This year, I was lucky enough to visit some of our training clients during the summer to see our work in action. I also spent a lot of time chatting with camp directors about some of the hiccups they faced, causing me to wonder what could have been different for them. Staff orientation is a crucial time for camp directors. In a short window, you need to prepare your site, manage camper intakes, hire last minute staff, and effectively train them to be on the front line with your campers in just a few days. When staff orientation takes a hit because the rest of the responsibilities take priority, July and August get harder. If your staff doesn’t feel prioritized, prepared, and confident before the first day of camp, mistakes will be made, burnout will increase, and staff will leave.
Proactive Camps Thrive
First, the camps that start planning for staff training well in advance are always the most successful from our outside perspective. During our planning call, these camps have a strong sense of what they are looking for, can easily answer questions about the challenges they faced the summer before, and they come with ideas. Did your team struggle with communication? Behavior management? Finding ways to fill time during inclement weather? Using this information, a comprehensive plan can be made.
You may not have all the details ironed out, but you generally have a sense of when your staff orientation is going to run. So why not get ahead and book your trainers now? Even without all the answers, a strong trainer can debrief your prior summer, download what your big-picture needs are, and lock you into their calendar. It is okay if the minutiae come later, but trust your trainer and what you know now to get ahead.
Prepared Trainers Succeed
Booking prepared clients gives me confidence that whoever I send to train should have a great experience. As the curriculum builder, booking early gives me ample time to curate training tailored to the needs of your specific camp, rather than asking a facilitator to deliver a blanket curriculum. As a trainer, it becomes widely apparent who within the leadership team feels prepared for me when I arrive. I know exactly who is bought in and knows what the expectations of the day are, who is too distracted catching up on their own work to know the plan, and who is ready to be present and role model their culture for their staff. When the full-time team puts thought and intention into their orientation, there is more room to bring the seasonal team into the fold, prepping them for what is to come.
Fall is the Time
Coming off the summer, you’re still thinking about those incidents (no matter how minor) that you wish didn’t happen or worked out smoother. You can reflect on what your staff’s strengths and weaknesses were. Was it an employee problem or a leadership problem? Were there knowledge gaps or accountability lapses? Can you look back and say, “This was a training deficiency,” or “we didn’t hire the right person for that job”? Use your experiences to define what you want next summer to look like while you have the time to think about it intentionally, and then decide if you want outside support to help you make it happen.
When was the last time you sat through a training session? Fall is also the perfect time to bring trainers in for your year-round team. Training doesn’t have to stop at the front-line level. Professional development opportunities are presented throughout the year by organizations such as ACA, but having a dedicated trainer come in to work with your team on exactly what your needs are may be the best investment you can make for them and you. There is always something new to learn, a different perspective to take, and an idea shared that can change the way you approach something.
My Big Takeaways
- Stop waiting until May to think about June.
- Continue to bring in outside voices.
- Start using your off-season time with intention.
We know you’re busy in June. Get ahead now, prep your team, and show up ready to lead.
