Page last updated

18 June 2008

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Thames Valley

Find a Manual Handling Trainer

Read about the CLP

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Trainers get seen and
found on the web

Find a Trainer in the UK - Directory of Trainers

Standards for freelance trainers

Hire a trainer - what you need to know

Surveys and Research

Information for Training Providers

Find Trainers - run a search

Trainers Directory

The world of training and advertising is changing

In March 2007 it was reported (Guardian newspapers) that advertising spending online overtook national newspapers' share of the pie for the first time in 2006 as companies continued to chase a growing web audience.

In April 2008 CNBC reported that online advertising spending looks set to overtake spending on television in the UK by the end of 2009, according to a recent report. This is a full year ahead of previous estimates. Web adverts became the third-largest market in 2007 from being the smallest in 2003.

With more and more larger organisations putting their advertising spend into online adverts - where does that leave smaller and independent training providers.  Simple we need to get smarter- faster.  Getting found is critical.

Need to deliver a training or classroom based learning solution?

As more and more organisations and businesses outsource there training they need to identify and find credible trainers in a wide range of topics.

In the UK there is no single place to find trainers, TrainerBase is quickly becoming THE place to start, and find competent freelance trainers.

It is estimated that 60% of training purchasers that are using the Internet as a source of finding new providers.

There are many purchasers out there looking for new trainers; if you are visible and easily seen on the web you are more likely to be in the running for new potential work.

Using 'Find a trainer' sites like TrainerBase that are web and search engine optimised (you can be seen publicly) can be an important part of your overall strategy. Unfortunately many 'find a trainer' sites are 'closed' and trainer details are held back. If the site is effective and attracts a lot of traffic and users then this is not a problem, however the reality is this is a diluted market space and unless you profile is publicly accessible - why bother? When looking to find trainers you want the process to be as simple and easy as it can be, to many looking to find trainers they do not want the hassle of registering and then having anonymous details being send for a pre selection, they want to search, find and engage with trainers.

TrainerBase is unique in that is it is not sector specific, but is a one stop shop with trainers from a diverse background offering a very wide range of training subjects.

Do you need to find a trainer or training provider? Then this is the place to look.

TrainerBase provides:

• Free Quick and Easy access to find trainers
  
• Find 2,500+ Trainers
  
• Explore 500+ Subjects (sort by subject)
  
• All UK Regions (sort by region)
• Actual Contact information - not a trainer code - find and contact a trainer today
  
• Surveys and Research on training matters
  
• Help and Advice on hiring and finding trainers and training matters
  
• Full Brokering service for managing the recruitment of trainers to meet your needs
  
• Certified Learning Practitioners- Trainers that TrainerBase will recommend as they have achieved a proven standard

Hire a freelance trainer - what you need to know

The Dangers of hiring an external or freelance trainers.  Putting the trust of your staff and their training in a third party can be a risk. There are many ways to change that risk into a success for your organisation, and raise the profile of good and excellent training.

To avoid failure or having training not meet your expectations be aware of the following:

• Your trainer wasn't qualified or certified - in the topic or delivery skills
• Your trainer didn't help you reach your goals - did not listed
• Your trainer didn't make you feel motivate and engaged in the process
• Your trainer gave you the tools and techniques appropriate to your needs
• The approach was one that wasn't what you needed
• Your trainer tried to push supplementary activities you did not want
• Your trainer recommended an extreme/unhealthy approach given your culture and climate
• Your trainer didn't help you learn the activities so you could do them on your own eventually (if you wanted)
• Your trainer didn't teach you anything new
  

A good trainer can work with you to assess the health and fitness status of your organisation (diagnosis), suggest a safe and appropriate strategy and work with you to keep you motivated to stick with it. A bad trainer may not know enough to design an appropriate plan or keep you working at a safe pace.

Just keep your expectations in check. Don't look to a trainer to perform miracles for you, they are an additional resource to your organisation, not a surrogate.

What makes a good Freelance trainer?

There are many individuals who operate in this area and they tend to be one of the following:

• Subject/ topic expert
• General soft skills provider
• 'Jobbing' trainer

With the first two types it is relatively easy to check that they can do what they say they can do, the Jobbing trainer however can be a dangerous breed. They will often make out they can deliver any topic, and often they can - just not very well or without lasting business impact (in a positive way. Jobbing trainers often work for very low, and unsustainable rates. Charging a fair amount is important if you want to keep using the individual in the medium term. If they don't charge enough they will go out of business - and suddenly you may well find that they cannot deliver your programme as either better paid work has been offered or they have gone back to the corporate world.

