GOALS Training, Is anyone else having problems with the modules?
In the South West I'm experiencing huge problems with GOALS delivery. Some of the problems stem from JCP advisors not being informed by our lead provider as to the content of the modules. This may be down to fact that this contract is so new, however it is resulting in many customers arriving for different training and advice that is going to be delivered.
This however is not the greatest issue we are facing.
The training modules and trainer's notes seem to have written for trainers/customers who are, a) American and b) religeous.
Many customers are walking out of training sessions when we start talking about, "The pit of despair" and the "ladder of success". They start looking at each other in a very odd way when we have to ask them to "look in the mirror and say I love you"!!
Having been involved in W2W for many years, I have to say I'm very uncomfortable about this kind of training in the UK
Just wondering if any other trainers feel the same way.
Many people I speak to have the same problems with GOALS. In fact I had a similar conversation with a provider this week!
GOALS is fundamentally neuro-linguistic programming and you are delving into the psyche of individuals to find out what makes them tick. If you aren't a trained psychologist or psychiatrist then I personally think it's a bad move, particularly for the welfare to work client group. Examples like the ones you have given are typical. Do you need to do this in order to find them work? Possibly not!
When you have members of staff on the training who get distressed and who start to have personal issues due to the nature of the course, then there is something to be said in avoiding it unless you have some serious training in this field. If you were delivering it to me I would have the same reaction as your customers.
From a quality perspective I would suggest getting some hard feedback from your clients on the programme and take this to your manager. If the programme isn't working for them it will be obvious, and if that is the case your company should reconsider its use. Feedback would give you some hard facts to work with rather than just saying you aren't comfortable with it.
GOALS has to be delivered by people who are totally switched on to the content and techniques otherwise it will never work as intended. Not everyone can deliver it effectively ... I know I couldn't. Some people are delivering ELEMENTS of it and using some of the techniques from the course but it definitely isn't everyone's cup of tea!
I know the GOALS people and have undergone training with them in the past, which makes it difficult for me to comment at all objectively on the topic. If one regards job seeking as a form of sales, then it's possible to regard GOALS as akin to a sales training programme. In particular, having undergone door to door sales training in the US, the reliance on the responsibility assumption and the overall approach are very familiar. This is unsurprising as the programme originates from Jack Canfield, a US self-help guru.
I would argue that there can be good reasons for encouraging the responsibility assumption as part of helping the long term unemployed. Many long term unemployed people blame their worklessness on the jobs market or the individuals and organisations that try to help them. If customers can be convinced that they possess the ability to change their situation, then they are more likely to take the steps necessary to move into employment. However, the counterpart criticism to this is victim blaming - the assumption that the long term unemployed have chosen their situation and in some way deserve their fate, when this is quite clearly not always the case.
Initial feedback from a small number of clients I'm working with who're going through the GOALS programme is evangelical. These are mostly women and seem to have totally taken on board the responsibility assumption and interpreted it as "I can do anything".
I'd think a sensitive and intelligent approach to responsibility lies somewhere between 'it's all your fault' and 'it's society'.
well said