Training Talk: Hard-Hitting Articles on Computer Training, Management, and IT-related Issues.

So the boss came around and told you there's gonna be another large software rollout. Another round of headaches, user support issues, too many phone messages, and late nights. And on top of it you have to contract with a training organization to get your people up to speed in a hurry. Who you gonna call?

OK I am going to come right out and get to the point. Having worked for many years as in instructor in large computer and soft-skills training organizations, I know first-hand the number one problem with these behemoth organizations: High turnover. There, I said it. So let's make some sense out of what this means to you and your choice to go with a large training company.

With high turnover rates, that means you may not get the same instructor from rollout to rollout, or even from course to course. Typically the larger organizations do their best to maximize profits, as all large organizations do. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but they tend to skimp on paying instructors what they are worth. While this is not totally unexpected, it also is a huge tactical error. Think about it. In the end, what are you paying for? Besides books, and follow-up support, you are paying for a qualified instructor to arrive, on-time and ready to go. For all practical intents and purposes, the instructor IS the product you are paying for. Do you really want the end product you are paying for to be paid 10% of what you paid for the courses?

Now, having been that "product" for many years, and having been paid so poorly, let me explain what happens to the "product" over time. It goes bad. Yes, like sour milk, an instructor has to be replaced because their attitude or abilities suffer over time when they are not compensated adequately--like any human being who is exploited. I am not just talking sour grapes here; this is a reality in the training business. And as someone who works occasionally as a contractor for these larger organizations, to fill the occasional need when my own company's training schedule has an opening, I can tell you that compensation is woefully inadequate. In fact I get paid less today as a contractor than I did in the year 2000. Yes, you read that right: for the last 8 years contractor compensation has actually gone DOWN for qualified instructors such as myself. In fact, when I contract for a large training organization to teach a course, and they have a room filled with 12-18 people at $200-$300 per student, I am paid for ONE of those students. Yet, I am the self-identified end-product!