up’.

Get involved: If something unusual comes up - ask to do it or assist if you lack the necessary experience or qualifications. The key is to get involved and take what you can away from the experience.

Conclusion

It is easy for a student to settle into a comfort zone following a successful assessment. They may see this as a reward for their previous efforts and ample justification for ‘resting on their laurels’. Very few things irk supervisors and co-workers more than someone who stales and is quite happy to do so. Some of the practices used during training can be continued to ensure that development continues after training and the student can adapt to meet evolving demands.

The purpose of creating a plan following an assessment is to ensure that the former student’s rate of growth doesn’t subside just because they have met the desired standard. Competence is not expertise and there can be a long journey from one to the other.

The development plan outlines the students goals and direction for the next few months.

Creating a plan

The first thing that you will need are objectives for the former student to aim at achieving. These can be established by reviewing the;

• Workplace: Are their any promotional or advancement opportunities built into the work scheme. This could be part of workplace goals (accident free months, reward for productivity rates etc), rank type structure (eg senior floor person, supervisor, team leader) or training positions.
• Trade practices: Some schemes like apprenticeships have outcomes that must be achieved within specified time frames. Are their additional competencies or higher levels that need to be achieved?
• Supervisor’s goals: Has the former student’s supervisor outlined any performance objectives as part of their annual review? Does the supervisor have their own team performance objectives?
• Training Documentation: Did the assessor outline any weak areas or remedial activities to improve overall performance? Are their follow-up progress checks that to assess student development post-training?
• Student Goals: What does the student want achieve? Are they aiming for the assessors job, do they enjoy training or are they happy just to fulfil their position within the team? Are their other duties or responsibilities that they would like to take on (safety inspector, fire warden, union rep etc)

Now that we have some goals, use the planning process to develop and publish a development plan for the student. Look at reasonable time frames, short term goal setting and using your experience to coach the former student. Treat it like a learning contract and even elicit a their signature as a show of faith that they will make the most of this opportunity.

Your goal is not to do it for them but help them to do it themselves. After this initial period, they are expected to develop their own plans from goals that they identify themselves. That’s not to say that you cannot help them still - many very experienced professionals still enlist the aid of a mentor to further their own careers. Manager tools has a couple of great podcast on coaching and mentoring if you want to learn more.

Following progress

Setting the student on a path is only part of the assistance you can provide. Schedule regular meetings (once a fortnight will suffice) to review progress, adjust goals and provide additional motivation or assistance. The focus is on student development, so responding negatively to little progression will achieve far less than providing positive direction. Consider this part of the training process - remember that you may need to assume different roles in the new relationship and use their strengths to target their weaknesses.

What if the student shows little or no success after three or four meetings? Start meeting more often and review your strategies using the assessment failure process. If this lack of development continues, it may be time to look at eliciting help elsewhere because the student may need to be achieving some of these objectives as part of their annual performance measures.

What if the student is not interested? Offer anyway and if they decline, wish them well. You do not have to do this and if they they don’t want assistance, there is no point in your efforts being wasted for no benefit.

Document

Although this is an informal process in terms of the organisation’s role, document it regardless. This is a development opportunity for yourself and I’m sure your supervisor would like to know what additional activities you have taken on for yourself. Additionally, this is still the company’s time that is being spent and at some stage it may want an account of how the resources were being spent, along with what was achieved. Third, this is a great learning opportunity for the training system in how post-training support can improve effectiveness in the ‘bigger picture’. It may not be possible to reduce actual training times but follow on support may be able to reduce the time it takes to become a trainer, supervisor or management-ready.

Conclusion

Training is often neglected once competency has been achieved. The goal may be to produce a competent product to the operational team but most organisation’s recognise that competency doesn’t equate to experience. By following a student after training has been completed and enhancing their development opportunities will produce a well-rounded employee in a shorter time frame than letting them amble their own way there.

Next: Post assessment: Ongoing actions

A successful assessment usually signals the end of the training for the student and the trainer. In some circumstances this may be a graduation on to the next stage of training or it may mark the beginning of a period of consolidation until later training becomes available. The key point is that it signals the end of the relationship that had formed between the trainer and the student.

