Lessons from Canada Geese, Part 2

If you come from a large organisation don’t under-value the knowledge of an on-site trainer. An on-site trainer sees employees when they’re being stretched and even put under stress. These observations build up into a clear picture of the capabilities of the person. These trainers ought to be involved in any consultation about promotion and restructuring. Why? Because they’ll know who will cope with added responsibilities if roles must be amalgamated.

When you’re training a group of people, especially if you use experiential learning methods, you learn how people react under pressure, whether they’re prepared to step into a leadership role, how they think (laterally or linear), and whether they’re a group player or a prima donna. An HR manager removed from practical training may miss out on learning these attributes of employees.

The on-site trainer can also be instrumental in bringing about culture changes, provided their role is clearly supported and valued by the organisation. The best worksite health and safety policy will not reduce accidents or injuries unless it's entrenched in worksite practice. ‘Big stick’ techniques are often less effective than culture change. Threats lead to clever concealment; culture change leads to a change in belief about self and the relationship with the organisation. Culture change takes time and management commitment. It needs to be led by the trainer with a positive, reward focus.

Imagine if those small groups of Canada geese decided to leave at different times of the year and didn’t bother to practice their vee-formation flying before they left? Not many of them would be around to return the following spring. It’s their commitment to the larger group, their willingness to share leadership, and their constant calls of encouragement that keep them a cohesive group flying through the nights and the rough ocean weather until they reach the next sanctuary on their journey.

When times are tough, as they are for organisations around the globe, culture change is a vital ingredient to ensure you’re a survivor. If you’re a trainer you can make a huge impact on the survival chances of your group.

• Avoid the negativity – train only the employees who see learning as valuable for them


• Focus training on the wider picture – convince employees of their role in creating a lean, efficient and well-functioning team


• Challenge the grey-matter – use unusual training tools to keep people on their toes and thinking – you’re training the whole person


• Spread the message that solutions are right within us – we just have to have the confidence to think outside the box


• Reward employees who show initiative – even if it is only to point them out to management as potential for promotion (but let them know you have done so)


• See other trainers as resources to share new techniques and tools – share your own ideas and borrow others

Survival in today’s climate will be about the organisations that learn to work for the greater good, the ones that look for new leaders from within their ranks and support each other strive for excellence. Divisive cultures will only lead to poor performance and inevitable disaster.

- Heather Sylvawood, Educational Designer, Edutech KM Ltd