There are numerous areas in which proper staff training is an important, if not required, part of any adventure park or zip line operation. These range from on-course training developed in conjunction with your course builder to customer service and technical training, all of which are tailored to your course. But there’s still a lot you can do to improve the efficiency of your training through staff development, which will continue to raise their performance level, all season long. Here are some ideas to help engage your staff, keep their skills fresh, and avoid complacency.
- Create skill-based levels of employment. The intent of skills-based levels of employment is for each member of your staff to prove, independent of what is on his or her resume, that he or she has the minimum skills for the job. Creating these different levels of employment helps you manage educational opportunities for your staff and identify what specific training each person needs. Maintaining records for each employee is critical for the health and safety of your course and, more importantly, your guests.
Skills-based employment levels also help identify the level of commitment and engagement each staff member brings to your park. Engaged and motivated employees bring a level of motivation and effort to their roles, contrasting from their disinterested counterparts. These employees willingly go the extra mile, work with passion, and feel a profound connection to the company. They are the people who will drive innovation and move your business forward, resulting in repeat customers and an excellent safety record.
Here are some suggested levels and skills required to consider for each level. Please feel free to adapt these to the unique needs of your operation.
Level 1: Apprentice. At this introductory level, the staff member learns the technical and soft skills needed to progress into more advanced roles. Steps include:
- attend initial site specific course training
- develop a repertoire of games, activities, and initiatives to use with guests
- develop knowledge of braking and safety systems
- learn about the environment and local/natural history specific to your site
- assist and shadow a lead guide in set up and inspection of the course
- develop an understanding of the safety concerns and rescue protocols of each element
- maintain a log of trainings and observations
- understand inspection logs, maintenance, and use of equipment
- attend required monthly safety meetings
- develop a professional relationship with co-workers, participants, and guests
- develop an understanding of participant flow, tour pacing, and trip management
- uphold and exceed the expectations of your program: ethical reasoning, critical thinking, teamwork, initiative, and professionalism
Level 2: Guide/Facilitator/Monitor. After the staff member has shown proficiency in the required apprentice skills, he/she can assist and shadow more advanced staff with programs and operations. At this level, staff should:
- have completed necessary requirements for apprentice level.
- assist with planning, creating lessons, preparing equipment for program use
- deepen knowledge of braking and safety systems
- have knowledge about the environment and local/natural history of your site
- assist and shadow a lead guide in set up and inspection of the course
- deepen understanding of the safety concerns and rescue protocols of each element
- demonstrate effective course rescue and extrication procedures
- maintain a log of trainings and observations
- understand inspection logs, maintenance, and use of equipment
- understand and have the ability to implement Emergency Action Plan
- attend required monthly safety meetings
- continued development in professional relationship with co-workers, participants, and guests
- deepen understanding of participant flow, tour pacing, and trip management
- uphold and exceed the expectations of your program: ethical reasoning, critical thinking, teamwork, initiative, and professionalism
Level 3: Lead Guide or Senior Facilitator. Staff members at this advanced level have multiple years of experience and have risen through the ranks of the organization. They have routinely demonstrated skill advancement and help hold lower level staff accountable. To get here, staff should:
- complete necessary requirements for apprentice and guide levels.
- oversee guide-level staff in creating lessons and preparing equipment for program use
- teach apprentice level and guide level courses on braking and safety systems unique to your course
- teach apprentice level and guide level staff in set up and break down of the course
- leverage knowledge of the safety concerns and rescue protocols of each element
- demonstrate effective course rescue and extrication procedures
- maintain a log of trainings and observations
- maintain inspection logs, maintenance, and use of equipment
- understand and have the ability to implement Emergency Action Plan
- attend required monthly safety meetings
- continued development in professional relationship with co-workers, participants and guests
- demonstrate understanding of participant flow, tour pacing, and trip management
- uphold and exceed the expectations of your program: ethical reasoning, critical thinking, teamwork, initiative and professionalism
- be a role model and offer constructive feedback for apprentices and guides, assist with monthly safety meetings and positively represent the organization to the guests and the greater community
- Relay Course. The ancient philosopher Plato was once quoted as saying, “I can learn more about a person in an hour of play than a lifetime of conversation.” You, too, can learn a lot about your staff by observing their behaviors while they are playing.