This relationship shouldn’t be taken for granted and although the training may have finished, the student will still have much to learn. One of the reasons a student was assigned a trainer in the first place was to improve their learning rate and increase their learning opportunities. Why should this change now just because the student has met the ‘minimum standards’? This abandonment can cause problems in the time just after assessment as the student adjusts to their new role is the work environment. This is because;

• Their position in the team has changed (now a peer and different reporting structure)
• They are now fully responsible for their own actions and decisions
• There is no shoulder to cry on or someone to vet their ideas for the best solution
• They may be physically alone (no one to talk to)

The trainer should now be willing to accept a change in the relationship from trainer to mentor or coach because they can still play a very important part in the student’s ongoing development.

Back to the beginning

This stage is really just the start of another iteration of the student’s development cycle. Like the training cycle, some preparation and clear goals can assist the transit through this stage. There are three things the trainer should be discussing with the student to improve their rate of development;

• A development plan
• Ongoing actions
• Self investment

A development plan identifies the former student’s objectives in the next three to twelve months and breaks these into smaller, more easily achieved goals. It is similar to the training plan used for their progress during training but is generally ‘more loose’ and combines their objectives with their supervisor’s goals.

Ongoing actions are steps that the former student can undertake to ensure that they avoid plateaus and continue making fine adjustments to their behaviours to improve performance.

Self investment is the extra study, practice or training that the former student can undertake. It is the extra-curricula activities or efforts that separate the drones from the experts.

I’ll cover each of these in more detail in the next few posts.

This is every trainer’s nightmare. The student performed well during training but under the additional pressure of assessment conditions, they were found wanting and have been sent back for further tuition. This has a big impact on confidence and your plan must address this to turn the student around quickly. You need to get the student back under training as soon as possible and start your preparation for the  re-assessment.

The world hasn’t ended

They student may consider giving up at this stage and will be looking for reasons why or why not they should. They may also be angry, feel let down or have issues regarding their confidence in the training team. Often, a second assessment is the final chance for the student to prove their ability which adds to the pressure on the student

This is where the trainer needs to act quickly and take the lead in the recovery program. Although they may not see at this moment in time, the student is in a much stronger position than the were before failing the assessment. These are the reasons why:

• They have experienced assessment conditions
• Any lessons learned will be strengthened by emotion (assessment conditions)
• The assessors standards are known
• The student’s shortfalls are documented
• Competencies already assessed as ‘meeting agreed standards’ will not need to be assessed again

The action plan

The trainer’s actions leading up to the assessment will be the major factor in the student’s success or failure during the reassessment. The ‘failure action plan’ or ‘actions after failure model’ is a seven step process for the trainer to prepare the student for re-assessment.

1. Review
2. Reconsider
3. Re-plan
4. Re-assure
5. Revitalise
6. Resume
7. Reassess

Review: meet with the assessor, identify the areas assessed as not competent and compare with your assessment own evaluations. Were they competent by your standards? Has the student degraded? Where the competencies actually covered in the training?

You will need to take stock of what resources you have available. In some workplaces the student becomes priority one whilst in others you may actually have less resources available. What are the available resources? How will that affect your training strategies.

You will need to review all of your training documentation, even on the successful competencies as you will need to identify the techniques that worked and the ones that didn’t work.

Reconsider: This may mean a change of trainers or the addition of a second or third. At the very least, elicit the expertise of as many other trainers that you can for ideas. Also have a very hard look at your training strategies. Was the focus on procedure rather than example, theory rather than practice or fixing rather than developing?

Re-plan: This means the complete development process, starting from step one and looking at every identified student shortcoming. You will need to review resources and objectives and determine how the task intends to be achieved. Develop the training plan, but don’t let the student see it straight away because they should be given an opportunity to develop their own. At this stage of the training they should have some self assessment tools up their sleeve.

Re-assure: This is the meeting with the student following the assessment failure. You may need to reassure the student and address some confidence (in themselves or the training team) or regressive emotional issues. You will then need to develop a plan or strategy with the student, letting them contribute as much as possible. It is essential that the student has ownership of this process because we will need every available motivational tool that we can get.

Revitalise: Not only in terms of enthusiasm, but also in terms of training strategies. Revisit each of the models and if you aren’t pre-briefing and debriefing every session, start doing so immediately. The same with goal setting, setting remedial action or activities and planning.  Publish the plan and even if it needs immediate changing, it is worth the effort.

Resume: Return to training at the earliest opportunity. Get back on the horse and look for every available training opportunity. Student enthusiasm is a must and any delay, especially if the reassessment is soon, will make it harder on you both. After the student has been found wanting in some areas, they will begin to question others and their will be an initial period of adjustment that must be overcome.

