10 benefits of providing your staff with comprehensive training

By Kathy Haras, Ph.D.

Operating a safe and effective ropes course or climbing wall program requires more than an annual inspection of your facilities and equipment. Most accidents and incidents can be traced to inadequately trained, inexperienced, and poorly supervised staff.

The Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT), provincial camping associations, and school-focused physical and health education associations such as OPHEA require that staff members receive training that aligns with the elements at the site and the type of programming being provided. The challenge course manager needs to develop a training plan that will ensure that staff members have the training they need to deliver a safe and effective adventure program.

At this time of year, many challenge course managers start thinking about training their adventure program staff for the upcoming season. Because comprehensive training is expensive in both monetary and scheduling terms, the question most places ask themselves is “do any of my staff need external training this year”? Instead of thinking of professional training as a cost, I encourage you to think of training as a benefit that increases with the number of trained staff. Here are just some of the reasons to have multiple staff members participate in a comprehensive training from an accredited challenge course professional training company.  

1. Enhanced program quality. Effective program design and delivery requires more than the ability to spot or belay. The skills and abilities staff gain from training enables them to tailor activities, lead effective reflection sessions, and adapt to a variety of situations and participants. A well-trained staff team is able to deliver high quality adventure program experiences. This will result in repeat client visits, positive word-of-mouth, and engaged participants.
2. Conveying a professional image. Trained and certified staff demonstrate to your clients and stakeholders that your organization takes program quality and risk management seriously. Likely your lifeguards and tripping staff are certified. Other ropes courses in your area likely have certified staff.  Wouldn’t it be great if you could tell parents, teachers, principals, and other stakeholders that your staff have been trained and certified?
3. Increased program flexibility. The right size staff team with the right training will be able to meet the needs of the typically-sized group in a typical time frame as well as an atypically-sized group in an alternate time frame. The staff will also be better able to meet the needs of participants with special needs.
4. Expanded program availability. When there are a number of well-trained staff members, it is easy to continue to offer programming when a staff member is ill or away. Week-ends become less difficult to staff since the pool of qualified personnel is larger. Specialty elements like Zip Lines and Giant Swings can be used more often rather than just when that one trained staff member is available.
5. Complete and up-to-date information.  Equipment, techniques, and standards change regularly.  Training ensures that your staff are aware of changes and understand the need to adjust local operating procedures.  It also ensures there is a continuity of knowledge even in cases of staff turnover.
6. Easier compliance with standards and regulations. Most standard-setting organizations (provincial camping, schools, etc.) require a certain ratio of trained staff to participants. In addition, provincial work regulations generally require the presence of two employees (and an effective rescue plan) for work at height.
7. Faster and better skill execution. Well trained staff generally perform skills faster and with more expertise. Even basic skills like knot tying and belaying improve – leading to more climbing for participants and less worry about whether belayers that were trained in-house are doing a good job.
8. Fewer errors. Having a staff team with enough well-trained members contributes to a safer program. When staff have jobs that are less repetitive, they are also less likely to make mistakes due to fatigue and boredom. Trained staff members are also able to provide a check and balance system for one another and are less likely to damage equipment.
9. Effective emergency response. A well-trained staff team is more likely to be able to respond in a safe and timely fashion to non-routine events. Having one individual who can execute a rope rescue is of little value if he or she is on their day off.
10. Higher staff morale and retention. A ropes course staff team is more likely to be happy and productive when they aren’t overworked. This satisfaction contributes to a higher level of performance and a better experience for participants. By contrast, unhappy and overworked staff members are more likely to leave the organization after just a brief period of employment. Attempting to save money by reducing the number of trained staff may actually have the opposite result – higher costs due to constantly having to train new staff.

Comprehensive training teaches staff members not only what to do but why. It many also provide skills verification, certification testing, or include another process that confirms staff competencies. Information about certification and the differences between certification and training will be provided in a coming blog.

At some point your organization made an investment by building a ropes course, climbing wall, or other adventure program resources. Make sure you continue to reap the benefits of your facility by having a larger number of well-trained staff.