On-the-job assessing

As a training and development practitioner, I really enjoy the training component of the role; needless to say, assessing forms a key requirement of the training skill-set. What I really enjoy is on-the-job assessing, this allows myself as an assessor to really immerse myself in the trainee's actual working environment.

When I travel to site, I am able to view current industry practices in a realistic environment with trainees required to perform under the same workplace pressures they experience in their normal job role.

Notwithstanding, the trainee is required to perform their assessment on the equipment in their workplace, this maintains my currency in the industry in regards to machinery and equipment trends.

As a trainer and assessor, this industry consultation process also satisfies the requirements of trainer currency and on-going industry applications as well as individual workplace processes. As a dual professional, I am required to maintain both vocational and training competencies.

In reality, this is more difficult than one expects as I had to spend a disproportionate amount of my personal time undertaking tertiary training to develop university level training and development competencies.

The opportunity to engage in professional development on-the-job is welcomed, I love keeping up with the latest trends in the machinery maintenance and repair field. The technology now utilised in this field is extraordinary, productivity is linked to technology and automation is a large driver of technological development.

We generally conduct off-the-job training with trainees, we engage in classroom training for the knowledge development process before heading into the engineering workshop for skills practice before engaging in the practical assessment.

This is a simulated working environment, the issue we face is the learning and assessing tools and equipment, they tend to be outdated and not as related to current work practices as organisational management believes.

For the training organisation, the benefits of reduced capital expenditure and maintenance allows a more efficient use of resources. The benefits of utilising the client's resources allows a seamless learning environment where trainees are comfortable being assessed in their work environment.

Trainees who are familiar with equipment, procedures, tooling and work flow tend to perform better. It is my preference to assess trainees on-the-job for they are richer for the experience and so is the assessor.

This is all about confidence, a person who is relaxed generally performs to their potential with a greater benefit to their employer. it is about making people comfortable in their work environment, they can either perform the assigned tasks or they can't so you don't want to let nerves skew results.