The One Technique of the Most Effective Trainers in the World.
Did you ever have any doubts about your own abilities as a forklift trainer? Did you ever just "wing it"? Make it up, as you go? Have regrets about your own actions? or...just complain in frustration that the powers-that-be will NOT let you do what you know is right? You are not alone! These negative self-assessments seem to be wide spread no matter what professional or management job you have. The most effective trainers in the world seldom have these thoughts about their competence! There is a reason for it, and it is NOT because most trainers come from non-forklift environments. Yet, it is rare to see a forklift operator trainer who shares the same kind of confidence, self-efficacy, and competence. When you consider that this is a wide-spread industrial phenomenon, it is a waste of good talent. It doesn't have to be that way!
Well, maybe you had no choice because of your circumstances, the politics around you, or you simply were not permitted by the powers that be to perform at your best. As an operator trainer or supervisor, if you have NOT been faced with the dilemma of choosing between "minimal" regulatory compliance and safe operator job performance, you have not lived long enough to be mauled in the crucible of ill-informed, misguided management practices. Or, you just run away, in which case, you are perhaps embarrassed by your own lack of personal accountability: you see no benefit, or profit, in standing on sound principle. For those forklift trainers in the first category, there is relief available. For the second group, stop reading now. Only when you have experienced the uneasy knowledge that your training program will make little-to-no difference, and you want to change that, will you be relieved of the "sin" you are committing in the name of others "...you hope not to meet in heaven." (Schneider)
Where's the relief? What is the one technique used by the most effective trainers in the world? The most effective supervisors? It is called "performance analysis"
Performance analysis, with its structured, rigorous, and logical collection of data about the specific job and its environment is the basis for effectiveness as a trainer, engineer, manager, etc. Of course, most professionals use some form of analysis, depending upon their industry and personal repertory. However, not all forms of analysis are useful for forklift-operator-inspired job performance. For our purposes, the most precise, comprehensive , and relevant performance analysis are those derived from human performance scientists and engineers. Thomas R. Gilbert, with his seminal work in the field, wrote a book entitled "Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance". It is the "mother-load" for ideas, concepts, procedures and methods for anyone serious enough to integrate them into their training or other human performance-related consultation. This is true for forklift trainers, supervisors, and plant personnel, too. Better than that, derivative works from Gilbert and his colleagues have proliferated and are available by different names. Front-End Analysis (FEA) is my personal favorite. But, you can get the works of Geary Rummler, Carol Panza for the cost of their books on organization mapping and process. As a bonus, if you are a member of the International Society for Performance Improvement, you can learn this stuff for FREE just by asking some of the senior members; who are almost to a person, friendly, accessible, and helpful to new comers.
Performance Analysis: Performance Analysis is widely regarded by professional trainers, Instructional Designers and world class Performance Systems Consultants as the most useful technique to deploy BEFORE they sally forth with any possible solutions. In this way, they will then be able to quickly and precisely determine, not only the extent of needed instruction for skill/knowledge deficits, but they can also put non-training solutions into context so they do not get in the way of each other, once implemented. If you ever had to train someone on decrepit, broken forklifts, you know you were about as effective had you just traveled to the nearest ocean and tried to empty it with a 5-gallon pail. Get the trainee forklifts repaired first, a non-training solution, then do the training-in that order.
Another example is the potentially fatal influence of misguided supervisory practices. A skilled performance analyst will be able to catalog these quickly and with precision. I have witnessed operators being denied safety repairs; derided for asking for them; and punished when their front-line supervisor finally allowed for the repair. What form of punishment? In the high volume distribution center, forklift components can fall into disrepair from time-to-time. It was common practice for the operators to avoid asking for repairs unless the forklift stopped operating, altogether. Why? Because, while the forklift was being repaired, the operator would be re-assigned to an undesirable job requiring hot, physically demanding work to keep-up with the pace set by others. So, what's wrong with that? To a person, the operators stopped performing and recording accurate daily/shift exams of their forklifts because doing so could get them thus punished. It would NOT get them a well-running and safe truck to operate, unless the supervisor, sometimes deliberately, exacted his "pound of flesh". Deliberate, or not, this non-training problem had to be resolved BEFORE any instruction on Daily/Shift Exam procedures would be effective. The most effective trainers in the world are able to conclude from their performance analysis most otherwise "invisible" non-training related potential causes of serious forklift injury and fatality. I could go on-and-on about the influence of other non-training related conditions within any organizations context. That context is within the control of front-line management. The best trainers in the world will recommend their solutions emphasizing the data they collected that demonstrates that fact. The feedback session with the client, internal or external, is the moment of "truth" for forklift trainers who want to make a difference. The most effective trainers in the world will use data from their performance analysis to recommend expanding the forklift training to front-line management. If that is accepted, they often proceed with the confidence, self-efficacy, and competence you have to admire. It would serve us all to learn how to conduct a performance analysis of our respective forklift environments.
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Best wishes, Gotta go,
Joe