How would you feel about being rated by your delegates and clients online? Garry Platt argues that an independent feedback website could be more valuable and telling than many training qualifications.

High on the agenda at the moment is the necessity for trainers to maintain their professional development so that their skills keep pace with the market place. Various training bodies offer refresher training and various approaches to accreditation that 'guarantee' competence. A flourishing qualifications industry is growing up in this field all making claims for their validity and legitimacy and covering all aspects of development. From basic stand up skills programmes through to advanced Feng Shui'd programme design.

But what really counts, a qualification or something more pragmatic like a consistent record of positive feedback and results for clients? Do I really care if someone has a got a CTP from CIPD or a Certificate in Training Delivery Skills from TAP, or a Certificate in Training & Occupational Learning from ITOL or indeed an Advanced Diploma in Canine Grooming from the Bradford Academy of Dog Care?

"There might be two assessment areas: client or business feedback and student/participant feedback... This data would carry significantly more credibility than any qualification or accreditation no matter how well intentioned these are."

In the USA a strategy has begun to develop which helps university students for courses have access to the evaluation and observations of former students. Lecturers and courses are named and the students grade them. It has helped promote some careers and blight others. For instance, who wouldn't want Ariadna Bogatsky as reviewed here for a teacher. Where as I'd have to think twice about taking Ronald Beall's classes for a semester. (For years I thought a semester was a kind of cheese cracker, how wrong can you be?)

In commercial tenders we are consistently asked for references from previous clients. And clearly how your previous customers judge their experience of working with you carries significant importance as it should. This adds to the view that a consistent record of positive achievement and feedback from clients probably carries more weight than any qualification. So what if there was a system for publishing this information via the web in a similar way to the CourseReviews website? Such systems can be successful; the equivalent of this is the hotel star grading system by which a hotel is classed as 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars. But a visit to the Trip Advisor website where guests and clients undertake the reviewing will reveal that many 4/5 star establishments leave a lot to be desired, whilst some 2/3 star locales appear to offer excellence above and beyond their official grading. I know this information influences my choice of places to stay.

It would be possible to create a registration process and have an assessment marking process against set criteria with opportunity for comments. It would be a powerful marketing tool but it would also expose those trainers who stopped developing towards the end of the Triassic or have simply gone 'off the boil'.

Trainers who failed to direct students towards the review site could find their grading slipped as the number of reviews diminished and time increased since the last submission. There might be two assessment areas: client or business feedback and student/participant feedback. That way the overall impact and bottom line assessment of organisations might be viewed as well as the classroom-based skills. This data would carry significantly more credibility than any qualification or accreditation no matter how well intentioned these are.

Trainers could register with such a site and then direct clients and participants to their individual review section. Imagine the power of this as a marketing tool if you achieved consistently good reviews. This is feedback straight from the horse's mouth; much of the promotional material we typically read originates from the horses other orifice. Trainers could use such a reviewing system as a kind of quality mark which is uniquely not driven by intermittent testing or a reassessment process. An overall assessment would obviously have more credence based on the quantity of people submitting reviews. Potential clients could quickly check out the profile of trainers and also see how previous employers assess the impact and results they achieved.

I can see the consternation such a tool might create for some people. If the process took off the best would quickly be identified, where as others might find it difficult to sustain a career.

A qualification can be important to establish that the individual concerned had at one time the capability to retain knowledge and demonstrate to a competent level a particular range of skills. It can be a good indicator of dedication and application. But that's all a qualification means. I am reminded of a university professor who had just watched a group of his students collect their PhDs on graduation day. She approached one of her favourite students and asked; 'Do you know what BS stands for?' The student looked back quizzically and responded. 'Yes, of course, Bachelor of Science.'

'No,' replied the professor, 'it stands for Bull Shit'.

'What does MS stand for?' The student hesitantly answered: 'Master of Science'. The professor shook her head. 'No, it means More Shit. And what do you think PhD stands for?'
'I've no idea.' The student answered, his hubris somewhat fading.

'Piled Higher and Deeper,' The professor replied.

And the pile is surely starting to get higher and deeper around here.

Garry Platt is a senior consultant at Woodland Grange specialising in management development and trainer training. He can be contacted on 01926 336621 or e mail:
[email protected]