“Staff training is at the core of everything we do,” I’m told by a campus recreation director during a recent onsite consultation. This director continued to describe how his department intentionally builds a more effective team by developing job shadowing opportunities for all levels of staff.
How did this level of intentional development come about? And how does this department’s commitment to training impact the school’s operations?
Prior to this director’s career in recreation, this individual had been a navigator in the Navy. The director recounted how it was almost a full year after boarding his ship before he made it to the bridge to even start his navigator training.
During that year before navigator training, he had been rotated around every part of the ship so that he could experience first-hand the complexities of other people’s roles on the ship. This experience led the director to a much deeper understanding of what it takes to be a real part of the team—to appreciate how important everyone is to efficient operations.
What’s the impact of this approach to training on the campus recreation environment?
Creating opportunities to intentionally transport staff out of their comfort zones—through shadowing other employees during their regular work day—led to a better understanding of and respect for what other staff members do in their various departments.
This unique approach ultimately translated into better customer service, and made staff more aware of the different challenges in their colleagues’ jobs. The byproducts of that knowledge were better morale and less complaining about how difficult an individual’s job was relative to others.
While job shadowing may be a non-starter for your department, a key to minimizing risk is to provide different and unique training opportunities that help to broaden staff members’ experience and knowledge base.
What do you need to do?
Think of staff training as fulfilling two important priorities. Priority #1 fulfils the job training/in-service training required to perform a specific job. Priority #2 fulfils the professional development training objectives that develop more well-rounded, and therefore more valuable, members of your team.
How do you do this?
Review the 30 training videos developed by McGregor & Associates. These unique videos are designed to complement your in-house training modules by providing a combination of both specific jobs training and professional development objectives.
For more information on these videos, visit the SportRisk website.
McGregor & Associates is a leader in campus recreation risk management
We have been in the campus recreation risk management business for over 20 years. We have a proven track record, are widely known, and are cited across North America as the go-to company for risk management expertise. It’s why NIRSA has partnered with McGregor & Associates in the SportRisk ‘Best Practices’ initiative.
So don’t wait any longer. To register and learn more, visit the SportRisk website or contact President of McGregor & Associates Ian McGregor.
Ian McGregor, PhD, is currently the President of Ian McGregor & Associates.
