Recruitment Process, Internal

here are a series of emails which you can copy and paste should you wish and are self-explanatory regarding the recruitment of trainers internally:

-

email 1; ask staff to apply

Dear all,

It gives us a great pleasure to announce we intend to run a train the trainer course during <insert date>. 

This course will cover the principles of learning, how to train and how to ensure learning is transferred to participants.  It will be as inter-active as possible and should you be selected to attend, you will be expected to run several training sessions during the course.

Upon completion of the course you'll be able to conduct training in <state location/s & subject areas> on a part time basis.  

This opportunity is open to all <state level of authority in the organisation> and application does not depend on length of service.  Please note however, personal files will be checked and taken into account during the recruitment process.

Please send an updated CV and a letter of interest by <insert date> to <insert name> at;  <insert email address>

Short listed candidates will be asked to prepare a 10 minute presentation and an interview (details of which will be sent once the application deadline has passed).

We look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

-

email 2; reply to applications, if sent before the stated deadline

Dear <insert name>,

Many thanks for your application! 

We're very happy you applied, and we'll be in touch soon.

Best regards,

-

email 3; explain what is required at the presentation/ interview

Dear <insert name>,

Thank you for applying for the recently advertised position of part-time service trainer.

We're aiming to hold interviews in <insert location> and in <insert second location, if relevant> at the end of <date at least one week ahead, but a month is better for the candidates>.  We will then run a <insert name of course> for <insert number of days> in <insert approximate date> for successful applicants.  (please note all dates will be dependent on operational requirements)

In preparation for the interview please choose one of the following subjects and create a 10 minute PowerPoint presentation, with no more than 6 slides:

1.            

2.            

3.            

Any notes used during your presentation should be handed over once you have finished the interview.

Following your presentation, there will be a half hour interview with a panel.

please make sure your:

 presentation takes no less than 12 minutes and no more than 18 minutes

supporting handout materials are no less than two and no more than three pages of A4 

If you have any questions, no matter how small, regarding the interview or the PowerPoint presentation, please do not hesitate to contact me on this email address <insert email address> or on my mobile:  <insert number>

I'm very happy you applied and all the best in your preparations.

Best regards,

-

email 4; state individual date & time of interview

Dear <insert name of applicant>,

I am writing to let you know your interview for Train the Trainer will take place on <insert date> at <insert time> in the <insert room, floor number and building name + name of city and directions, if applicable>.

Please arrive 5 mins early, with a digital copy of your presentation. 

A computer will be available for use, however if you would prefer to bring your own computer with you please do.  Please be sure to bring a bring a copy of the presentation on a USB, just in case the wire to the TV screen does not connect with your computer. 

If you have any questions about any part of the process, please do not hesitate to contact me on mobile <insert number>.

Best regards,

-

email 5; successful or unsuccessful at interview

Dear

I am writing to let you know you successfully completed the train the trainer course which was held last week.  CONGRATULATIONS and well done.  

I’ll be in touch in the near future with more details with how your development will continue and the courses we are intending to run. 

Welcome onboard the training team, it’s good to have you here.

Best regards,

-

Dear

I’m writing to let you know unfortunately you were unsuccessful at the interview for train the trainer which was held last week. 

Should you wish to set up a meeting to discuss any part of the interview, please contact me on <insert email address>

Many thanks once again for your effort and interest in train the trainer.

Best regards,

-

email 6; start date for train the trainer course 

Dear <insert name of applicant>,

I am writing to let you know the Train the Trainer course will take place from <insert start date> to <insert finish date> at <insert time> in the <insert room, floor number and building name + name of city and directions, if applicable>.

If you have any questions about any part of the process, please do not hesitate to send an email or contact me on mobile <insert number>.

Best regards,

-

email 7: successful or unsuccessful at train the trainer course

Dear <insert name of applicant>,

I am writing to let you know you successfully completed the train the trainer course which was held last week.  CONGRATULATIONS and well done.  

I’ll be in touch in the near future with more details with how your development will continue and the courses we are intending to run. 

Welcome on-board the training team, it’s good to have you here.

