Background The Human Resources department of this large Southern California beach city with 1700+ employees sent out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to develop and deliver a Train the Trainer program for the city's employees. Ascend Training Solutions responded to the RFP and was happily selected to handle the project. Program Goals & Challenges The city's immediate goal was to develop an in-house training institute, where courses would be developed and delivered in-house by city employees with professional experience and expertise in specific areas of interest. The broader goal was to provide ongoing professional development for city employees with a focus on issues and activities of concern to the city. Key challenges included scheduling, as a large amount of information needed to be covered within a short period of time. In addition, five very different courses were to be developed by the Train the Trainer participants as a program outcome, which made development of authentic learning experiences a bit more challenging. Program "To-Do" List: - Establish clear Train the Trainer program goals.
- Understand the professional backgrounds of the population to be trained.
- Develop a robust program and support materials for use by in-house trainers moving forward.
- Train the program participants in public speaking skills and how to develop an engaging, hands-on learning experience incorporating their professional skills and knowledge.
- Develop team skills, as the five courses were to be developed by teams of program participants with relevant expertise.
- Format the Train the Trainer program to best accommodate the needs and work schedules of the attendees.
Solution City employees interested in developing training content and becoming in-house trainers were asked to apply to be considered for participation in the program. Their application included an interview where they delivered a short lesson on the topic of their choosing. Ascend participated with the city's HR leadership in the interview process and, as a result, a select group was identified as the first round of in-house trainers to be part of the city's HR Training Institute. The Train the Trainer program developed was 32 hours of training delivered over the course of four weeks, with one 8-hour course held each week. Specific program topics included: Working as a Team; Public Speaking Skills; Curriculum Development; Assessments; Ensuring Engagement; Managing the Room; Ensuring Retention; Challenging Situations, and Presentation of the Final Project. For the final project, each participant was asked to develop and deliver a 5-10 minute presentation designed to be a segment of the training course they were developing with their team. Using a set of rented iPads, each participant was recorded by their teammates as they presented. The group then observed each video and provided feedback based on a set of guidelines and an evaluation document provided by Ascend. Outcome The client and participants were extremely pleased with the training. The HR department requested an additional component to the program where Ascend observed the in-house trainers presenting trial runs of each course developed and provided them with feedback and suggestions. All five of the courses developed by the program participants are now being offered to employees through the city's HR Training Institute. Due to the success of the initial Train the Trainer program, Ascend was asked back the following year to train a second cohort of in-house trainers for the city. Further training with the city on Business Writing is being planned as of this publication! Feedback! "Presenting, being recorded, and watching myself deliver the training on video was daunting, but it was a very valuable exercise. Now I feel better about presenting and have a clear sense of how I'm coming across." -Train the Trainer Participant |