Why do you need a Corporate Trainer?
I’ve been conducting many corporate training events for many years, and many event organizers say that “hiring corporate trainers for employee training is an unnecessary luxury.” I once talked to a manager of a factory for clothing production and he bluntly stated that “corporate trainers don’t know much about our industry, so how can he understand all the information for improving business efficiency through corporate training? I feel that these “outsiders” do not know the business rules in the industry, the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, or even the world’s macroeconomics, politics, laws and regulations. All these factors directly affect business. Why do we need corporate training?” Later, I explained to him that of course you are the best in the competition, regulations, and business environment of the industry; knowing this type of information is good and, you should know better than me. However in certain situations, there’s always a place for onlookers to observe and see how a team is function and to pick out some problems that may not always be so clear. From the perspective of the third party, we can use some interesting activities to incorporate all the upper and lower levels to participate in fun training exercises, in order to show their true selves. My appearance It’s not about judging your employees’ ability to work, but observing their actions and the shared feelings during the game. As a facilitator, I can let some newer employees speak up, and I can also convey messages of the upper levels in an easy way, so that some potential employees can express their thoughts.
Success Comes After Failure
Once there was a multinational accountant firm who came to the escape game for corporate training and required bilingual training, so I personally followed up their case. At that time, the training involved many senior level management staff. Generally speaking, I would choose to do a simple ice-breaking game to help familiarize the participants with each other, and then brief them on the safety precautions for the escape game, rules of the game, etc. The whole event is divided into two sections, each game session is 45 minutes. In the first game, I let them play freely and let them talk about some strategies and methods. In the second session of the game, I will ask them to choose a “leader” to coordinate the entire team; and a “time-keeper” responsible for time management, because you don’t know how many puzzles will be in the whole game, but you do know when time will be up and how many clues you have left. Last, there will be assigned a “communication expert” for prompting, this person must be very expressive, and need to ask the key points of the question in the shortest time so that they can ask for clues most precisely if needed. These roles can be exchanged anytime, but it needs to be for a good reason. Many people usually have “illusory superiority” which is a type of bias where an individual thinks they are better than they actually are. This can be commonly seen when groups of people confidently go inside the games and try to solve the puzzles, but when they do not understand how the puzzles are solved they usually blame it on other factors and not their own problem solving abilities.
That’s why it’s important to have a facilitator to oversee the event to solve any disputes. One important lesson for them to learn is the lesson of “trial and error.” Normally, in their line of work mistakes are not allowed, but in this carefree environment it’s important to let them know that making a mistake is no problem at all and that not everyone will always know everything. By making a mistake you can learn how to do it correctly and avoid making similar mistakes again in the future. As a corporate trainer, I will try to look at the whole event and the whole team to find out if there is a communication problem. Is it a problem of expressiveness? Too much contention? Is it a time management issue? Is nobody taking responsibility? Are they being too shy? Is someone being over confrontational? Are there freeriders? Did you not make good use of everyone’s strengths? There are countless explanations for potential problems.
Let’s use this metaphor for example. The role of a corporate trainer is like a traffic light at a busy intersection with vehicles coming from all directions. Some people are like fancy sports cars, some people are functional vehicles like buses or pick-up trucks, and some people are motorcycles. They move at different speeds and have different functions and backgrounds. These vehicles cannot communicate with each other very well and that’s why they need the traffic light to let them know when to go or when to stop. Without it, it may very well lead to an accident!
For more tips on Team Building, please see the “HR’s Team-building cheat sheet!”
企業培訓師的重要性
為什麼要企業培訓師?”
筆者從事企業培訓多年,當中接觸過不少人認為「聘用企業培訓師作為員工培訓是一項不切實際的奢侈」。曾經有一位從事服裝生產的工廠管理層與我交談,他更直言地認為「企業培訓師對我們本業並不甚了解,又有何德何能地可以洞悉一切先機透過企業培訓來提升業務效率?覺得企業培訓師這些「門外漢」根本不知道行業內經營規則、對手的強與弱、甚至乎世界宏觀經濟、政治、法律條例等等,這一切直接影響生意的要素,又怎麼要一個企業培訓師來培訓我們那些「高層前輩」?」後來,我跟他解釋,行業內的競爭、法規、營商環境當然你是佼佼者;知人善用哪些是你的心腹、哪些你是你的內患,你應該比我更清楚。但正所謂「當局者迷,旁觀者清」,我們可透過第三者角度來看,由一些有趣而生動的活動,讓上下各階層能參與遊戲培訓當中,務求將他們最真實的一面展露出來,我的出現並不是要評審各位員工的工作能力、而是要從遊戲當中觀察他們的一舉一動,以及那些分享的玩後感。我作為一個中樞杻可以讓一些基層員工發聲,也可以用輕鬆的方法將上層的意思傳達下去,令一些有潛質的員工從中有所表現。
犯錯是為了獲勝
曾經有另一間國際級會計師樓前來密室逃脫作企業培訓,並要求需要雙語培訓的,故此由我親自接待。那時候,來的都是中層以上及幾個由外國來的高層,一般來說團隊訓練我會選擇先做一個簡單的破冰遊戲,讓彼此熟悉,然後敘述一下密室逃脫遊戲過程注意事項遊戲規則等等,遊戲共分兩個環節,每一節為45分鐘。首一節的遊戲我讓他們自由發揮,讓他們自己思考一套策略及方法。到第二節遊戲,我會要求他們選一個「指揮官」出來,負責統籌整個團隊;以及一個「時間管理者」負責時間管理,因為你不知道有多少個關卡、多少道謎題,只知道剩下的時間;再來一個「溝通專家」以作問提示之用,這個人的表達能力要非常之強,需要在最短的時間提出問題的重點。說到這裏大家認為萬無一失,可是往往就是人算不如天算,我給他們的一課就是「犯錯就是為了獲勝」,由於他們是來自不同的國家及背景,再加上他們的工作是絕對不容許出錯,試幻想一家國際級的會計師樓只要稍微一些人為失誤絕對可以牽連甚廣。不過,在這個密室逃脫遊戲當中,我是絕對歡迎你們出錯!因為我就需要你們從錯誤中學習,知道對方的有些可為,有些不可為。你沒有犯過錯就根本不知道那裏出問題。我作為企業培訓師會嘗試用一個鷹眼的角度來看整件事、整個團隊、整個配合,是溝通上出現問題?是表達能力問題?或是觀察不夠細緻?是太多爭拗?是時間管理問題?是推卸責任?是太過禮讓?是有人指揮過度?是有零貢獻者?是沒有好好運用大家的長處?一切一切着實有很多的解釋。
車輛的比喻
企業培訓師的角色就好像一個十字路口融會着四方八面的車輛,有些人是跑車很有推進性的、有些人是功能性的車輛作用大速度平穩、有些人是電單車比較個人很有想法、有些人是一輛巴士服務大家。車輛之間互相溝通也就是需要一個十字路口的交通燈,沒有這個也難前進。
如欲了解更多有Team Building 的技巧,可瀏覽「人力資源管理(HR)必看天書」。