Best regards,

-

Dear <insert name of applicant>,

I’m writing to let you know unfortunately you were unsuccessful on the train the trainer course which was held last week. 

I know you spent a lot of time working on the materials and your development – you really did make a great effort.  With that in mind I would like to say how sorry I am about not passing. 

If you are interested, I’d like to suggest you contact me to set up a meeting so we can discuss the course and your future development. 

Many thanks once again for your effort and interest in the course.

Best regards,

image taken from here

Introduce an Activity

this needs to be done correctly, or a great big horrible mess will take place and the trainer will be slap bang in the middle of it.  

the students will be annoyed, you'll feel frustrated and some serious self-flagellation is likely to take place later that evening.  the main thing to remember is this; when introducing a topic prepare before hand.

at the very minimum it is suggested you think about the following points, it is also suggested your thoughts are written down at least 24 hours before the training session:

1. the reason for including the activity; how relevant is it to the aims of the training session?
2. now re-think; does the activity really suit the aims of the overall training event?  is it included simply because it was the first thing that came to mind?
3. what are the three key learning points which will be gained by the students by taking part in this activity?
4. can the activity be improved?  the answer is usually a, "YES!" now think; how can it be improved?  what can be added or taken away?
5. what will the students gain by doing this activity?  what is the WIIFM?  can this be explained clearly to the students? [click here for more info on WIIFM]
6. what steps need to be included in the introduction?  is it better to separate the instructions into two or three distinct parts?
7. what will happen if the students don't understand the instructions?
8. what questions can be asked to help the students understand the task?
9. do the students have all the skills needed for this activity to take place?  does anything need to be pre-trained/ taught before this activity is introduced?
10. is the activity organised so the easy/ easier parts happen before the more difficult/ difficult parts? 
11. what do I need to prepare for this activity?  do I have those items available?  can the students do it instead of me and as part of the overall learning experience?
12. will the students need to be moved into smaller groups before the activity starts?  what size is best for this particular activity?  for this particular group?  for this particular room?
13. how will the students move from one chair to a different chair in the training room you're using?  what difficulties could happen?
14. anything else you can think of and which is not listed here

when you start as a trainer always prepare notes on how you're going to introduce the topic.  run it through in your mind before carrying it out in the training room and review.  think about what could go wrong, what might be better and review, review, review.

it goes without saying the students need to understand each part of the above.

when the activity starts watch the students.  ensure the task which you wanted the students to carry out is actually been done by the students.  if not, stop the class and re-explain.  it's easier to re-explain to the entire class than one by one. 

Benefits

1. trainer appears professional
2. students will actually do the activity you want them to do
3. no wasted time in the classroom trying to explain a task, then explain it again, and then yet again
4. no need to repeat instructions and re-state to each group

Practice

try introducing an activity something like this:

1. the name of the topic
2. the reason it's included - how it fits in with the overall training session that is being run
3. the reason the students need to understand and/ or do this
4. the activity - what is to be done
5. who is to do what, where and with whom
6. approximate timing & what is to be achieved in that time
7. ask, "does any one have any questions?" or "what else do you need to know?" wait 5 seconds [click here for more info on waiting 5 seconds]
8. pick a student who looks most confused and ask them to describe what is to be done
9. check again, "does anyone have any other questions?"  wait for 5 seconds and then 
10. start the activity

image taken from here

10 Key Points

1.       Respect all participants

2.       The trainer is the person who controls the training room

3.       Slow is more effective than fast

4.       Less is more effective than more

5.       Use open questions whenever possible  [see here for more details]

6.       Wait 5 seconds before answering your own question

7.       ‘Listen’ contains exactly the same letters as ‘silent’

8.       Always reuse an activity whenever you can

9.       Students prefer to leave training with a skill or knowledge (something/ anything) they can use in the workplace immediately

10.   Prepare and/ or print the handout materials the night before the class takes place

image taken from here

Close an Activity

when designing a training course activities will often be given a proposed amount of time.  remember, it's not set in stone and can be changed.  think about your students, what has gone on earlier in the day, the group as a whole and what you aim to achieve by the end of the session.  would it make sense to expand it, time wise?  will the students gain if it is expanded?

