[View Point] Adventures in On-The-Job Training

“Is there anyone in this audience who doesn’t work in the pest control industry?” was the question posed to attendees of a presentation given by Rose Pest Solutions Director of Education Gene White at this year’s Purdue Pest Management Conference in January.

As a member of the media I really am sort of tangential to the industry, so I sheepishly raised my hand, realizing I also probably had just volunteered myself to join Gene on stage for a demonstration.Sure enough, Gene asked me if I wouldn’t mind hopping on stage to help him out. As someone who is usually open to new experiences I said, “Sure, why not?”

Gene’s presentation titled “On-The-Job Training” had reached the point where he wanted to give attendees a hands-on demonstration in order to illustrate how on-the-job training works. What he had in mind was teaching a non-industry person (me) the proper procedures for checking, setting and placing a Ketch-All Mousetrap. Gene used a three-step approach.

1. He gave me a step-by-step demonstration, showing me all that is involved in working with this particular trap.

2. After assembling and then disassembling the trap, he said, “Now I am going to go through the process again from the beginning, except this time you are going to instruct me how to do it.” I proceeded to do just that.

3. Gene then disassembled the trap and said, “OK, now I want you to do it.” So here was my big chance to show off my pest management skills. I bent over to remove the trap’s lid, but before I could do so I caught myself, and said, “Oops, I first need to check the trap for live rodents, don’t I?” Yes, indeed, Gene explained, although he was kind enough not to ridicule me in front of the audience. So, I was not off to a good start. But I stuck with it, remembered the training Gene had just provided me, and was able to walk myself through the remaining steps, giving what I believe was a competent demonstration on how to check, set and place a Ketch-All Mousetrap.

The experience was an interesting exercise and one that gave me a greater appreciation for the curious minds that are necessary to be a pest management professional (which I think I possess) as well as the certain degree of manual dexterity that is needed (which I’m pretty certain I do not possess).

The lecture portion of Gene’s presentation also was quite interesting. I especially enjoyed Gene’s explanation of the Learning Pyramid (as it relates to pest management professionals), which was developed in the 1960s by the National Training Laboratories, Bethel, Maine. It explains that people’s retention rates are:

• 10% when they learn by reading only
• 20% when they read, hear and see
• 30% when they read, hear, see and participate in a demonstration
• 50% when they read, hear, see, participate in a demonstration and are involved in a discussion
• 70% when they read, hear, see, participate in a demonstration, are involved in a discussion and practice doing (in other words, on-the-job training)

Gene’s overall presentation was well done and it also opened my eyes to the value of on-the-job training. The simple three-step process Gene showed me was an effective training method. Despite my initial flub, I believe I walked away from the experience with a much better understanding of how to set the trap than I would have if I had just read about this process in a book or saw a training video on how to do it.

The author is Internet editor of PCT.