Jim Rambo, Region Trainer and our University Director of PR recently wrote an email to one of his District Trainers which states perfectly our coaching for “finding a replacement.”
One of our missions this year is to have highly enthusiastic, empowered and quality Trainers at every Officer level in GWRRA and a sufficient number of qualified and quality trainers throughout the Association to meet the needs and wants of our Officers & Members. Please review the excerpts from this article by Jim below and if you haven’t begun already, begin the process of targeting, identifying, choosing and training your successor. Ask for help at any stage in this process you need help with–we are here as resources, trainers, mentors and coaches for you.
“Now that we have all the holiday stuff behind us, I’ll get back to work answering questions and providing suggestions. I may even put my coach’s hat on for a minute.
Let’s talk about “Finding a Replacement for Me”. …I must recognize that at some point that hard-working volunteer needs to take a time-out and step aside so that they don’t totally burn out and quit altogether.
The appointment process has changed. It has been improved and encourages the involvement of the Operations Team Leader which sets the stage for an interactive, interdependent, and active team. Here is a link to the Officer Policy Change Bulletin: http://gwrra.org/oconnect/pdf/
There are a lot of valuable tools available to you and your District Director at the Officer Appointing Process on the Officer Resources Page: http://gwrra.org/oconnect/
I encourage you to begin a dialogue with your current District Director and your incoming District Director regarding the candidates that they would consider taking the helm and continuing the GREAT job that you have done and are doing.
I would strongly encourage you and your colleagues to consider appointing your prospective replacement as an Assistant District Trainer. This would enable the prospective District Trainer to receive valuable training and exposure to all that would be expected of them.
I would also encourage you to review the Officer Position Description for District Trainer. However, be mindful that at first glance the description may appear to be daunting. One of the bullet points that cannot be over emphasized is maintaining frequent and open communication both with the University Trainers within the District and their colleagues on the District Team.
Some points of consideration that you and your colleagues should keep in mind:
· Your candidate should be at least a Senior University Trainer or working on becoming a Senior University Trainer. Until we have a clearer picture of what the certification process will be and what the teaching requirements will be for some of the programs, viz., OCP, UTDP, Horizon and others we know that some of these programs require advanced certification levels.
· The candidate should be comfortable working with computers and databases such as Excel, WORD and PowerPoint.
· The candidate should be a person who attends to maintaining records of training conducted by and for the University Trainers under their tutelage. Stated another way, the candidate should not be a procrastinator nor should they be consumed by the minutia of details.
In summation, the position, as you know, is uncompensated financially and totally volunteer. However, in accepting the position they will be putting on the mantle of responsibility for training, mentoring, and encouraging their trainers and prospective trainers.
To me, the position of Trainer is the absolute best position within GWRRA. As Trainers we train, mentor, develop, and guide our current leaders and provide the resources for our new and prospective leaders to perform their roles confidently and comfortably. As Trainers we have the opportunity to work and collaborate with some of the greatest people in the association including the FUN folks, Membership Enhancement, and our dedicated Educators in the School of Rider Education and Safety.”
Here are some special resources to help our trainers be the best they can be.