as a general rule of  allow all activities to finish naturally.  wait until most participants have completed the task, (even if it means allowing it to run for an additional half hour) and then wrap it up and carry out the review.  

if you do stop an activity before the students have finished, you’ll find you hear cries of, “just five more minutes”, "we haven't finished yet", "ohhh no" and will receive some dirty looks.  in general, students never want to stop an activity if they haven't finished it, even if they weren't too committed to it when they started.

if you want students to speed up, give them time warnings so they can move faster at their own pace, e.g. "you have five minutes left", "you have one minute left", "you have half a minute left" etc., etc.

Practice

1. in your lesson plan write additional relevant activities into your lesson plan, then if an activity finishes quicker than you expect, you'll have extra tasks for the students to carry out
2. before the training starts, work out which activities in your lesson plan might take longer than you expect and then work out which tasks can be shortened

image taken from here

Competencies

competencies are the knowledge, skills and attitudes (easily remembered by the initials K.S.A. or Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) used by an employee to carry out their job in the most effective (quality) and efficient (quantity, speed) manner. 

knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA) can be further explained as follows:

		Explanation
K	Knowledge	Things learnt in a classroom or training – theory, background knowledge.  the trainer will decide what is learnt, when it's learnt (the order it's introduced and how it's learnt)
S	Skills	Things learnt in no particular order which are usually described using a verb. e.g. write, speak, listen, cook, draw
A	Attitudes	How you deal with situations, people and work Usually described using an adjective.  e.g. happy, sad, angry, frustrated,

as a trainer, thinking about competencies is important simply because if you need to feedback to a student about their need to improve, they are far more likely to accept feedback in areas which are either knowledge or skills, rather than attitudes.

knowledge and skills are external - suggested and passed on by others and can easily be improved or changed, simply by attending a training session or through coaching and feedback.  attitudes however arise from inside a person and are the summary of what they have experienced.    

Practice

decide which of the following competencies are Knowledge, which are Skills and which are Attitudes.  Then decide if they have more than one of K, S or A:

1. Technical Ability

Carries out company standard service at all times.  Monitors & maintains quality and productivity.  Plans in advance.  Avoids waste

  

2. Communicates:  Listens, Speaks

Willingly speaks and listens to all.  All communication is carried out in a friendly respectful manner, regardless of nationality, clothes, role, age, ability or gender

  

3. Solves Problems & Makes Decisions

Uses initiative, asks for further information to understand problems.  Checks facts and data.  Makes rational decisions from this information

4. Manages Time

Works productively & actively under pressure

5. Focuses on the Customer

Demonstrates willingness to deliver a world class service with a ‘why not?’ attitude.  Relates well to all types of customers.  Responds quickly to their needs, their reactions & their feedback

   

6. Professionalism

Manages own impression on customers and coworkers.  Maintains a positive outlook.  Controls emotions during difficult situations, stress and/or fatigue. 

  

7. Complies with Policies & Procedures (P&P)

Follows company and regulatory P&P.  Remains updated with amendments and changes

  

8. The Company

Up to date knowledge about the company and marketing campaigns.  Aware of competitor activity & industry trends.  Ambassador for the company

9. Leadership

Builds team spirit.  Shares information & expertise.  Aims for respect rather than being liked.  Understands the team is only as good as the weakest member/s

image taken from here

Power Point Presentations

key Thoughts

1.  people come to hear you, not to watch a PowerPoint presentation.  your PowerPoint should support you and your presentation, not be the presentation
2. talk to your participants and not the PowerPoint presentation
3. always tell your participants if there will be handout copies of the PowerPoint slides
4. never stand in front of your PowerPoint presentation
5. 
   

