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Friday, October 4, 2013

LEARNINGS FROM TRAINING: THE MAKINGS OF A MOTHER TURNED TRAINER

“The moment we stop learning is the moment we start failing.”

            When I saw the opening for a trainer in VCC-Link, I was not really looking for a job.  As a mother of two, I was happy then working from home for a year as an English tutor.  But something sparked in me that day and I just could not set aside that sort of “calling” I felt when I saw the posting.  It had always been my dream to train; it was the same reason I entered the call center industry way back in my College days in the first place.  I remember looking at my past trainers in the call center thinking, I can do that; someday I will do that.  And so, that posting made me feel that maybe, after a lot of reroutes, that was it. That was the chance.

            To be honest, I really thought my chances were slim.  I really thought, in my own assessment, I kicked ass (sorry for the expression) during my interview, but Sir Paolo did not seem convinced.  He had a lot of rebuttals, and no matter how hard I tried to rebutt his rebuttals, his face still did not look pleased.  I remember him saying, “If we call you, then good. If not, we found someone else.” I told my husband then, well at least I tried. But I had not even left Cityland then when Ms. Marianne called and told me that I had to do a demo class.  And so after several more processes, the mother/tutor became a trainer.

            Training was everything I hoped it would be and more.  I was in my element.  I felt alive. It was the opportunity to meet a lot of people from very different walks of life; to know their stories, their experiences, their goals and dreams and seeing them slowly reach their dreams.  It was seeing the changes in them, and for some, the complete metamorphosis, from a dreamer to a go-getter.  It was far more rewarding than I have ever hoped for; the endless gratitude, the appreciation, the tokens of thanks, the new friendships, the privilege of having a hand in changing someone's life.  I got all these from being an in-house trainer in Bayan Academy for VCC-Link.

            During my last class, I had my trainees write a paragraph on why they chose to stay in training.  It was all the same great reasons that made me strive to work hard for seven months, only that time it was different because it was going to be the last time that I can get to do that, the last group I was going to watch achieve their dreams.  That was enough to make me a bit emotional. Even yesterday, towards the end of the day, fixing my things, it made me emotional because I was not just leaving a job, I realized I was closing a chapter of my life that meant so much to me.

            So I guess, my greatest learning from being an in-house trainer is this: it is not just a job that you do to earn a living, it is in fact, sharing what you know and then influencing others to get to a goal, or to improve and enhance themselves.  The rewards that I will bring with me as I leave is not the material sort, not the self-serving benefits of finding better careers or opportunities.  It is the sort that will stay with me long after everything else is gone, which is the privilege to have influenced others even in the simplest of ways. My Facebook page has been brimming with thanks lately, whether it be through a public greeting or a private message, from trainees past who learned about me leaving. Some of them went out of their way to visit (actually, they often do). These are things that I definitely did not expect, but because of these, I am leaving with joy that I succeeded in aspects that truly matter to me.

            Each trainee I have met enriched me in different ways.  Whether they be young or old, I learned from each and everyone of them because they all have their experiences, they all have their strengths to share.

            That brings me to another great learning which is RESPECT; respect for anyone no matter the age, educational attainment, social status, or any other demographical make up there is. Each one of them deserved my respect because they would always have something that they are better at than me.  A way to practice this is through listening; I have to make it a point to listen to everyone when there is something they want to say.

            Also another learning that I want to impart is this and this is important: We should not count what we have already done and then expect returns equivalent to what we have counted.  Often, this rouses issues because people would often think, I deserve this, I don't deserve that. I have observed this a lot from different people, not just in this company.  This often leads to thinking that they deserve more but they are not getting it so they would NOT DO more.  This is disastrous because it veers us away from doing what really matters, and that is to deliver excellent performance each and every single time, not because you will be paid or rewarded for it, but because it is your job and you're proud of it.  I apologize but I would like to quote a previous employer from whom I also learned a lot, our client, Accenture, “High Performance Delivered.”  Doing a great job all the time not for anything else but because it is your job to perform.

            And so I say goodbye. Though sad to leave training, I feel like I have my own small personal wins as well.  I am happy to have been able to contribute in my own simple ways.

            For that, I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart.