Hello
I have started to get really busy (hooray). I am at the point where I am bringing in reliable trainers to help out.
Even though I have known these people for a long time I think I am sensible to have an agreement in place to look professional and so we both know what is expected of each party.
Rather than start from scratch can anyone pass me a template or point me in the right direction?
Any guidance appreciated as its all new to me! - thank you and have a good week, Jane
5 Responses
Contract Agreement
Hi Jane,
Firstly congrats that business is going well for you!
We were in a similiar situation a few years ago and started to use other trainers. Now, as well as our core team, we still utilise a number of freelance trainers. Even though these are well known to me we still have in place agreements with them.
I’d strongly recommend you do the same and either have a generic contract with them or adapt every time you engage them to work on your behalf.
Speaking from experience you do not want to be caught out by them subsequently stealing your client from you or finding out they are not properly insured. So copies of qualification certificates and insurance documents would be a must as well.
Happy to send you our template contracts which have been reviewed by our solicitors, that are specifically for your set needs.
Drop me a line with your contact details.
Regards
Lee
http://www.toojays.co.uk
to balance Lee’s reply……
Lee states…
"Speaking from experience you do not want to be caught out by them subsequently stealing your client from you or finding out they are not properly insured. So copies of qualification certificates and insurance documents would be a must as well."
…and from the "associate’s" point of view, they also have a right not to have to wait unduly because you aren’t chasing up credit control, nor can they afford to lose income because you don’t charge cancellation fees, neither do they want to have you steal their intellectual property, nor do they want to help you win the business and then see you give all the paying work to someone cheaper!
Sorry to appear combative here but the relationship should be two way and a lot of "Trainer Agreements" are very one-way, biased documents….you need to give this a lot of thought when putting something like this together. I think this is especially important when you are talking about a written agreement with someone you have known for a long time; I know for a fact that many beautiful friendships and successful partnerships have gone west due to a one sided "I’m the boss and you are the underling" agreements being put on the table!
Rus.
PS Janeyk, congrats and good luck!
Trainer Agreement
Russ,
Apology accepted for the combative comments..and I’m guessing its driven by some personal experience yourself?!
As both an employer and associate to others, I agree with you…and whole heartedly believe that both parties should be happy with the arrangement.
Why else would they sign?
As you’ve put the ‘associates’ point of view, ultimately the ‘associates’ advantage is they can choose to walk away and not sign if not happy with the contract!
I disagree that you ‘need to give this a lot of thought‘ as it’s not rocket science. It is about creating an agreement that represents the parameters that both parties are prepared too work within. But if you’re at all unsure I’d recommend ( as we did with ours) seeking legal / solicitors input.
Regards
Lee
PS..oh and thanks Russ for the opportunity for me to clarify to any prospective Toojay’s associate that we do charge cancellation fees, do chase credit control for settlement after already collecting a deposit, do not steal intellectual property, nor do we win business and then give it to a cheaper associate (they all have the same rate!)!!
no offence meant….
Hi Lee
I hope you didn’t feel that I was "having a go" at you in my response regarding trainer agreements…… my comments were, as you noted, drawn from my 25 years as an associate to a range of different companies, most of which has been plain sailing, but which has been marred with a few "incidents"; each of which has been painful in so far as being shafted by someone you trusted is painful and expensive is as much as losing 6 months work is expensive.
My reason for the "lot of thought" comment was expressly with putting a written contract in front of people who you already know and trust….if it seems overly burdensome on the associate and not reciprocal (which is quite common, especialy in terms of those drawn up by a solicitor; whose sole duty of care is to you, the company) it is likely to damage an already healthy relationship. There is much in life that is not rocket science but often people make very fundamental errors because they assume that "it is simple, therefore I can’t go wrong".
The choice of the associate to "walk away" is of course there, but at what cost to both parties? IF an agreement is two sided from the start the healthy relationship remains healthy and both parties draw mutual benefit.
My final point on that particular matter is this……if you treat people as though they are likely to be/become a "criminal" (by only offering a "thou shalt/thou shalt not" type of legally binding agreement) how do most people react?…….this is pretty much a fundamental of the "command and control v empowerment and mutual respect" debate in management.
Rus
None taken…
Russ,
no offence taken and none intended…as I agree entirely with you and in my 20+ years of experience have had a variety of personal experiences as well.
I don’t think there was any prior mention of treating people like criminals!..but I suppose that’s down to who you associate yourself with and choose to call your friends!…but I too am aware of McGregors X/Y theory as your final point alludes too…and I’ve a strong preference to the Y side….although I’m sure you’ll concede effective management is about operating a balance of the two.
🙂
Lee