Retrain the Trainer – Investing in your trainers

Retrain the Trainer- During the last 12 months, we have been heavily involved with a local Rugby Club, specifically with the Under 16s (my daughter’s team) & Under 18s girls.

EOS has sponsored the club and I personally have been immensely involved in the coaching and personal development of the girls. It has been the most rewarding role I have been involved in away from work for my whole life, except being a father obviously.

Bringing techniques used in classrooms all over the country for decades onto the pitch has been so positive. “Tell them what you are going to teach them”, “teach them what you have said you are going to teach” and “recap at the end”. Not forgetting, finding the saturation point or knowing when the cup is full and nurturing enthusiasm, so it spreads to others in the team. The girls have gone from strength to strength and the under 16s have ended up second in their league with several convincing victories under their belts from matches all over the county. Such an achievement, not just for the girls but for the team that has been there for the whole journey behind the scenes.

So, as a well done, we arranged a trip to Twickenham for the Red Roses game against France in late April this year. A 56-seater coach was loaded at base with 37 players from two clubs, parents, siblings and coaches and off we went for a day of joy and inspiration although slightly nervous at the same time. Well, the result was a success, everyone had an amazing day, the country will be talking about this for weeks. Suffice to say it certainly inspired the 58,450 fans and gave hope for Women’s Rugby. Has it been the break that women’s sport needed, I’m not sure. The Lionesses were amazing, but you don’t hear much from the media on them anymore.

So, it had me thinking on the return journey, with important topics coming and going through the media within our industries, driver education is in the spotlight now. Not long ago it was all about the driver shortage and long delays down to Brexit. One thing I do know is that we are all in control of most of what is going on around us, specifically in the maternity unit of women’s rugby (in my case) and now all of us in the maternity unit of the Manager CPC world.

I am all too aware of the pressures involved in training budding TM’s, the syllabus, the time constraints and the controlling of conversations to make sure subject matter is delivered in the correct way to pass the exams, but maybe we all need to stop and re-evaluate? Do we add an extra day to the course to cover the Stat Doc 3 and the Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness? Do we add an extra day to show them where all their information is? Do we add an extra day to show a new TM how to interrogate the tachograph analysis and how to create Toolbox Talks? We are in control of their education and supplying them with the tools to pass their exams and also to be a compliant TM. I think this is where we all need to concentrate so that our industries are respected and valued, culture will take a while to change but the maternity unit is a starting point that most forget about.

To that end, one thing coaching at the club has made me think about is how important education of coaches is, not just sports coaches but teachers, lecturers, mentors and trainers. Where do we go for our inspiration? Where do we go for new material? What support is out there for us? These thoughts have been in my head for many years, so it has planted a seed in my head. We know that “Train the Trainer” has been around for ages, but what about “Retrain the Trainer”? How many of you, who don’t regularly deliver the subjects, sit in a session and think about the delivery and how the trainer is doing? Should they have expanded on that subject? Have they got time to go into a little more detail? We know that TM’s need Refreshers, Drivers need Periodic Training and that First Aid Qualifications get renewed. What about our trainers? No such thing as perfection only perfect intentions but worth investigating and that is what we are going to do.

Over the next few updates, we are going to add sections on potential ways of delivering demanding subjects to the Tutor Guides, even if you have been doing this for years every day has to be treated as a school day. We are all at the pinnacle of our industries so let’s invest in our own development for a change and in turn watch others shine.