Advice on booking a trainer

Good Practice Guidelines

With an ever increasing number of training providers offering a variety of courses and qualifications, choosing the best supplier to meet your needs can be a difficult task.

Here, we have produced some helpful hints to add or check against your own ideas and experience.

• As far as possible have a clear idea what training or learning you want and what you expect the training provider to offer. Good trainers will be able to provide you with learning outcomes and how they will be achieved.
• Does the training provider have a good track record/reputation? Ask them if you can talk to an existing or recent client. Personal recommendation is regarded as one of the most effective methods of finding quality providers.
• If you are looking for an NVQ provider the same rule as above applies.
• Ask to see the trainers C.V (if appropriate) and details of any training qualifications such as those endorsed by the Chartered Institute of Training and Development (CIPD).
• We thoroughly recommend you arrange to meet with any prospective training provider. Ask to see a sample of their training materials and a plan of a typical days' training in order to see what methods they use. This will help you to make an assessment of whether or not they will be right for your organisation.
• Check out their training values such as attitudes to celebrating diversity or promoting anti-discriminatory practice.
• Find out if the trainer has some understanding of your care sector? Trainers keen to work for you will take time to understand your business and even if they do generally work in other sectors can bring fresh ideas.
• Find out how the training provider will relate any training in the classroom to the workplace environment. End of course assessments should help participants to identify what they have learned and how they will apply the learning. Some trainers will offer follow-up sessions to see how effective the learning has been. At the very least the impact of transferred learning should be measured as part of any supervision or appraisal process.
• Once you have decided to book a trainer, draw up a contract which states what you expect the trainer to deliver, the agreed fee and what expenses you will pay for. Decide on any cancellation fees and how the training provider will be paid.
• Finally, don't forget to let us know how the training goes and what you think of the training provider!