“Wear a belt.”
Years ago, in another role at another company, I was part of a group that was interviewing candidates for a role as a Training Specialist. We had a young man present for us. He was dressed well. Wearing a suit, ironed shirt, tie, and his shoes were well shined. He very much looked the part of an instructor. At that time, the interview process required him to facilitate a lesson as if he were a trainer. His presentation was clean, visuals were great, he even included an interactive component that got us out of our seats. During the course of instruction, as our candidate was leading us in the activity, he lifted his arms over his head (part of the activity). An esteemed colleague of mine and I noticed the horror before us. The candidate that had led us in such a captivating presentation and activity was not wearing a belt with this nicely tailored suit. My colleague and I were floored. It seemed so out of place. At this moment our perception of the presentation and the candidate had changed
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Forgetting this seemingly minor detail in his uniform had caused us, his evaluators, to wonder if this was a reflection of his greater attention to detail. To provide you with some more background information, prior to facilitating the lesson, the interviewees were told to dress the part. It is like that old saying, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have have.” In hindsight, it seems asinine and trivial, but at the time, with all of the strong candidates vying for this position, this was something we had difficulty moving past.
Why is this such a big deal, you wonder? Wearing a belt helps complete your uniform as an instructor. ID’s (instructional designers) may have a similar process, but we are going to focus on the instructor with this one.
Uniform? Do instructors and trainers have a uniform? Yes, we do. Well, sort of. This varies from company to company, as company dress code can vary, but generally it is pretty standard. As an instructor, or any time you are speaking in front of someone you should have a “uniform” in mind.
The general practice for the instructor, or trainer, is to dress one level above the people they are training or speaking to. This means that if you are speaking to a group of retail workers that are in jeans and a polo, you should dress similar, but one step above. So perhaps you would wear a button-up shirt and slacks, or a button-up and a jacket. If you are speaking to folks that dress business casual, polo’s, dress shirts, slacks, etc.; wear a tie. If your learners are more of the professional/office type, wear a suit and tie. Just dress one step above, there is no need to show off. Now, you may be asking why we need to adjust our wardrobe, daily wear, or outfit (according to my wife, when I coordinate my socks with my tie and all that I am putting together an outfit…)?
We pay attention to our uniform for two reasons; Presence, and credibility.
Presence: If we are dressed appropriately and look the part, we are establishing our role as the instructor or trainer. Since we are in the front of the room, and the center of attention, we need to ensure that we look the part.
Credibility: By dressing appropriately, our learners who will see us as the learning professional we are. It has been proven through many different studies, that 55% of another perception of you is based upon how you look. Looking the part can help establish your credibility. Few will take you seriously if you show up to speak in jeans and a t-shirt, or shorts and a polo.
Wearing a belt completes the uniform. That small attention to detail is important, and people will notice. Going back to the story of the interviewee who did not wear the belt… During our panel interview he stated that he was so nervous about the interview and the presentation that he forgot to wear one, and did not think anyone would notice. He realized he was wrong the moment he was reaching over his head during his activity. He knew that we had noticed. After much discussion, we gave him the benefit of the doubt, and we brought him on the team. (He noticed that we noticed, and we liked that about him.)
Working side-by-side with him over the next three years, we’ve asked him almost daily, “Are you wearing a belt today?” And, surprisingly, he has. By addressing this small detail, and giving greater attention to all of his work he grew to be a skilled trainer and instructional developer. It is all about the small details in life.
So, I’ll ask you, “Are you wearing a belt today?” If not; wear a belt.
#crossroadlearning #attentiontodetail #uniform #traineruniform #everyoneisnewatleastonce #makelearningmatter #trainingblog
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