Training or Learning?
Jane Gillham, Director at Pivotal Performance, questions the role of a trainer and whether the best trainer is the one that has been trained or has learnt the ropes as they go along.
As more organisations outsource their training functions the responsibility for developing others often falls to our most experienced people. Whilst this makes sense, we have to ask how able are they to pass that experience on to others?
It is often the case, that the more experienced we are, the more we forget what it was like to start out. Many of us will have started a new job and been advised to sit next to the “expert,” watch and learn. It can be a daunting experience for the trainee and frustrating for the trainer, explaining to the new starter what to do and how to do it, with mixed success.
Good training is more than passing on experience. It isn’t about how much we can tell. A good trainer will always start with a different question in mind:
“What am I doing to help people learn?”
Successful trainers are able to help others to take in information in a way that works well for them, and give them the confidence to apply what they have learned. Pivotal Performance has worked with City and Guilds for a number of years to develop the practical training skills of thousands of workplace trainers. Our accredited programme covers all the essential skills of training and coaching and is designed to enable those who need to pass on skills and knowledge to others to do so in a professional and consistent style. More importantly, we give trainers the skill to help others to learn and become self reliant.
The City and Guilds Certificate in Practical Training Skills is exclusive to Pivotal Performance and offers a recognised qualification to those who need a firm understanding of the real essentials, including:
- What is the role of the trainer?
- How do people learn?
- How to encourage participation
- How to give constructive feedback
- How to coach new skills
- How to plan and prepare
- How to deal with difficult delegates
- How to structure a training session
If you would like to invest in those people who have a key role in bringing out the best performance in others, we’d love to talk to you. Call Pivotal Performance on 0870 600 3113.
