Train The Trainer: Effectively Reaching Today’s Adult Learners

While the US unemployment rate dipped to 9.5 percent in June 2010 (the lowest level since July 2009 compared to 9.7 percent in May 2010), the report showed 125,000 jobs were lost during the month, driven by the end of temporary census positions. The June figures estimated private sector job creation was 83,000 , marking the sixth-straight month of job growth among private firms, but government and financial market expectations.


In the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, job numbers began to rebound in the spring, but have since flattened. Financial markets around the world continue to jitter over concerns that the recession may return and only get worse. The oil leaks in the Gulf of Mexico and China are prompting major stock market fluctuations. Analysts are not consistent in their projections and many still say it could be late 2010 or early 2011 before businesses will once again be adding 200,000 jobs in a month in the US, a figure that is considered a positive growth.

A upbeat sign that our hospitality industry does appear to be rebounding was the posting of 20+ senior training positions I noted on one of the industry leading employment sites on July 16. With listings globally in hospitality businesses of varying sizes, the emergence of recovery levels of business means that hotels and hospitality businesses must re-hire the training positions they either eliminated or left vacant, Organizational Development and Associate Training are increasingly complex areas in the global hospitality field, and this is becoming more dramatic with four generations now working together. Many industries in developed countries have permanently shut down job categories and will not likely replace them, which means additional people of all ages will be entering our industry for the first time.

This article addresses the professionals who will be influencing those people entering our job markets and it offers some of what I call “hotel common sense” in effectively reaching the adult learners of today.

When we were in school, from elementary to university levels, many of us tended to have similar characteristics with most of our classmates. We were likely to be comparable in age, socio-economic background, physical characteristics and other similarities that might have included religion, political persuasion and many attitudes and life experiences.

We have learned in the past twenty years of the needs for continuous education. Today, “relearning” skills and developing new competencies regardless of age or past successes has become the norm and is expected. The “adult” student of 2011 can range dramatically in many of these former shared attributes. As an employer, manager or trainer, we need to stop and recognize the differences of today’s “student” attending a public workshop or a company sponsored training seminar.

As someone who has conducted an estimated 3,200 classes and/or workshops in my career to date, I am offering some characteristics that I have found in many of the programs I have facilitated. Understanding the “adult” learner’s perspective in recent years means using caution, as today’s diverse work force is not the same as it was less than a generation ago.