What is a training consultant and what we do?

The training consultant definition

A training consultant is the person in charge of designing and optimising training programs for organisations. Their job involves evaluating any plans already in place, aligning training programs with the company’s goals and facilitating learning opportunities. They can also create teaching materials and lead courses. 

They are generally external consultants, and their services aim to help companies make their training more effective. 

What qualifications and skills does a training consultant need?

According to data from BFSI, 37.7% of training consultants have a bachelor’s degree and 35.1% also have a masters or postgraduate qualification. We should, therefore, count higher education among the desired criteria for becoming a training consultant.

The following skills are also a must:

• Ability to analyse and synthesise information.
• Listening skills.
• Good communicator.
• Organisation.
• Teamworking.
• Creativity and innovation.
• Flexibility.

However, nothing beats experience. It is essential to have a good foundation to work from when you are advising companies and looking for the ideal solution to their problems. In general, all consultants will have a long career history at their backs.

Training consultant duties

A training consultant’s job involves preparing, evaluating, and implementing training programs for an organisation’s employees. However, we wanted to put together a list of some more specific duties to understand their role better.

• Advise and provide guidance on the design and implementation of training plans.
• Assessment and quality control at training centres. 
• Analysing and identifying training needswithin a company. 
• Design and create training platformsfor companies.
• Create training, coaching and mentoring
• Advise organisations when choosing courses, training tools, etc.
• Creating teaching materialsfor organisations. 
• Analysing and evaluating training plan resultsand proposing improvements.  

How much does a training consultant earn?

Of course, this figure will vary depending on the consultant’s skills and experience. A junior consultant will earn much less that someone with extensive experience and a good reputation in the profession.

How do you become a training consultant?

As we saw above, you will usually need a degree qualification, which could be related to psychology, teaching, education, etc. Choosing the right degree is the first essential step towards becoming a consultant.

As well as this, you will need to develop certain skills. The most important ones for a training consultant include creativity, an analytical eye, and the ability to deliver training.

Finally, as we have already mentioned, gain experience. Usually, you’ll start by working for an employer to gain the skills required to make a career in consulting. Try to gain as much new expertise as possible, attend courses, specialise, and find your niche for the future.

How to choose a good training consultant?

Training consultancy is a very specific area which may make it more difficult to find the experts you need. However, don’t go for the first one you find. Do your research and speak to different experts before deciding.

Some aspects to consider during your search:

• Review each consultant’s website in depth. Find out about their values, previous experience, and other companies they have worked for, to get an idea of their capabilities.
• Look for or read opinions from other professionals within the sector. You can also ask colleagues if they have any recommendations. References can be very useful to help you make your decision.

Finally, in general, when you’re hiring a training consultant, go with the one who understands your business values and supports your vision. It will be much easier to work with them and the results will speak for themselves.

Conclusion

Having the skills to perform your job is important in any company. The best options in a company that requires one or the other of these skills is to have both. Why both? It’s important for employees to have both skills to ensure they are able to properly perform customer service.

Individual customers have different needs and require specific information about products. By having the skills and knowledge of training and consulting, employees are able to understand the customer’s needs and perform the tasks required to assist the customer in their endeavour to find the perfect product or service.

If an employee only had the training and not the consulting, they could potentially lose a sale. When customers ask for information about a product or service and have an employee who only has information about the pros and cons, they have a tendency to walk away if that’s not the information they were looking for. The same is true of the opposite. A customer seeking pros and cons won’t be happy with an overview of information on a product or service.

Many customers also won’t be satisfied with hearing phrases like, “I don’t know” or “Let me find someone to answer that” when they want answers now. The employee doesn’t look knowledgeable and the customer won’t be happy with that. No customer wants to purchase a product or service from a company where the employees don’t seem to know what they’re doing. It’s important for employees to have and retain both skills to ensure optimum customer service.

Though having both skills may require more training through the company or attending a seminar or workshop, it will be worth their time in the long run. By providing your employees with these skills and the opportunity to improve in each of them, you’re giving them a chance at knowing and working their job better.