Accredited training...good idea or not?

I have been involved in training & development for over 20 years now and this is an interesting question that I have recently been asked by a client.  Is it a good idea to get the training that we are doing accredited?

From the trainer’s perspective it gives us a framework to work within and makes the design & development part of the training cycle easier as there is a structured outline.  However it can be restrictive to the creativeness of the design process and also not meet the identified needs of the people who will be attending the programme.

So what about it from the client’s viewpoint?  It gives their people a nationally recognised qualification and this can be measured in line with other businesses and prospective employees.  The downside can often be the amount of time that the student needs to complete the designated work.  Do you give them study time at work? Study time at home? Or do you expect the work to be completed in their own time? This is perhaps a hidden cost to the learning process that is not always accounted for.

What about the person who is attending the training?  On the plus side it means that they have a nationally recognised qualification at the end, however it does mean that they have to do work that is marked and because it is like going back to school, it puts many people off.  Also from my experience the delegate is not often told by their employer that there is additional work involved to get the qualification!

So I think the jury is probably out on this one!!

I deliver both accredited and non-accredited courses to my clients and as reflected above, there are pro’s & con’s to both.

From recent experience I would ask people who set the criteria for accredited work to not try and get too much information into too little a timeframe.  It would appear that accredited programmes are in danger of becoming taught programmes with little or not interaction with the learners, just so that the content can be shoe horned into the given timeframe.

Likewise I think as trainers and managers we should all be working towards an agreed standard so that there is consistency in courses that are delivered by doing effective needs analysis at the beginning of the process.  This has to be the responsibility of the both the client and the deliverer and should be clarified in writing as part of the contract of work. It is not just a question of “I need my managers to be qualified” it is a question of identifying the actual training need in the first place, but that is whole different situation for another discussion!

Thanks for your time,

Suzanne Unsworth

www.rubusassociates.co.uk

Why mystery shop?

Customer service is something that we encounter on a daily basis and it varies tremendously and it has a huge impact on us as customers.

Take the situation I was in recently…Bank holiday in a very busy & popular garden centre and granted there were four tills available for me to pay, so no queues, which is good.  However the complete lack of interest of the person serving would put me off going again.  She clearly was not interested in me, made no attempt to make eye contact with me or have a conversation and barely was able to say ‘thank you’ for my business.

And that is the point….it is your business.  If you do not have customers you will not have a business.  How do you know how your customers are treated when you are not there?  Sure, they will be model staff when you are around because you are the boss, but what happens when you are not there?  In the retail/service world this is often on a Sunday or BH Monday (of which we have had a few recently!!) because all the ‘suits’ are off!!

So that is why ‘mystery shopping’ can ensure that you are monitoring and measuring the levels of service your customers receive.  It is no good spending hours of training time on teaching & encouraging good customer service if you do not then test it out to see if it actually works.

I have had a lot of experience of mystery shopping for a number of retail & service companies over the last ten years.  During this time I have seen the best and the worst of customer service.  I am not suggesting that you should have sycophantic staff who are ‘all over’ your customers but I am sure that you want them to be attentive and interested even if your customer is only spending £4.99.

The mystery shop can take the form of an actual customer visit or telephone calls where the shopper is looking for specific standards of performance from your staff.  This may be if the order is repeated back to you in a restaurant or if you are thanked for your custom.  It is somewhat subjective on the attitude but if you as the ‘customer’ do not feel wanted then that is not acceptable.

In my opinion if you are offering customer service in your business and  you are saying in your marketing how good you are at it, you should be monitoring how effective it is!!

Thanks for your time,

Suzanne Unsworth

www.rubusassociates.co.uk