Businesses operate at breakneck speeds today: every aspect, every department, every industry, operates under the maxim ‘time is money’. It seeks to fill vacancies as soon as possible, hire eligible candidates as soon as possible, hope they make a significant impact as soon as possible, or find a replacement, and repeat the steps as soon as possible. The benchmark is high, expectations are high, and the consequences of failure can be harsh. We live in a culture where ‘efficiency’ is the altar on which all employees sacrifice. Consequently, employees find themselves feeling the pressure of having a sword swinging over their lives ready to decapitate their careers if they make a wrong move. The margin of error is small and the tolerance very low.

Enter outgoing training, also tactically called experiential learning. In simple terms, this is the process of putting employees through a series of simulated outdoor activities and challenges that provide an avenue to improve or enhance their individual or group skills or talents, while developing traits in which they are typically deficient. The idea of ​​experiential learning through Outbound Training focuses more on the ‘process’ of learning through innovation and adaptation than on the actual achievement of the goal itself. This is often not the case in modern business environments, where an incredible emphasis is placed on ‘getting things done’. While this may have its advantages in the short term, it takes a toll on the employee causing burnout in the long run. Outbound Training negates this by placing employees in a more honest and less intimidating outdoor environment where the challenges are very different but also where the consequences are minimal and non-job threatening. Employees feel more relaxed in trying to achieve goals, functioning with more freedom, more creativity, and less fear of consequences. This creates a situation where one operates above the optimal performance level.

In many ways, the principles of Outbound Training are very natural and intuitive. In fact, we follow its principles throughout our lives and we are not aware of it. Let’s use an illustration: When someone learns to ride a bike for the first time, we don’t assume that they will master it just by reading a book on how to ride a bike. While the book can be very informative and provide very useful instruction on the dynamics of riding a bike, there are many intangible aspects of learning that a book can never provide: the physics of momentum, keeping the center of gravity between our bodies and the bike , overcome gravity, etc. they are all aspects that only the real activity of riding a bicycle can provide. In the same way, experiential learning through outgoing training provides incredible and intangible learning paths that will help an employee develop in many facets of their skills and work ethic.

Outbound Training is seen as a valuable tool in today’s urban business culture where every company competes to successfully rise to the top of the corporate hierarchy by giving their employees the edge to overcome job obstacles.