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Training and Development Methodology
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Training and Development Methodology
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Disclaimer
- The names of the parties, as well as the data and information in the cases stated below, have been sanitized in order to protect the identity of the parties involved. The complexities of the cases have also been simplified to facilitate easy understanding of the key issues involved.
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Is training relevant? Is it purposeful? Is it cost-effective? T. O. Lee, the world-famous LC trainer, tells us that the best way of making training relevant and purposeful is the right way of training. What is the right way of training? His way of training is the right way of training. His way of training is the right example of right way of training. What is his way of training? T. O. Lee tells us his way. L C VIEWS presents his way in his own words. His way is a lesson for other trainers. His way is an inspiration for trainees. His way is the best investment on training for companies investing on training of their human resources. Training should be evaluated not in terms of how well the trainer has presented in the classroom but how well the trainee has improved his knowledge and skill to improve his job performances and how well his employer has improved, as a result of training intervention or investment, his business capabilities and financial results.
T. O. Lee's Insights and Inspirations
Right Trainer for Right Way of Training and Development1 Training techniques
I have noted that most of the LC trainers in the market are not properly trained on teaching. I was aware of this problem 30 years ago and have undergone extensive trainings on how to teach. With my hard efforts I acquired the top qualification of MITD (Member of the Institute of Training and Development) of London about 20 years ago. For a teacher, it is not only what you know. It is how you would transfer what you know to the audience. A lot of techniques are involved for best results. Merely being an entertainer is not enough. The audience leave the room with smiling face but do they learn all you want them to know? That is doubtful.
2 Light up the fire within
For junior staff we use the term "training". For senior staff we use the word "development" The senior executives are very matured people and have "all the knowledge about LC" inside their brains, put in by the creator of mankind, God, or the Real Truth, depending on what your religion is. The task of the trainer is to help them bring out their treasures So inspiring is very important. My case study is not designed to tell them what is the right answer but rather help them find their own answers. In this way they think they find their own answers. The trainer's role should be a facilitator rather than a teacher. They will remember much longer if they find the answers themselves. However, some conservative participants still want me to distribute the model answers and I have to yield to this market practice in some countries.
3 The most difficult part of a trainer
The best way to differentiate a good trainer from a better trainer is to ask them questions. For the presentation materials, the trainer can make prior preparation. So they must be good and convincing. The questions from the floor have no boundary. So the questions may touch on the weakest areas of a trainer and his or her ignorance may be exposed, particularly that one audience is more knowledgeable in that issue. So since 35 years ago I realized this problem from attending seminars and decided to armour myself with all LC related knowledge, such as air, sea, surface and multimodal transports, cargo insurance (in comparison with life, motor, health, loss of profit insurance), Incoterms, bills of exchange, commodities, arbitration, mediation, negotiating techniques, international trade rules, conventions and legislations, from both the civil and common law perspectives. I studied only those trade related laws and obtained the individual certificates or diplomas on specific subjects after attending written examinations. I never intend to be a lawyer because 70 percent of my business is from international law firms. I do not want them to see me as their competitors. But without the legal knowledge, one cannot resolve the disputes and analyze the problems precisely and convincingly. Lack of legal knowledge would make communication with barristers a big problem as an expert witness in LC. Only knowing laws my expert's report can be written in such a way to coincide with the line of reasoning taken by the judges
Hence I often encourage the audience to disagree with me and open the debate so that by answering these difficult queries and disagreements, I can let them learn more. Frequent participants of my workshops tell me that the contents of my handouts are not important. My answers to their difficult questions are very important and they come to my workshops just for that purpose. If the trainer knows only banking, then he or she is not able to provide good answers to those questions related to transport, insurance, law, Incoterms, conventions, etc.
4 East and West Cultures
Banking practices may vary from the East to the West with the Middle East in between. A good trainer traveling globally should be able to tell the different banking practices in these different areas. This has something to do with their cultures as well. Westerners care more about principles. They may sue someone for a minor dispute as seen by the Easterners. Eastern people care more about relationship and sometimes principles may yield to good relationship. So in the ancient courts in Asia, credits achieved in the past might reduce punishments for harms done at present. A trainer travelling globally should understand these differences in thoughts He or she must also understand the taboos in different cultures and religions. That is one of the reasons why I decided to move to North America from Asia and serve the Middle East.
5 The purpose of training
Most training institutes measure the success of the training by asking the audience to fill up the evaluation sheet, what the training profession calls the "happy sheet". I doubt very much the effectiveness of such survey. I often tell the participants at the beginning how I would measure my success.
"When you go into this training room, you have many problems encountered in your work life, those you cannot find a good answer from other people. Some say this and some say that and you are confused about which is the right answer? Then this morning you ask me those questions or listen to my answers to other people's questions. At the end of this workshop, you have to ask yourself: "How many of my problems have been resolved?" If some of the problems encountered in your daily operations are resolved, then this is a good workshop, regardless whether the trainer is a good entertainer, whether the handouts are thick and nicely bounded, or whether the PowerPoint presentations are colourful and exciting".
6 Good things are never cheap
Unfortunately my price for CAD3,000 a day is considered expensive by some institutes and they always try to cut my prices. However, the cost for armouring myself with LC related knowledge is very expensive but nobody care for that. This is my problem. Now due to appreciation of the Canadian dollars and upon public demand, my fee has been reduced to CAD2,000
For those who still cannot afford to attend my workshops, I have provided an alternative for them. They may learn from about 1,000 articles in my L/C website www.tolee.com as a premium member for only CAD96 a year, a price everyone is affordable. They may post academic queries for me to provide the answers. Those answers will be posted in my website for other premium members to learn. I also provide free consultation to those students preparing their theses on international trade or commercial law faculties, as stated in my mission statement in my homepage.
Confucius once said: "A teacher should not choose his students. He should make his teaching available to everyone who wants to learn". Hence for those who cannot come to my workshops but wish to learn from me, I follow their suggestions and now my handouts can be purchased by clicking http://www.tolee.com/asp/handoutsales.asp at prices much less than the workshop fees.
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