Considerable negativity and skepticism surrounded participation in the seminars. One reason was that the training was mandatory and largely unfunded. This was exacerbated by poor advance marketing, especially of the Benchmarks™ concept. There were misconceptions about the value of the Benchmark™ process and the time commitment and support necessary to ensure its maximum effectiveness.

There were other notable detractions to the seminars, including:

• Facilities ranged from barns and screened porches to conference centers. Many park facilities were marginal or inadequate for the training. There were space limitations and a lack of breakout facilities. There were long commutes for participants in some areas. However, the location was never the sole cause of a seminar being unsuccessful.
• When a seminar was held in an office or park, there was a tendency for participants to attend to work issues, which disrupted classes and limited input.
• The field area (regional) coordinators provided logistical support for the seminar teams, but scheduling the seminars and preparing class rosters is a complex process, and it did not always run smoothly.
• Certification of participants required 95% attendance. Facilitators were reluctant to enforce attendance, and because the number of contact hours varied considerably among seminars, the standard became meaningless.
• Despite being mandatory, a number of “big name” parks actively and loudly resisted participation in the seminars. This resistance was unchallenged and negatively influenced other parks’ decisions about participation.
• The initial seminars targeted supervisors and managers at all levels; however, misgivings were expressed about the course being focused solely on upper management, especially by those who could not attend.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Greater emphasis must be placed on marketing of new and little understood programs, especially if they are mandated or unfunded.
• Training is needed to improve knowledge of funding mechanisms and attitudes about them. “These are the choices we make” should replace “I’m being told how to spend my money.
• ”Generally, the seminars work best away from the work site. Although they are more expensive, better facilities are usually available offsite, and work disruptions can be reduced.
• For major servicewide training initiatives, a full-time employee should be delegated the responsibility to coordinate program logistics with regional personnel.
• If certification standards are to be required, better and more measurable criteria should be developed. The team could report the measurements, and an outside evaluator could determine whether certification was warranted.
• Open discussion of the pros and cons of issues is healthy, but after decisions are final, the National Leadership Council should actively encourage acceptance of those decisions.
• Better explanations about the targeting of a course to an audience would minimize misunderstandings.
• The facilitators believe that all employees can benefit from involvement in these forums. A mixture of participants from different levels and locations provides a variety of expressions.