'Genuine desire and enthusiasm' to do the job will only get you so far. Will the next guy have genuine desire and enthusiasm too? Will he have a bespoke course specifically for his needs? What about the guy after that? A formalised course is a must.
Surely there has to be some kind of formal selection process before flying training starts. Tests do exist to establish whether someone has the right qualities. It may be that CHC's man has them all in abundance. Without some kind of pre-selection tests though, it seems like there'll be an awful lot of wastage as those who fail to make the grade in the future get chopped. They will get chopped, won't they?