I had a really disappointing experience with a hand dryer this week.
The sign in the back of the door said:
Now wash your hands
The sink was clean enough and the tap was the push type. I tried the soap dispenser and a dribble of chemical ooze came out. Another 4 or 5 pumps and it relented and squeezed out just enough to get my hands clean.
I pressed the tap and a jet of ice cold water sloshed into the sink. I rinsed my hands in stages to avoid soaking myself.
After rinsing and shaking my hands a dozen times I used the disappointing hand dryer.
It breathed tepid air over my fingers as I shook, rubbed and wished my fingers to get dry. After a couple of moments, I realised it was fruitless and gave up. The choice was then to either:
- Wipe my hands down the back of my trousers or
- Use my cotton handkerchief to dry my hands
I chose the latter and made a mental note to avoid that lavatory again. It could be described in learning terms a bit differently:
- Organisational expectation.
- Compliance by the individual.
- Insufficient resource to achieve the expected goal.
- Unfriendly culture to discourage engagement
- Poor remedial intervention.
- Create discomfort because of poor support or reliance on a personal resource to complete the task.
If your learning offer is perceived the same as a disappointing hand dryer, imagine how many people are avoiding your lavatory. Worse still, imagine how many unhygienic behaviours are polluting your organisation.
