| Scope and method of study. The purpose of this study was to provide a base line on the amount of training received by new business trainers on training/facilitation skills and the amount of training desired for new trainers prior to their first formal experience as a trainer. The review of the literature included: training/facilitation skills identified, return on investment, subject matter experts as trainers, and current trends. A 12-question survey was developed and mailed to 1000 members of the American Society for Training and Development; 354 were completed and returned. The data was entered into the SPSS for Windows Student Version statistical program. The SPSS program was directed to calculate the mean, median, mode, and range for the data.;Findings and conclusions. Forty-one percent of the respondents had received NO training on training/facilitation skills prior to their first formal experience as a trainer. The amount of training that was received had declined to only 15.41 hours for trainers whose first formal experience as a trainer was within the past four years. This compared with 24.51 hours for trainers whose first formal experience was between 5 and 10 years ago, 26.66 hours for trainers who began between 11 and 20 years ago, and 76.66 hours for respondents who first trained more then 21 years ago. The amount of training on training/facilitation skills that respondents saw as ideal prior to a trainer's first formal experience was 72.74 hours. The minimum amount was 40.6 hours. |
