Imagine the famed Prague Symphony Orchestra performing a concert in the heart of Europe. Now imagine one player’s music being out of tune with the rest of the group. The entire piece would be rendered “off” because of one player. This is how Robin Sharma, one of the world’s premier speakers on leadership and personal mastery, describes the importance of “every player”. He says that while the CEO is undeniably the star of the show, leading the performance through his or her brilliance, if even one person on the team is out of tune with the vision, mission, and values of the organization, the whole performance is lost. Therefore, “every player’s music counts”.
In the orchestra that is USEFP, one very important player is the support staff. In fact, they are the cornerstones whose inclusion and development are of foremost importance to the organization. With this understanding, USEFP recently organized English language classes through Hashoo Hunar Association, for its support staff in Islamabad. The six-week intensive language training program was aimed at helping support staff, cooks and technical staff build their English language knowledge for everyday situations at the work place.
Support staff participating in English language classes organized by USEFP
The classes were conducted in an interactive learning environment with the help of audio-visual aids, training material and group activities. The trainer engaged with a group of 10 to 11 support staff members, who all actively worked towards achieving the key outcomes of the training. These outcomes included comprehension and use of vocabulary related to the relevant profession, use of simple structures in English, communication (listening and responding) with colleagues and seniors, learning and practicing English, effective comprehension of native speakers, and use of courtesy terms in daily conversation.
The overall response to the training was extremely positive. One of the participants, Robin William, claimed that the lessons proved to be extremely helpful in providing the staff with English language skills they can use to interact with staff, and visitors who come to the office. He said that the daily classes reinforced and expanded on the knowledge they already had in an interesting and interactive manner.
Employee training and development are part of good management practices of any organization. They enable employees to engage in continuous learning, be better prepared to achieve company goals and increase their productivity and motivation. Through trainings like these, support staff can rise to their highest potential, and serve as a true point of differentiation for the organization.