Reassess:  Assess each of the lacking competencies every session. Clearly identify standards and if none exist, create them - the assessor has standards, discuss formalising these, even if only for the purpose of assisting this particular student. Measure the progress - Even minimal progress is still progress.

Also discuss with the assessor the possibility of a progressive assessment. A progressive assessment (regular short periodic sessions, rather than a consecutive period) can give a better representation of student performance if pressure is an issue.

Conclusion

It is hard not to take an assessment personally. Both the trainer and student will feel a measure of responsibility for the results but this is not the time to begin questioning your worth to the organisation. You need to take positive action and assume control of the training. Focus on how you can achieve the objectives and the small steps in between. Most of all, learn from the experience and enlist the help of your co-workers, many of which will have been in exactly the same situation as you are now.

To prepare the student for the assessment we have two primary objectives. We need to ensure that the student meets or exceeds the assessment standards and they have confidence in their ability to do so. There are several steps we can take to achieve these goals.

Clarify standards: In a previous post I discussed standards as an underlying component of accurate student assessment. This may mean creating or defining standards where none exist. I’m not referring to making them up but discussing with co-workers, supervisors and the assessor(s) what are acceptable performance levels (eg Is the performance measured on error rate or production quantities - if so what is acceptable?).

What if an error is fixed - Is it still an error? Are you allowed to ask for help? In some circumstances, the student may be evaluated on their ability to recognise when assistance is needed? What is required knowledge, needing immediate recall and what can be referenced from guides or manuals, ‘open book’ style? Finally, are their any intangibles that need more clarification such as a student’s ability to react under pressure or scan a computer screen?

You should also consider your word hierarchies. Is good better than above average or just an indication of success? Is excellent better than great or outstanding? Are you an easy marker who can’t bear to pass a bad judgement? Praise is important but a student who gets good attempt, great work, going well and then subsequently fails the assessment may not actually be at fault.

Reassess: Review all of the competencies and reassess them. Some of these may have been ‘crossed off’ early in the training and not been practised since. Work sites are often very dynamic and procedures can be reviewed. Running through each of the competencies again can prompt the trainer to check for changes. The student knows much more now than they did then and may have additional questions that weren’t apparent at the time.

There is also the benefit of a confidence boost when the student has a few success and sees that the standards can be met.

Practice: Conduct practice assessments with the student, assuming the role of the assessor by observing and giving a full review at the end. Stay further away than you would normally and don’t discuss procedures to force the student to make their decisions and deal with the consequences. Just this simple change in the way you train will assist the student learning to adapt to new conditions.

Change trainers: Usually a student will feel additional stress when they are being trained by someone that they aren’t familiar with. Although we prefer to avoid this at the early stages, it can assist development during the later part of training. A different trainer will have different techniques and additional views on how procedures should be applied. They may also be able to offer more insight into assessment conditions or have more experience in areas that the primary trainer is weak.

Have the student assess: Just like having a student explain or demonstrate will assist their understanding a particular procedure, having the student assess the trainer or a co-worker can entice the student to be more critical. This can also have the befit of improving confidence by see that the trainer is ‘only human’ after all and that mistakes are inevitable.

Conclusion

It may not be necessary to implement any of these to make the student ready for assessment, especially if the student is familiar with the standards (eg re-famil training after absence) or is intimate with assessment standards (experienced worker in new role). You may also have a few other techniques up your sleeve that the student responds well to. It is necessary however to check that the student is ready for the assessment and the earlier you do this, the more time you have to do something about it.

A pending assessment signals that the end of training is near. For the student it can be a mixed bag of emotions.

• Excitement; finally they’ll be rid of the ‘ball and chain stifling’ their initiative at every step.
• Fear; what if I fail, am I really ready?
• Apprehension; I’m going to have do this alone - what if I need help?

These are just a few of the many possibilities that will confront the student in the lead up alone, let alone during and after the assessment. The problem we have as a trainer is that these emotions will play havoc with the student’s performance as the assessment gets nearer and may lead to a roller coaster of good days and bad.

Can we stop this? No. Can we prepare for and take action to reduce or mitigate the affects? Absolutely.

