Can we stop making Dispatch training "other duties as assigned" and actually teach people how to train others?!

Pepwave1

Pepwave1

Well-Known Member
This is a bit of a rant...
.
When you don't know how to train people, or even worse, you are assigned to train people as "other duties as assigned" and you don't WANT to train... Training fails.
.
Training in these kinds of environments and through negative reinforcement is dangerous in aviation.
.
Asking questions, digging into how and why things work, sharing information...and a willingness to teach others is vital to the operation.
.
Let's take Dispatch Plot (I don't remember the actual name of the program)...you can tell what's going on with your flight by the color of the "puck"...or flight. You can see OOOI recorded there, see flight delays, see crew issues...just at a glance.
.
But how are you supposed to know what any of this means if no one shows you?
.
Scroll forward in time to someone who has been working a desk for a couple of days fresh out of training...and she calls a station asking about the location of an aircraft...because she can't just glance at Plot and see the status...because no one has ever shown her how or why to do that...
.
The Station Ops manager says, "yes, they've been on the ground for half an hour...can't you see that in Plot?" And then the station manager gets on teams...sends a message to someone in Maintenance control...and says, "This new girl's an idiot...can someone show her how to do her job? I swear she's so stupid!"
.
Is this the environment you want to work in? Do you think the new person is ever going to ask about a flight by calling ops again?
.
We have a responsibility to teach others in aviation. Some people don't WANT to train...and that's ok...don't make them train. But don't belittle people who are undertrained and call them stupid...or worse, if you have an employee with an actual learning disability, don't belittle them to others...it's the responsibility of trainers to learn how to train.
.
.............
On a whole other note, can we stop talking about our coworkers and gossiping with people via teams?

FFS...why can't we all just be adults?!
 
Pepwave1 said:
This is a bit of a rant...
.
When you don't know how to train people, or even worse, you are assigned to train people as "other duties as assigned" and you don't WANT to train... Training fails.
.
Training in these kinds of environments and through negative reinforcement is dangerous in aviation.
.
Asking questions, digging into how and why things work, sharing information...and a willingness to teach others is vital to the operation.
.
Let's take Dispatch Plot (I don't remember the actual name of the program)...you can tell what's going on with your flight by the color of the "puck"...or flight. You can see OOOI recorded there, see flight delays, see crew issues...just at a glance.
.
But how are you supposed to know what any of this means if no one shows you?
.
Scroll forward in time to someone who has been working a desk for a couple of days fresh out of training...and she calls a station asking about the location of an aircraft...because she can't just glance at Plot and see the status...because no one has ever shown her how or why to do that...
.
The Station Ops manager says, "yes, they've been on the ground for half an hour...can't you see that in Plot?" And then the station manager gets on teams...sends a message to someone in Maintenance control...and says, "This new girl's an idiot...can someone show her how to do her job? I swear she's so stupid!"
.
Is this the environment you want to work in? Do you think the new person is ever going to ask about a flight by calling ops again?
.
We have a responsibility to teach others in aviation. Some people don't WANT to train...and that's ok...don't make them train. But don't belittle people who are undertrained and call them stupid...or worse, if you have an employee with an actual learning disability, don't belittle them to others...it's the responsibility of trainers to learn how to train.
.
.............
On a whole other note, can we stop talking about our coworkers and gossiping with people via teams?

FFS...why can't we all just be adults?!
Click to expand...
How is this person signed off? You said they were working a desk fresh OUT of training. During your competency check it is the job of the desk checker to ensure trainees have a thorough understanding of the primary tools you will use on a day to day basis. If the new hire is working a desk and is signed off, yet doesn't know how to immediately see where their flights are (Operational Control) that is much more alarming to me than the station manager's immature response.
 
I am very glad that at my current airline the only people who do OJT are people that have volunteered to do OJT. I have trained people on the desk in the past, I think I am decent at it, but I prefer not having to do it as a general rule. Hats off to those who enjoy it, as it is a very important job.
 
OttoPilot13 said:
How is this person signed off? You said they were working a desk fresh OUT of training. During your competency check it is the job of the desk checker to ensure trainees have a thorough understanding of the primary tools you will use on a day to day basis. If the new hire is working a desk and is signed off, yet doesn't know how to immediately see where their flights are (Operational Control) that is much more alarming to me than the station manager's immature response.
Click to expand...
Yea I agree with this. Plot, the flight following software and the flight planning software are the three critical things anyone signed off should be very familiar with. It's ok to miss an EDCT in the OIS, or to miss a reroute in the reroute page...those things happen. But at a bare minimum, everyone signed off needs to have a very good understanding of OOII times/flight progress, flight planning and flight following. Failing to understand OOII times is quite bad, how would they know if an aircraft was overdue?
 
OttoPilot13 said:
How is this person signed off? You said they were working a desk fresh OUT of training. During your competency check it is the job of the desk checker to ensure trainees have a thorough understanding of the primary tools you will use on a day to day basis. If the new hire is working a desk and is signed off, yet doesn't know how to immediately see where their flights are (Operational Control) that is much more alarming to me than the station manager's immature response.
Click to expand...
I want you to imagine an airline where the competency check doesn't actually include any of the normal "competency check" things like...questions
 
I’ve never trained in the dispatch field. But in my previous line of work I worked as a trainer and helped roll out various SOP updates and new systems as they hit the ops floor. I recused myself from it after some burnout. It takes a LOT of patience and “sitting on your hands” to be a trainer, and I didn't have that at the end of the day.

When you’re at regional, as far as I know, MOST have voluntary training options and sure, it looks good on an application to the majors. BUT. It’s not the only path and those that know they’re not training material shouldn’t do so just to add a notch in their belt.

Thankfully at the regional I worked at, they were relatively selective about who became a trainer. They would often receive more applicants for it than they had open positions.
 
Pepwave1 said:
I told my friend she should file an ASAP
Click to expand...
If you are aware of something, illegal that happened, you are required to file an ASAP if no one else is.

In this case, if it's a major training department concern, you can file a hotline complaint online. You will definitely get a response and they will not share your name with the Company. That's probably the proper avenue to follow.
 
On a more serious note - all of us will be a trainer at some point in our lives, like it or not. whether in a formal setting or at the bar over a beer.

Have or plan on having kids? Training there.
Have or plan on getting a dog or cat? Training there.
Coach a little league? Training there.
Help someone in trouble? Training there.
Married? Definitely training there.

Anytime we pass on knowledge, whether the recipient likes it or not, we are training.

Now whether the student learns anything is a totally different story.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top