3 Jan It never changes does it? Off two weeks, put on two stone, shed £1,000, back on the training treadmill and what do I find when I get back? Another request from my HR director for metrics to show the real impact of our training. Or is it the same request she made last June which I thought I’d fobbed off. Dunno. I’ll put it in my pending folder. Pending what, I’m not sure. Divine intervention or something. Hasn’t our HRD read Donald Kirkpatrick? My training director tells me he’s some American guru who says measuring training is a hard road best not travelled. Sounds like my kinda guru.
6 Jan First Friday of the year and that’s got to be worth a glass or three. Down the pub with some of the HR gang. Lynda, who’s my fellow training manager, makes a joke about my ice-breaker being older than the Titanic. What a limp metaphor that is. What’s wrong with asking delegates to say something about themselves that’s surprising? It’s worked for years. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, that’s my motto. Anyway if I hadn’t asked I would never have found out that Dave in accounts had been in a Joe Dolce tribute act. Or that Michelle in HR had oncewell we’d better keep that one quiet. What’s said in training stays in training, that’s my view. Still, an out of date worn-out icebreaker? Um maybe Lynda’s got a point.
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9 Jan First Monday of the year and first training session of 2006. Still get the old butterflies in the tum when setting up the room and going through the programme. They do say that adrenalin’s a great performance enhancer for performers and that’s what we training pros are – performers. Lynda’s barb cut me a bit so I’ve got a new ice-breaker: Who’s your favourite X-Factor performer and why? That should get some cracking answers. Lynda’s challenged me to a spread-bet on how many no-shows there’ll be this week. We’ve got 45 delegates due on six courses so, as it’s the sickness season, I’ve gone for six or seven. Lynda’s gone for three or four.
13 Jan Black Friday. Four no-shows by Thursday!! Simon Cowell, you have my sympathy. Why do people think they must perform during an ice-breaker? Memo to me: I’ll have to find another one. Urgent e-mail from HR director titled ‘Training Impact and Effectiveness Metrics Meeting: Accept’. Funny, I thought there was a decline button on the Outlook diary. Does this mean I’ll have to master Excel? Good news from my admin support Dawn; telesales had a curry night last night, resulting in three no-shows for their assertiveness on the phone gig – another blow to Lynda’s purse, I think.
