Marc Ratcliffe Workplace Education and Development (MRWED) in Brisbane, Australia was established in 2000 and quickly grew to become one of Australia’s leading providers of trainer training. Since then, the organization has delivered more than 1000 public courses with more than 19,000 students completing MRWED qualifications. It also has won numerous awards including being named a state finalist for Training Provider of the Year in 2008 and winner of the 2010 LearnX award for Best Workplace Trainer Training Program among others. CEO Marc Ratcliffe also was named one of Training magazine's Top 10 young trainers in 2009.
MRWED has an impressive track record for the short 12 years it's been in existence, and yet, in 2011, MRWED chose to become an international licensee for The Bob Pike Group workshops in Australia. What drew Marc Ratcliffe and his company to BPG when he already had a solid foundation of workshops and clients?
"I had seen Bob [Pike] at Training magazine events and some years later decided to attend [The Bob Pike Group] annual conference in Minneapolis because the dates coincided with other activities in the United States," Marc explained. BPG's training methods drew Marc in. "They are easy to understand and easy to integrate into any training. The bottom line is they improve engagement and retention, and when you find something that works, you should stick to it!"
"Even though I had attended two annual conferences, it wasn’t until I attended a Train-the-Trainer Boot Camp that I was convinced that this was a product that would complement our own in Australia," Marc continued. "We have always had a philosophy of learning through fun and interaction – but the clarity of the instructor-led but participant-centered models provided the ying to our yang!"
MRWED signed as an international partner in February 2011 and ran their first course later that year. "The workshops have proven to be very popular with universally positive feedback. We have had more than 100 participants through the boot camp in our first year and anticipate double this number to be involved in 2013," he said. "We are presently working through the process to certify two more boot camp trainers and anticipate having them complete certification by the end of March 2013."
Marc and his team have created a 90-minute sample Boot Camp workshop they use at conferences to give attendees a sense of what participant-centered, instructor-led training looks like. Since debuting this "fun-size" boot camp, "interest in the program has tripled! It is a great way to give the participants a taste of the program, without giving too much away," Marc said.
You can follow MRWED on Twitter at twitter.com/MRWEDtraining and read Marc's occasional blog posts at MRWED.edu.au/blog.
Jason Ash (left) and Marc Ratcliffe, two of the BPG-certified master trainers for Train-the-Trainer Boot Camp at MRWED.
