Training Day – What Makes a Great Theme Park Trainer.

As a new season is upon us we begin to make preparations for the influx of new employees that must be trained to our clients standards. For some, this will be their first job. For others, the passion of working in the entertainment industry is enough to justify their reenlistment. Those that returned from the previous season are battle hardened and ready for another season. A little older, and little wiser. For new employees the first person they will likely meet will be a park/department trainer. Ultimately this person has the difficult and complex task of transferring the knowledge, skills, rules, and expectations of the organization to many different audiences. The skills learned in training will reflect upon the park as a whole for the entire duration of the season. A great trainer is an employee who has the experience, knowledge, and persona to address employees in many different age groups with many varying levels of experience.

Understanding, engaging, and entertaining your audience is a great way to deliver a message across. If you walk into an auditorium and start preaching about company polices like your reading from a book, the likely hood that your training program to succeed is going to diminish. However if you walk into an auditorium and immediately entertain, and engage the audience. Your prospective employees are going to be more apt to pay attention and absorb the knowledge you are giving them. From the moment you start talking they must be able to easily relate to you, and trust you. Employees are equally the heart and soul of any park, as much so as any ride or attraction. With out their dedication and support success would be very limited.

The role of the trainer is always evolving, there is always room for improvement in the training material and methods. Annually evaluating employee performance as it relates to the training material, and adjusting policies as necessary should be part of your standard training procedures. Another important role of the trainer is address employee grievances. Some of the most common training mistakes we see are rushing threw the training material. Not stressing the importance of procedures and policies, and trying to force feed information. Trying condense three days worth of training material, and two days worth of department training material into two one day sessions is just to much.