THERE IS A HARD TRUTH WHEN IT COMES TO TRAINING. NOT EVERYONE YOU TRAIN WILL STAY.

AND THAT IS COMPLETELY OK.

MY OWN PROFESSIONAL PHILOSOPHY HAS BEEN PRETTY SIMPLE SINCE I FIRST BECAME A CTO THEN A TRAINING COORDINATOR-TRAIN TO MOVE UP OR TO MOVE ON. EITHER WAY, THEY’RE BETTER THAN THEY WERE WHEN THEY STARTED WITH YOU.

SOME TRAINERS HOLD KNOWLEDGE HOSTAGE SO THAT THEIR TRAINEE DOES NOT SURPASS THEM, OR ALLOW THE “LEARN IT FOR YOURSELF” METHOD. WHICH IMO IS BULLSHIT. THATS NOT LEADERSHIP OR MENTORSHIP. THATS INSECURITY.

REAL TRAINING IS ABOUT GROWTH EVEN IF THAT MEANS THEY GROW BEYOND YOU.

IF THEY STAY, GUESS WHAT? YOU JUST HELPED BUILD A STRONG AND EXTREMELY VALUABLE TEAM MEMBER. IF THEY GO, WHO CARES? YOU’VE SENT A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL OUT INTO THE WORLD WHO ADDS EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE IN PUBLIC SAFETY. THEY ARE BOTH A HUGE IMPACT FOR THE EMERGENCY TELECOMMUNICATIONS FIELDS AND SHOULD BE VIEWED AS WIN EITHER WAY.

THERE IS REALLY TOO MUCH TALK ABOUT RETENTION AND NOT ABOUT DEVELOPMENT. WE DON’T KEEP GOOD PEOPLE BY CHAINING THEM DOWN. YOU KEEP THEM BY GIVING THEM REASONS TO KEEP RISING; MOVING UP.

MY ADVICE TO CURRENT AND FUTURE TRAINERS; DON’T JUST TEACH THE JOB. TEACH THEM HOW TO LEAD, TO THINK CRITICALLY, HOW TO BALANCE EMPATHY AND CONTROL, AND HOW TO FIND A PRIDE IN THE UN-CELEBRATED WORK WE ACCOMPLISH. BECAUSE OUR GOAL IS NOT TO BUILD ANOTHER DISPATCHER, BUT TO BUILD THEM UP FOR THE CHAOS THAT COMES NEXT.

IF THEY STAY-THE TEAM GETS STRONGER.

IF THEY GO-THE PROFESSION GETS BETTER.

BUT EITHER WAY, THEY’VE BECOME BETTER THAN WHEN THEY ARRIVED: BECAUSE OF YOU.

WHETHER MOVING UP OR MOVING ON, JUST DON’T GO BACKWARD.

MORAL OF THE STORY:

IF YOU’RE AFRAID FOR TRAINING YOUR REPLACEMENT, MAYBE YOU SHOULD START TAKING NOTES TOO.