During a staff meeting, have a relay course prepared and divide your staff into teams. Set up a competition that includes a variety of work-related tasks: various common knots that are used on your course, putting on a harness, clipping in a participant, etc. Hold a race to see which team can complete the course the quickest.
Meanwhile, have senior staff members observe each station. Have them watch to see if staff members are cutting corners when in a hurry. This will give you great insight into what behaviors might surface when your staff gets rushed during the busiest days of operation. Debrief with staff afterwards, and discuss the dangers and potential consequences of rushing through critical safety systems.
- Monthly Safety Meetings. Have a monthly safety meeting and teambuilding game night. This is a great way to keep your staff’s skills fresh. Hold these meetings during non-operational hours, if at all possible, so that all of your staff has the opportunity to attend.
Start out the meeting with a few of your staff leading an icebreaker game or team game with the group. Ask each team member to bring a game or two to share so they are actively researching new ideas on a regular basis. After each game, debrief how that game could be used with guests.
After a few games, pick one of your elements on which to review safety protocols. Have one staff member gear up and role play a typical or atypical safety concern for that element, and have other staff members perform a mock rescue. Keep a log of who attended and what elements they received additional training on. Make these meetings mandatory to attend so you can accurately keep track of staff development.
- Bring in an outside trainer once a year. Your method and style of training and the information you have to share is shaped by your experiences. Like it or not, your staff will get tired of hearing your voice. They’ve heard your stories and know your style. Hiring an outside trainer introduces fresh ideas and reinforces things your staff has already heard you say. Think of it as watching a movie you’ve seen several times—you feel like you can skip some parts because you already know what is coming next. When you bring a new character to your course, the attention level of your staff will rise dramatically. An outside trainer will not only break up the monotony of hearing the same voice, but you also expose your team to an entirely new set of life experiences, views, and skills. Plus, you could also learn something new.
- Hire a secret shopper. There is no better way to know how your staff is viewed by the guest than to become a guest yourself. Hire an outside party that knows what to look for: safety protocols, staff sarcasm around safety, use of appropriate knots, correctly buckled harnesses, etc. A secret shopper can help you inspect your daily check-in interactions, monitor frontline employee effectiveness, and check your competitors’ pricing and sales strategies.
Keep in mind that non-engaged or lackluster staff members can be difficult to spot on your own. They are not overly disruptive and likely do just enough to fulfill their job requirements. However, they might be creating an environment that is off-putting to guests, which can have a negative impact on your business. Hiring a secret shopper can help identify these staff members and allow you to make training or business decisions around their behaviors. After receiving feedback from the secret shopper, debrief the experience with your staff so they can learn from what happened.
- Reward positive performance. This may sound simple, but recognizing the positive behaviors and quality performance of your staff will encourage those actions to be repeated. If you routinely acknowledge those who are doing it right, they will continue to do it right. Other employees will also start to mirror the behaviors of the staff you recognize.
These rewards should be tied to passion and purpose, not to pressure and fear. Fear is a powerful motivator, but only for a short time and then it dissipates. Rewards should also occur shortly after a positive behavior is observed. This will help reinforce the behaviors you wish to see repeated.
This does not mean you should avoid acknowledging and correcting the mistakes or poor behaviors of your staff. These absolutely need to be addressed as well.
Here are a few suggestions for rewarding positive performance:
- Create a bulletin board of positive comments and testimonials from guests about how the employees’ actions benefited the customer’s experience.
- Have one of your investors come to a monthly safety meeting and personally thank a staff member in front of the group. This kind of recognition means a lot and allows your frontline workers to see that their role is an integral part of the success of the organization.
- Understand what motivates your employees. Find out what some of their favorite restaurants, hobbies, or pastimes are and provide small gift cards to these things as rewards for outstanding performance.
- Offer opportunities to help teach a new skill or lead a course at an upcoming monthly safety meeting.
Effective staff development engages your team in learning opportunities that are supportive, intentional, collaborative, and ongoing. The steps suggested here are some ways for you to start a program that will foster ongoing skill development and accident prevention.
