7 tips on selecting a training provider for your team!
As an independent practice, your team and the service they deliver is a large part of your brand. Ongoing training is essential to ensure that you are finding and addressing any weaknesses in service delivery, increasing your team’s confidence within the practice, and increasing efficiency and customer service levels to provide an outstanding experience for your clients. Choosing a training provider that you trust, who will meet the needs of you and your team and at the same time offer excellent value is therefore critical. We have out together 7 tips to help you get this mix right:
1. Have a look at their website
As websites are extremely easy to set up, it can sometimes be difficult to tell if you are dealing with an established provider or not but following the simple checklist below can help:
- Are the contact details professional ie linked to a head office rather than a mobile number?
- Is there a course outline with learning objectives offered for each course?
- Is pricing clear for each course?
- Are there multiple typos or spelling errors?
Essentially if a trainer is worth working with, they will have invested in a good, professional website which should indicate their approach to training and development.
2. Multi-channel training options
Does the company offer a combination of day courses and distance learning? Do they offer a tailored approach to training for your business? How interactive is the training? Training providers that offer an array of solutions are showing that they understand that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to training and that different personalities respond and learn better from different training methodologies.
3. Presenters
A good presenter can make all the difference in a learning environment. A good presenter will be lively, knowledgeable, dynamic and interactive with excellent communication skills. Working with a provider that offers a range of presenters and trainers to deliver the different courses can often be a benefit as different trainers will connect with different team members.
4. Industry Knowledge
A good trainer should be able to train on any subject BUT many training providers are experts in one particular industry and this can be a real benefit. Check the qualifications and background of the provider you are considering that they have the necessary skills and knowledge to really understand the challenges you face.
5. Customisable content
Not only should all course content be highly relevant to your business, a good trainer should be able to take generic course material and tailor it to your specific needs.
6. Reviews and recommendations
Before selecting a provider – do some research! Check what others are saying about them, look for feedback, reviews, testimonials and recommendations from others.
7. Accreditation
There are different types of accreditation for training courses mainly:
- External Accreditation – from third party organisation
- In-house certification from the training provider itself
External accreditation tends to be a more reliable indicator as training organisations have to go through a process to gain the accreditation which usually involves a review of the course content, presenter and the organisation as a whole. External Accreditation can support your employees’ career path and provide them with qualifications – a great benefit to helping your team stay motivated and engaged with the organisation.
However, don’t write off providers offering in-house certification – a training provider offering in-house certifications but who uses qualified and experienced trainers following set guidelines and standards is often in just as good a position to deliver professional high quality training.
