I was an in-house trainer for many years and I was a good one even if I do say so myself. But to my utter dismay at times, senior managers would decide to bring external trainers in which often made me quite frustrated and if I'm honest, a little jealous. Ultimately it inspired me to set up my own consultancy and ten years on I've never looked back. So now that I am on the 'dark side' I thought I would share five reasons why actually I wish I had warmed to the idea of external trainers a little more.Reason Number One: Kudos
Using external trainers adds impact to the message. Whether we like it or not, the perceived importance of the training increases when a specialist external organisation is involved. This means people are more likely to attend, pay attention, value and use what they learned.
Reason Number Two: Impartiality
External trainers will be impartial and objective. They will also be better placed to challenge difficult delegates or those resisting the message, since they do not have a long term working relationship with participants, with all the histories and complications these relationships bring. They will be unable to comment on tired old gripes and grumbles; they can simply capture comments and move the session swiftly on. Where a number of training sessions are being delivered the message is also more likely to be consistent, the external trainers will not feel the need to vary the message depending on who might be in the room. Where a group of external trainers are centrally controlled, trained and reviewed by a dedicated project manager the consistency of message is further guaranteed.
Reason Number Three: Outside Experience
Professional trainers that are in demand will have solid expertise at handling difficult situations and people. They can turn sessions around with a kit bag of anecdotes, stories and challenges. They can speak confidently of what other organisations are doing and shake up the weariest participant or soothe the most disgruntled.
Reason Number Four: Speed
Professional trainers achieve effective learning fast. Utilising principles such as accelerated learning and learning style theory, professional trainers can quickly design and deliver sessions that engage learners and are memorable; thus ensuring the precious time that the participants spend in the training room is not wasted. They may have top quality solutions already waiting that can be tweaked to meet your needs.
Reason Number Five: Cost Effectiveness
Although I baulked at the day rate of external trainers you are paying for flexibility. No loss of in-house resource is needed; let your people continue to do what they do best while the external trainers slot in where and when you need them –giving ultimate flexibility. Often taking internal people away from their role, especially when others are also missing to attend the training, is a false economy.
A word of advice.....
Assuming you have selected a quality provider, the success of your partnership with an external training organisation then lies in your ability to communicate with them. To give them credibility when they first work with your organisation we recommend letting them spend time in the operation, mixing with staff of all levels and building their knowledge of your organisation, its clients and culture. For their credibility to be maintained in the face of adversity and for the best training solutions, we believe this is the single most important factor when working with a new training provider.
Carolyn Blunt is a training consultant for Real Results Training: www.real-results.co.uk