A fork in the road

We often consider a ‘T’ junction or fork in the road as two choices but their are actually three. We can of course go back the way we came. I use this analogy as a basis for my plan whenever I have a student nearing competency, and subsequently an assessment. It is a three pronged plan of attack:

• What we are going to do to prepare for the assessment (to avoid going backward),
• What we are going to do if we fail, and (just as importantly)
• What we are going to do if we succeed.

Keep moving forward

To help the student prepare for the assessment we start early. Preparation improves performance on two fronts; first, the student feels ready and their confidence improves, and second, they are actually more ready having practised for the challenges. So having the student ready for the assessment conditions and aware of their expectations will reduce the doubt and performance anxiety leading up to the evaluation.

As an example - if I told you were about to do a typing test, you would probably be a little anxious about the what ifs. If I told you that you needed 40 WPM to pass and you could type at 50, you would be less anxious. If you could only type at 35, sure there would be some anxiety, but at least you know how to solve the problem and can do something about it.

What if we fail

Failing an assessment may feel like the end of the world for the student but there are actually some good things that come out of this scenario. First, the student has now practised under circumstances and has a better understanding of what can be expected. Second, the student has a clear list of their shortcomings that is usually considerably shorter and more detailed than the trainer has given. The drawback to this scenario is the loss of student confidence and potentially a loss in faith in the trainers ability if there were discrepancies between the trainer and the assessors evaluation.

The solution is to have a clear plan or course of action to overcome the shortcomings and utilise the strengths.

The dreaded success story

After the initial elation of passing, the student will be feeling some apprehension toward returning to work without the security of the trainer nearby. Regardless of the student’s capability, they are well aware that they are the same person the were yesterday. Sure, the trainer wasn’t keeping them from slipping into catastrophic chaos but the tips and advice still made the job just that little easier. What if something else happens? They may feel abandoned or have nowhere to turn for assistance.

Or worse, what about those students who no longer need advice from friends and peers. The have the assessors blessing and believe they are quite capable of getting themselves out of any hot water they are step in. They won’t accept feed back from peers (the assessor didn’t have a problem with it), make excuses (that’s the way I was trained) or draw the line at where their responsibilities lie (I don’t need to know that - that’s your job).

Once again, the solution is an action plan to continue student development and monitor progress. Just because the training has finished doesn’t mean that the learning will.

I’ll cover these in a bit more detail over the next few posts.

It is the events after the hot wash that validate and gives value to the entire process as a training evaluation tool. If nothing is done with the information generated then nothing is gained from the resources expended.

The actions taken after the hot wash are:

• Transfer and organise the notes
• Create and action plan
• Publish and promote
• Follow up

Transfer and organise notes: The hot wash must be documented. Things that seem irrelevant or impractical right now, may be plausible or a solution to another problem at some time in the future. Start with transcribing the notes from the white board / note pad onto something than can be included as an annex to the hot wash report.

Afterward, they can be reorganised to highlight points that were identified as most important (by the asterisks) or to ’score’ the training effort for future comparison with similar programs.

Create an action plan: It is now up to you as a training manager to identify what can be done to make the biggest impact, with the least resources and as quick as possible. It is well and good to highlight problems but if the solution cannot be resourced, there is no point in making promises that cannot be fulfilled. You also shouldn’t try and fix everything in one hit. Identify three to five actions that can be implemented and will have a measurable affect to the training.

These are the questions I ask myself, in order of relevance to identify which items to include as part of my action plan.

• What can we do?
• What will yield the best results?
• What will work the fastest?
• What will use the least resources?

The goals is to get something out there that will fix a problem as quick as possible.

Publish and promote: Tell the world. Let everyone know what was learned, what are the resulting recommendations and what actions will be taken as a result of the training evaluation. The message you want to send is “this produces results”. How it is published it is up to you - a formal report, an email or at a meeting but don’t just pass it on to a select few. Of course sensitive or ‘in-confidence’ information will need to be vetted or made anonymous but don’t assume that these lessons only apply to a small group or a single field.

Follow up: Afterward, evaluate your actions and recommendations. Were they implemented as promised? Did they work? Have they opened up new doors (or let skeletons out of closets)? Don’t just ‘fire and forget’, hoping that the group knew exactly what they were doing and what the ensuing consequences would be?

Conclusion

The hot wash can be a valuable training evaluation tool that can produce effective results very quickly. It doesn’t rely on differentiating trends from statistical variations and the information comes straight from the source. It encourages participation, critical assessment and reflection on learning as well as avoiding the repetition of mistakes.