3 Reasons Not to Run a Trainer Certification

Sustainability has become an imperative in the approach that organizations take to develop employees. We are moving away from a tick-in-box training program delivered by external or internal facilitators. A 70:20:10 approach to development or its near equivalent is the way forward.

With these changes in the development approach, classroom training has become a rare commodity and its impact on participants is under scrutiny. One approach organizations are taking is to certify their internal talent on industry-recognized training programs. This way there is sustainability and greater impact through the organizational context that internal facilitators bring to the table.

Here are 3 Reasons why this approach for running Trainer Certification can fail!

1) No Time

Business pressures have internal stakeholders battling their time schedules and spending 2 to 3 days in a Trainer Certification seems difficult. The key to overcome this challenge is

• Get Executive Sponsorship
• Go with a Business Case
• Showcase value of Certification to Personal Career Aspirations

2) Inflexible Training Partners

Proposals for Trainer Certifications often come with a very high upfront investment. Training Partners are asking for a minimum commitment for the number of participants to charge the IP fee in advance. The key to overcome this challenge is

• Negotiate with Training Partners on payment terms or
• Look for alternative companies who are more flexible

3) Accountability of Internal Trainers

Once certified - Trainers often get back to BAU (Business as Usual) and it becomes hard to hold them accountable for the commitments they made as trainers. The key to overcome this challenge is

• Agree on KPI's or Metrics that they would be measured on
• Review these KPI's regularly and
• Reward and Recognize the Internal Trainers

Trainer Certifications may seem like an overwhelming Storm!

However, there is hope on the horizon, as long as we are able to recognize the key challenges in our organization and overcome these to make classroom training more sustainable, more relevant and more impactful.