Saturday, April 22, 2017
Skills Training
Ahhhh, spring time at last... except for the continuing rain. We used to look forward to spring so we could finally get out of our facility and do activities. I used to take the opportunity to remind staff that paying attention to each client's ISP Objectives was important once we got out there.
How many of your staff take a group of clients out and act like a school teacher, guiding their 'kids' along... making sure to let them know when it's time to cross the street. My staff was pretty good at asking a different client to let us know when we should cross the street at each corner.
I also asked my staff once how many of them actually paid attention each client's ISP and followed the prompting hierarchy for each individual for each of their Objectives during an outing. The response surprised me, although I guess it shouldn't have. Staff stared at the floor and coughed politely.
"None of you? No one follows the client's ISP's?"
One staff said, "Well, we mostly do."
"Mostly do... what does that mean? Do you follow the prompting hierarch to teach them the skill?"
And that's when one person said, "You should just be glad we show up to work every day."
I assured that person (and everyone present) that if that was their attitude, then clearly they were in the wrong job and they should feel free to find another. "But," I assured them, "if it's a matter of not enough training and you're not sure how to do your job, please ask for help. We're not a babysitting service for adults with developmental disabilities. We're here to do a job and that job is teaching daily living skills to our clients. A lack of training is nothing to be ashamed of. That's not your fault. We already provide training, but if you didn't understand parts of it, please don't be embarrassed to say so and ask for help."
No one quit, and I did see some folks asking for help. Not everyone, and not everyone stayed with us in the long run. That's okay. It's a hard job even if you do it right and it's not for everyone.
Our big problem was that we had existing staff train new staff, but the existing staff had never really done the job right and their supervisors didn't want to make trouble for themselves, so...
If you're a supervisor, are your staff doing the job as they should or are you letting them skip by because it's easier? I encourage you to talk to your staff and find out if your agency's training is getting the job done. If not, maybe it's time to look at your training. When I first started with our agency, we didn't get any training. When I became a program director, that changed and eventually I had a staff tell me that staff from other centers within the agency were jealous of our staff because we got training.
Just know that it takes a while to get staff used to new ideas... like actually doing the job they way they were trained. I had staff that had been with the agency for many years and were used to babysitting. I just made it clear that that wasn't how we were going to do things anymore, and then I made sure my supervisors were staying on top of things.
I've written before how the hardest thing is getting staff to ask questions. I wish I had the easy answer for that one.
Just keep at it. And enjoy the spring sunshine!
How many of your staff take a group of clients out and act like a school teacher, guiding their 'kids' along... making sure to let them know when it's time to cross the street. My staff was pretty good at asking a different client to let us know when we should cross the street at each corner.
I also asked my staff once how many of them actually paid attention each client's ISP and followed the prompting hierarchy for each individual for each of their Objectives during an outing. The response surprised me, although I guess it shouldn't have. Staff stared at the floor and coughed politely.
"None of you? No one follows the client's ISP's?"
One staff said, "Well, we mostly do."
"Mostly do... what does that mean? Do you follow the prompting hierarch to teach them the skill?"
And that's when one person said, "You should just be glad we show up to work every day."
I assured that person (and everyone present) that if that was their attitude, then clearly they were in the wrong job and they should feel free to find another. "But," I assured them, "if it's a matter of not enough training and you're not sure how to do your job, please ask for help. We're not a babysitting service for adults with developmental disabilities. We're here to do a job and that job is teaching daily living skills to our clients. A lack of training is nothing to be ashamed of. That's not your fault. We already provide training, but if you didn't understand parts of it, please don't be embarrassed to say so and ask for help."
No one quit, and I did see some folks asking for help. Not everyone, and not everyone stayed with us in the long run. That's okay. It's a hard job even if you do it right and it's not for everyone.
Our big problem was that we had existing staff train new staff, but the existing staff had never really done the job right and their supervisors didn't want to make trouble for themselves, so...
If you're a supervisor, are your staff doing the job as they should or are you letting them skip by because it's easier? I encourage you to talk to your staff and find out if your agency's training is getting the job done. If not, maybe it's time to look at your training. When I first started with our agency, we didn't get any training. When I became a program director, that changed and eventually I had a staff tell me that staff from other centers within the agency were jealous of our staff because we got training.
Just know that it takes a while to get staff used to new ideas... like actually doing the job they way they were trained. I had staff that had been with the agency for many years and were used to babysitting. I just made it clear that that wasn't how we were going to do things anymore, and then I made sure my supervisors were staying on top of things.
I've written before how the hardest thing is getting staff to ask questions. I wish I had the easy answer for that one.
Just keep at it. And enjoy the spring sunshine!
