Helpful Hints and Ideas
My Academy Helpful Hint: Roar Louder
Roar Louder is San Diego Zoo Global's monthly training and communications meeting for managers, which is coordinated by Human Resources. San Diego Zoo Global managers are required to attend six of these meetings each year. Now that online training through the Academy has been integrated into San Diego Zoo Global operations, one of these required Roar Louder meetings can now be taken online. This is a way to introduce the Academy's online training to all our managers. It also can be a time saver and an effective and efficient way to disseminate important information for the organization.
Have questions regarding the helpful hint? Ask Stephanie Crise, My Academy, at scrise@sandiegozoo.org
Volunteer Connection Helpful Hint: Train Volunteers to Train Volunteers
Do you have some volunteers who are technologically challenged, while others take to your Volunteer Connection site like a fish to water? Leverage your training by utilizing your tech-savvy volunteers to train your tech-challenged volunteers. Create a checklist of items you want your volunteers to be comfortable with on your volunteer site. Walk through this list with the potential volunteer trainers, showing them how you would like your tutorial taught. The best way to learn is by doing, so, if you have a learning lab, schedule an hour or two and have your volunteer trainers train their fellow volunteers, each at their own computer. If you don't have a learning lab with multiple computers, have them bring in their own laptops or tablets if you have WiFi capabilities, or schedule one-on-ones. One trainer could train 4 to 8 people in one day using this method! Don't bog yourself down—have your veteran volunteers help you! You are sure to find several who are glad to help.
Have questions regarding the helpful hint?Ask Tammy Rach, The Volunteer Connection, at trach@sandiegozoo.org
Safety Training Helpful Hint: Share the Plan for Online Training
At San Diego Zoo Global, we have an internal employee newsletter called ZooView. Here is an excerpt from an article I wrote this month preparing staff for the online safety training being rolled out in 2015. "The Safety Team began to utilize the My Academy resources this year to provide employees with safety training. For as long as I can remember, the common complaint about safety videos has been that they are not relevant to our industry. That is about to change. With tools available in My Academy (San Diego Zoo Global's employee site), we are able to develop our own courses using the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) course creator. Over the last six months, we developed and rolled out courses for Heat Illness Awareness and FWS CITIES Compliance. Both of these are required by a regulatory agency. By including these courses in the learning management system of My Academy, we now have compliance records of everyone who completed the courses, time spent, and quiz scores. I will be looking back at our injury and illness statistics to develop a plan of action for various departments to reduce injuries next year."
Have questions regarding the helpful hint? Ask John Liken, Health and Safety Manager, at jliken@sandiegozoo.org
San Diego Zoo Global Academy's Idea Hatchery
The Academy's collaborative learning environment is already "hatching" innovative ideas: let's continue to make it easier to do so. You've got the ideas—let's collaborate on innovation! Please share your online training ideas at: sdzglobalacademy@sandiegozoo.org |