Motivation to attend Professional Development

[Snake Doctor]

What can be said to motivate officers to attend professional Development courses?

[Al Sayre]

Free Donuts...

Seriously, I think there has to be some self motivation on their part.  You can lead a horse to water...

[0]

Well those that need to be motivated are quite often the ones who shouldn't be in the program any way.  The only time there should be motivation is if the training in the larger states and the training is on the other side of the state.  In which case maybe holding the training more often around the respective wings is the right idea.

[davedove]

CAP should do everything it can to make the courses convenient for the members.  That being said, there is only so much that CAP can do.  The rest is up to the individual members.  The best that can be done is to show them how it will benefit them.  If they can't be persuaded, then there's nothing else you can do.  They just won't progress very far in the program.

[Snake Doctor]

I agree with all!.  It is difficult to get those who just want to be pilots or communicators or ES specialists to do much of anything else. Making the course more convenient to get to may or may not help if the home unit host an SLS/CLC and the locals won't go.

[Stonewall]

Instead of making PD stuff required for rank, they should make it required for positions and participation.  For instance, if you want to be a deputy commander for cadets, TLC and SLS should be required.  If you want to be the ES officer in a composite squadron, again, TLC and SLS.  In a senior squadron, SLS for the ES officer.  Leadership officer; TLC, etc.

Another way to motivate members, depending on the size of your squadron, is to hold a PD activity at your squadron.  As an example, I had several newer seniors at one time so I personally planned an SLS to be held at my squadron.  It motivated the SMs to show up because first, they knew the other folks that would attend, secondly, it was close by.  I had 7 seniors from my squadron and another 7 from around the area, to include another wing.  Not bad, huh?

Plus, if you do this, you can get other seniors in your squadron or the local area who need to teach at a PD course for credit for promotion and....even though there is a specific curriculum for these courses, you can focus on local needs.  Meaning, during discussions and scenario based evolutions, you can discuss circumstances in your squadron thus possibly resolving problems or finding a better way to do something.  YMMV.

[IceNine]

Free Food!

In all seriousness, the unfortunate reality of motivation as a principle is that for most there must be some level of personal appeal.  Couple that with the fact that these courses you speak of have gained a sort of joke like connotation, it is becoming a tooth pulling operation to get a good turnout.

The big problem is that members with a great working knowledge of CAP (ie former cadets, long time 2Lt's) go to these courses and are bored out of their minds because it is "remedial" training.  So I don't think it is a matter of motivation rather a matter of improving the image of these courses and renewing their usefulness.

[Galahad]

In addition to the valid points made so far:

Maintaining an attitude of mutual respect and courtesy by course instructors and wing staffers would be a good start.  All too often I've seen members attend these wing-hosted courses at significant personal sacrifice, only to return completely disenchanted with CAP because they ran into a wall of arrogance and super egos.  Often these members do not renew.  For those that stay in, it's a tough sell to get them to go back for additional abuse.

[Snake Doctor]

Still more agreement.  I'd love to see the courses have more meat.  Make them more applicable to the present day.  The UCC is an example.  Give the commander what he or she needs to know to operate as a commander.  Like what's in the "Commanders Corner", Logistics forms and how they work, etc. How to motivate volunteers and keep them engaged. I've seen an instructor tangent from how the three missions fit together to where all the aircraft are in the wing.

How do you get the ones who aren't all that PD self motivated to attend the courses without alienating them?

[RogueLeader]

Free Donuts...

Seriously, I think there has to be some self motivation on their part.  You can lead a horse to water...

Give 'em a bunch of salt, then they'll drink for quite a while. . . . . . .

Honestly, there is not alot that you can do to get members active in PD unless they want to.  All you can do is say: "I'm sorry, you don't qualify for <enter Grade> because you need to complete <enter PD requirement> in order to fulfill the requirements for <enter Grade>.  When you do these things, I'll be happy to recommend you for <enter Grade>."

[Sgt. Savage]

Fundraising!

If you can make it so your members don't have to foot out of pocket for the gas, food and lodging that some of these courses require, they won't be as opposed to going. This is the exact reason I haven't done SLS or CLC. It would cost me around $250.00 to attend due to the distance I would have to travel to be at these courses. Put that on top of the cash shelled out to be a member, uniforms, equipment.... Gets expensive.

[floridacyclist]

Unlimited beer tap?

Seriously, the biggest complaint I hear is distance to travel. Offering smaller PDs in more remote areas might help some there, but you lose some of the group synergy and networking that makes me willing to travel to bigger cities for training.

[RogueLeader]

Unlimited beer tap?

Naturally 

[JC004]

Unlimited beer tap?

This came up at our CLC and that was one of my suggestions.  Another item that I mentioned was trying to get the members to understand that SLS, CLC, etc. aren't just there for your promotion...they are there for them to learn... Too many folks behave like it's just for your promotions/levels.

[floridacyclist]

Unlimited beer tap?

Naturally 

You drink Naturally Light? Or are you referring to the fact that Who has the ball?

[Al Sayre]

Who's on first...

[RogueLeader]

Who's on first...

What.

^^Actually, I like Lager, or mixed drinks.

[0]

It's an old routine that Abbot and Costello did.  The joke was that neither of them was really listening to the other thus they couldn't understand what the other was saying/meant. 

[Al Sayre]

Who's on first...

What.

^^Actually, I like Lager, or mixed drinks.

No, what's on second...

[0]

Thanks, I couldn't remember all of the other postions and the names of the players.