Developing the developers – CPD for trainers

Developing the developers – CPD for trainers

Training our Trainers

The results of the developing the developers survey shows us some of the learning and development priorities in terms of continuous professional development – CPD for trainers.

Roles of trainers

There are in effect two primary roles in learning and development – those that plan and manage and those that deliver training or facilitate learning. 

As a trainer, your primary role is to support the learning and development of others. Your initial training may have started as a three to five day “train the trainer” course, so what do you do now to develop yourself further, your CPD? If you only have the basics then I would recommend looking at one of the certificates in training from the CIPD, BILD, ITOL or other providers. These courses help to ensure that you have a firm foundation upon which to build. The average developer has completed over 100 days of self development in their career, so you can see a five day course is just the beginning.

Developing your knowledge

In the 1970s Tom Boydell noted that to identify training needs effectively we need to do so at three levels – Individual, team and organisation. We need to look at CPD for trainers in the same way. It is easy to say –“oh I don’t know much about xyz … I’m interested” and then go off and learn and develop. This is great for self development activity but CPD is as much about meeting the needs of our employing organisation, at least in terms of priority. We can use Boydells structure to plan our development and the context in which we will use the new knowledge and skills. The old adage “we don’t know what we don’t know” is as true for training as it is all fields, this article aims to highlight some of the up and coming areas to help

Individual needs

The world of training, learning and development is about people and how they change; therefore if we are to be consistently successful in this field it makes sense to develop our understanding of psychology. To look at learning theory beyond the basic models used on training courses, to look at the psychology of change.  We may want to have our delivery ability re-assessed, or develop improved training delivery skills.

Team needs

If you are a member of a team of trainers, talk with them and identify areas of weakness and who should develop which specialisations. The team needs are specific to each team and cannot be highlighted effectively in an article like this.

Organisational needs

Each organisation has its own unique culture needs and structures; our development activity needs to take these into account. The organisation has a need for us to perform and to provide individuals with the necessary skills quickly and effectively. The organisation may well require that we change our delivery methods from classroom to one to one, or perhaps to undertake more consultancy work. These needs will have a significant impact on our development plans.

To  help meet these organisational needs we may well look towards developing skills such as accelerated learning, one-to-one coaching skills, organisational development diagnostic skills, development of E-learning or M-learning content etc.

We don’t know what we don’t know

To start to focus us on our needs for the immediate and medium term and to start to identify some of the topics that may be of value to us.

Let’s explore the needs as identified in the Develop the Developer survey – http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=178060

This comprehensive survey review of the development needs of trainers, by trainers. The ‘top ten’ personal development needs identified by those participating were: :

1. Interpersonal skills
2. Understanding the psychology of learning
3. Facilitation skills
4. Evaluation
5. Group delivery skills
6. Training and development methods
7. Coaching skills
8. Consulting skills
9. Business knowledge
10. Training needs analysis

In contrast the respondents identified the following ‘top ten’ as key skills needed by the trainer/ developer population as a whole:

1. Coaching skills – as a range of styles not just one methodology
2. Consulting skills – internal and external
3. Evaluation skills
4. Diagnostic techniques – holistic and organisational as well at an individual level
5. Interpersonal & personal skills – personal skills
6. Organisational development
7. Facilitation skills
8. Training needs analysis
9. Business knowledge
10. Training and development methods – delivery methods

In the past, professionals have looked towards their professional bodies to support their CPD. But in the world of people development 19% of us do not belong to any professional body. Here’s a breakdown of membership:

• CIPD (28%)
• No Professional Membership (19%)
• ILM (8%)
• ITOL (5%)
• Teaching Professional (4%)
• CMI (3%)
• IBC (3%)
• Health care Professional (3%)
• CIM (2%)