Find a Trainer - to what standard?
As more and more people leave full time regular employment to become freelance - they will increasingly deliver training. So how do you differentiate 'jobbing' trainers from professionals? How do you find the right trainer for you?

The Certified Learning Practitioner standard from TrainerBase provides an independent measure of an individuals ability to do what they claim they can do.

The CLP standard has been developed by industry leading freelance trainers that know what it takes to not only deliver high value and effective training, but to identify appropriate learning needs, design the learning event and evaluate the outcomes. They are also tested against a commercial model to ensure that they operate ethically and with a robust business model - you really don't want to have to find another trainer in 12 months time because you 'good trainer' has ceased trading do you?

There are other standards and you need to identify which one is right for you.

When looking at trainer standards consider the following:

• Is the standard based on one course/ qualification?
  
• Has the assessment been based on a classroom assessment or a real world assessment?
  
• Does the standard require the individual to be commercially aware?
  
• Does the standard look at the consulting element or just training delivery?
  
• Is the standard awarded for life of is the individual expected to 're-qualify' on a regular basis?

Information for training purchasers
The Training Purchasers Bulletin from TB is a must have read. You can read two of them from the links below:
TrainerBase Purchaser Bulletin #1
TrainerBase Purchaser Bulletin #2

Both open as PDF files.

Find a Trainer in the Trainers Directory

These links will be live soon...

These links open pages from the TrainerBase site - RapidBI cannot be held liable for data from other sites. The TrainerBase site allows for over 500 searches!

Benefits of using a Freelance Trainer

Organizations are often wary of employing freelance trainers or consultants when setting up a new project or considering a rollout operation or change program. There are, however, many distinct advantages to using freelance rather than employed resources.

Financial Benefits
While the initial costs of freelance trainers may appear expensive, this has to be considered in the context that you have no exposure to, no pensions commitment, no payment for holidays or sick time, etc. In addition, often the cost is fixed, purely for the term of the contract, and can be budgeted into the overall project. Once the project or contract are completed, there are no ongoing employment costs or costs of redundancy. It is also tax efficient.

Skills
Often an organization does not have the requisite expert skills in-house that are required to produce training quickly and effectively for a new project or rollout, or if they do they are committed to other projects or activities. It is often more cost effective to employ a freelance trainer or consultant who has these skills than waiting for existing employees to gain sufficient depth of knowledge and expertise required.

Focus on the project
Permanent employees often have their own personal objectives and priorities. They are often concerned with day to day office politics, enhancing their career and promotion prospects. Combine this with time spent on company activities, such as meetings. Freelance workers have no interest in company politics, career chasing or internal meetings and tend to focus on the project they are working on. The freelancer has a fixed deadline and will normally always ensure that the work is completed to the project milestones. the freelance consultant is only as good as the last contract.

Commitment
Most freelancers gain employment mostly by referral, therefore it is in their interest to do as good a job as possible on each assignment. There is rarely any advantage to the freelancer in spinning out the contract unnecessarily, as this would reflect on future opportunities. This means that more often than not you get 100% commitment throughout the project, as a freelancer will tend to avoid all distractions and try to complete the project ahead of milestones where possible.

Up-to-date skills and qualifications
The freelance trainer has to compete in a constantly changing marketplace for contracts of varying requirements. For this reason, they tend to constantly update their skills and certifications to attract work from customers.

Work force motivational factors
Using an external expert consultant can demonstrate to your workforce that the company is committed to adding value to their personal development. Using internal staff does not always create the same feeling that the company is willing to spend to increase employee skills.

Wide ranging experience and fresh ideas
Usually freelance consultants, by the very nature of their work, will have worked across a wide and varied cross section of industries and organizations, large and small and in both the private and public sectors. They can provide valuable real world experience and ideas that your staff may not have knowledge of. This can be invaluable during times of change and can promote a sense of "thinking outside of the box" by delegates and staff that they have contact with.

What standards do RapidBI support?
RapidBI is committed to delivering high quality consultancy and training solutions to its clients. That is why we prefer to use:

• Trainers with CLP
  
• Consultants that have been assessed to national business adviser standards (I.e.SFEDI)

Read about our journey through the Certified Learning Practitioner assessment process.

Mike Morrison was one of the design team contributing to the CLP (Certified Learning Practitioner) standard in use by TrainerBase today