Alright, it's time to wrap this series up with a discussion on curriculum and training your new hire to follow it.

So what's the big deal about curriculum? I mean, you pretty much know what a student needs to learn to get to black belt (or the equivalent in your style)...

...so why make such a big deal out of it?

What Isn't Measured, Isn't Managed

Having a detailed, written curriculum provides you and your students with set standards for what is expected of each student at each belt level. It helps you manage your standards so that you can ensure you're teaching what students need to know to advance and improve.

It's nearly impossible to grade a student's progress without standards and guidelines. Moreover, their progress is your report card, and it's damned difficult to gauge how well you and your staff are teaching your students without a standard by which to grade their progress.

Having a detailed curriculum and standards for belt progression alleviates these issues. It provides you with a gauge by which you can track each student's progress and your own as an instructor. Because, as your teaching skills improve, your students' progress will improve as well.

Standards Are A Prerequisite To Quality

Quality assurance is a huge issue in nearly every industry. And, it should be just as important in our industry, so we can ensure that the next generation of black belts we turn out are better than the previous generation. I believe that this is the best way to preserve and advance our art.

Unfortunately, lax standards have led to some pretty crappy black belts running around. And, when those folks go out and open schools, the cycle becomes self-perpetuating. So, it's on us as instructors and school owners to make sure we're turning out solid black belts.

The quality your students display in their technique and skill is your legacy. And, the ability of your staff and black belts to pass on their skills to others also reflects the quality of your program. Thus, few things are more discouraging than realizing you've promoted a student with incomplete skills. In this regard, curricula are merely a tool to help ensure that your legacy is passed on in an intact and fully functioning form.

Students Need A Road Map

Ambiguity is the bane of achievement, because no one can achieve much when they don't have set goals and guideposts by which to gauge their progress. That's why you need to have a standardized curriculum for your students - so they can know what the next step is in their progress toward black belt, instructorship, etc.

Not only does this improve retention, it also improves student morale. Sure, happy students stick around longer, but they're also a lot more fun to teach and train. And believe me, nothing is worse than having to teach a classroom full of confused, frustrated students.

So, create a curriculum and standards and communicate it in as many ways as possible to your students and staff. Write a student handbook or training log book and sell it in your Pro Shop. Film training videos and edit them to produce DVD's, or offer them in a smartphone app or on a private section of your website. But by all means, let students know what is expected of them and give them resources for learning that material.

Emphasizing The Importance of Your Curriculum to Your Staff

Obviously these points I've listed are all topics of discussion for your staff training meetings and OJT teachable moments. Yet, I've found that one of the best ways to provide your staff members with a desire to stick to the curriculum is to base their performance bonuses on the performance of the students in their classes.

That's right... I am suggesting that you somehow bonus your instructors on how well your students do on their exams. I also suggest that you bonus them on retention numbers as well. 

This merely requires tracking groups of students who are assigned to a specific instructor by class, which really isn't difficult at all. And, it serves as a great motivational tool to keep your instructors focused on teaching great classes and keeping up with retention strategies, like sending out good job notes and MIA cards.*

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Well, that just about wraps up this series on hiring and training staff. I'll likely tie up a few loose ends next week, but for the most part this concludes the series. I hope you've enjoyed it, and that it has helped you gain a firmer grasp of what it takes to hire and train quality staff.