In a land far away, I went along with a representative from a provider of training to meet their client, on the journey to the meeting I said to the representative, “There are at least twenty providers of training offering services to this company why should they choose you?”

His response to this question came as no surprise, he spoke about the abundance of training providers in the region who competed on price and it appeared that this was his only strategy for winning the business.

The words of Lily Tomlin came to my mind:
“The trouble with the rat race is that, even if you win, you're still a rat”.

Rats desert a sinking ship!
As a provider of training I know that there is a lack of regulation and particularly amongst those operating in the “soft skills” sector of the market which is flooded with sole providers of training.
With increasing competitive pressure it is essential that training is aligned with the business strategy, this will benefit training providers who offer measurable business solutions. Like rats leaving a sinking ship, many ad hoc providers of training who manage their businesses (and your business) in much the same way as they approach a hobby when faced with questions relating to measures, return on investment and evaluation will flee, why,? Because the effort that goes into designing a measurable solution requires commitment to a cause.

It is cheering to see that the rats are still around - the ship is not sinking” - Eric Hoffer

It is rather disturbing therefore to see that the rats are still around… and being lured onto the ship and fed by those who purchase soft skills training based on one criteria “PRICE”.

Yet the same individuals approach the purchase of regulatory, environmental, and safety training introduce a range of supplementary criteria amongst these is QUALITY.


There are many small training providers who have the strategic skills required to keep your ship afloat, committed to the journey these providers are lean, innovative and flexible. They refuse to join the rat race because they already recognise your strategy they already know your ship is sinking.

 
Don’t get trapped in the training rat race. Look for evidence of your training provider’s ability to provide you with measurable and flexible solutions, look for evidence of job competence, examples of outcomes from previous assignments, check testimonials and ask for references and soon your ship will be buoyant

Spectrain are independent providers of measurable learning and development solutions and holders of the BILD Quality Mark