Trust me, I’m a Trainer

All training, learning and development demands trust: without a degree of openness and honesty, it’s hard to get to the root of, and therefore resolve, problems. My perfect customer is one who trusts me to work with them to get the best result for them: training works best when we learn about, and understand, each other.

There is a balance though: I trust the companies I work with to provide me with a decent location to train in and to get their people there, to pay for my time and skills, and meet my travel costs. In exchange it’s important that they trust me with the right information to deliver appropriate and effective training.

I have worked with my longest starting client for ten and a half years, and the ‘value-add’ is constantly changing. Initially we had the ‘wow!’ factor – big institutional changes from a standard course, tailored but not deviating much from material that’s really well understood within Global Integration.  This included matrix working, virtual teams, cross cultural training – the things we’re great at, and well known for. For the first five years, this was really rewarding, and we witnessed changed internal behaviour.

Since then, our relationship has moved on, and whilst I still tailor the more basic courses for this customer, the team now calls me to say ‘we have a problem, how can you help?’

This has, at times, included everything from training the CEO of one of their businesses along with his direct reports in the US and subsequent roll-out of the program for the whole organization. Whilst some might argue that I’ve simply become a hard habit to break, the relationship for me, the trust we’ve built, is great.  To have a company place that much trust in me is hugely rewarding.

It’s an old-fashioned value, but trust is hugely under-rated.

Rod Farnan has been training and consulting with Global Integration almost since it’s inception. He has particular expertise on working within international/global organizations and can be contacted by email (rod at www.global-integration.com). Rod has notably worked with and within a number of healthcare and pharmaceutical organizations and has lived in both the UK and the USA – and is the only Scot on the Global Integration training and consultancy team.