Rapid Growth - A Cautionary Note

We have been growing our programs at a national average of about 15% per year since 1997. This is an astounding accomplishment; one to be applauded. However, as many of us know intuitively, rapid growth brings challenges with it. Just because you CAN grow your program by 23% this year does not necessarily mean you SHOULD. Here are some growth related issues to consider in setting your training targets for the future.

• Burnout - How many courses is the average instructor teaching per year, and is that sustainable? We have calculated just over seven courses per year to be a sustainable average. The time and money it takes to train and cultivate a quality instructor is substantial. The effort spent keeping an instructor is well spent. When instructor attrition increases, it becomes challenging to maintain training levels, much less increase them.
• Quality Control - Does your program utilize a mentoring program, quality assurance program, or other in the field methods of measuring and maintaining quality? If so, the faster the program grows, the more challenging it is to maintain quality standards.
• Need for New Instructors, Staff, and Sites - Does the proposed growth require the addition of staff, training sites, and/or instructors? If it does, is your program ready for the cost in terms of money, time, and effort to make that happen?

Use the tools found on this disk to help determine healthy growth rates for your state and training sites. Forecasting Student Capacity and Instructor Need.