PowerPoint Presentations

1. no more than 36 words on one slide.  ever.
2. some of the best PowerPoint presentations have no words, only pictures
3. no more than 30 numbers on one slide.  ever.
4. font size should be between 18 and 30
5. animation should be kept to a minimum - use only once (or not at all) in a presentation
6. graphics/ pictures should be high quality and not taken from the internet – they will be blurry
7. pictures, videos and audio help participants remember your message
8. in general a new presentation, if you are taking it seriously, will take 1 hour to design each slide.  leave enough time to design the slides rather than staying up all night
9. keep the background to your slides white whenever possible – its much quicker and cheaper when printing.  it’s also easier on the student's eyes
10. when printing the slides as handouts, print three, four or six slides to one A4 page.  never print one slide to a page, it looks as if you are inexperienced.  print on both sides of the page when you can - again it makes printing quicker and cheaper

 

picture taken from here

Print Course Materials

it is suggested handout materials are printed on a photocopy machine so changes can be incorporated easily and handout materials remain up to date.  sending handout materials to an external printer can save you money when you compare the cost of photocopy ink with the cost of printing outside the organization, but remember:

1. the handouts will become out of date if changes take place inside the organization 
2. whenever possible, remove information from your handouts which changes regularly e.g. organisational charts, job titles
3. printers will charge for a minimum quantity of items printed

printing using the photocopier
with course materials it is suggested they are printed on white A4 paper, using both sides of the paper.  the papers should be either stapled together, using two staples on the left hand side of the page, or punched and inserted into an A4 file.

remember, when you are printing handout materials, no one else will be able use the printer and you will make a lot of people angry if you block up a photo-copy machine all day.  if you have a lot of printing to do, ask all users before you start to print if it's OK to do so, and then print for a maximum of 10 minutes at a time - be sure to let other office staff use the photocopier.

print only the number of copies you need for each course; one for each participant + one copy extra for the trainer.  the trainer should write updates and information to be added to the course on their copy and once the course is finished, the material is updated as soon as is possible.  if you leave it till the next time you run the course, not only is it unlikely to happen, all the improvements will have been forgotten.

count the pages
before you start printing handout materials, count the number of sheets of paper needed.  that way you should have time to order additional stock or find it from somewhere else.  always keep spare paper somewhere in the office so you don't run out. 

leave yourself enough time to print, and factor in something will go wrong such as:

1.  printer will break down, it's a weekend and the maintenance can't be called
2. the ink will run out
3. the toner waste will fill up
4. the paper will run out
5. the paper won't feed through the photocopier
6. the computer won't connect with the photocopier

include the date
if you print off lots of spare copies, in addition to wasting resources, you're likely to find they'll be out of date when you run the next course.  it is suggested the date is printed on the bottom of all handout pages so students are aware which is the latest information when/ if they compare handout materials.  

make sure to print the latest edition and destroy any old digital versions you may have stored in your computer.  having said that, wait to destroy the old version until the course using this version has finished (you'll want to print the same version if you have late joiners).

course materials should be updated regularly as the course changes and new items are added and redundant parts are removed.  if it’s a new course which is being run, the handout materials will be updated daily as you realize what you want changed.  

image taken from  here

Open Questions or '5Ws & an H'

in the main, trainers should be asking questions which start with the words, Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?

What?                   information about events, actions or things

When?                  information about time

Where?                 information about a place or location

Who?                    information about people

Why?                    information about reasons, conclusions, deductions and opinions

How?                    information about methods or processes

this is because 'open' questions encourage conversation and allow students to explain their understanding of a concept.

Benefits

1. open questions encourage students to talk and start conversations
2. it makes for a more active class
3. having to answer with an explanation stops students coasting
4. it stops the trainer talking continuously and makes for a more interesting lesson (from a student point of view)
5. helps to remove presumptions held by the person asking the question
6. helps to increase understanding in both the person asking the question and the rest of the students

Disadvantages

1. the answer can be totally unexpected and the answer may take the class a long way away from the key aims of the class
2. time costly, students can talk and talk and talk and talk when answering the question

Practice

1. ask one question at a time and then wait 5 seconds for an answer   (see for more details)
2. when you hear yourself asking questions which start with the words, "did ...?", "do ...?", "will ...?", "can ...?" (also known as closed questions), rephrase and ask the question again, this time using one of the 5Ws and an H.  try making the following closed questions open:

Do you eat meat? Is the flight delayed?  Can I help you?

image taken from here