Quality and Standards
We safeguard our quality and standards through our management of trainers, hands-on management of courses, appreciation of learning styles, delivery of tailored content, analysis of evaluation data, and enshrine these standards in set policies and procedures.
Our understanding of the sector, account management system, commitment to dialogue and provision of added value services have supported the setting, maintaining and continually improving of quality and standards.
Account management
We account-manage our training ensuring one contact common to all trainers and across all courses on a given programme.
We appreciate the need for face-to-face dialogue and feedback with customers and this is why we offer periodic review meetings. These meetings provide Central Training with an opportunity to supply customers with management information, to review service, to forecast the period ahead, and to introduce new products and services. Further to these formal reviews, we are pleased to be able to offer regular post-learning meetings with trainers, consistent with our established practice of meeting briefly with trainers after sessions run at our own venues.
Course management
The Central Training team directly input in the design and development of all courses and course resources, and resources are only signed off as approved after being proofread and formatted by the team ensuring consistency of quality and presentation across all courses and all trainers.
Our course management process removes the dual burdens of planning and production from our customers and across a multi-course, multi-trainer programme, it offers a single point of contact for all matters relating to the booking process, courses, trainers, dates, venues and invoicing.
Immediate feedback from delegates and trainers is received through separate course evaluation forms. The trainer evaluation form allows us to assess the course from the facilitators perspective, highlighting: any aspects of the course which may require redesign; further learning needs for the group; any issues raised which should be fed back to the commissioning organisation.
In addition to this feedback, our delegate evaluation forms allow us to capture both quantitative and qualitative data from the group, evaluating all aspects of the course from joining instructions, meeting the learning objectives and trainer performance, as well as identifying any further training need.
Tailored content, inclusive learning
Tailored content improves the quality, relevance and ultimately value for money of a learning event. As well as these known benefits for commissioners, as the training provider, we encourage tailoring because it improves the quality of our product, the success of our event and the relationship with our customer - a win-win situation.
Our standard course profile templates include details of methods of delivery employed specific to a course and a trainer, and this - like content and objectives - is subject to adjustment as part of the tailoring of courses. Uptake of our pre-course delegate assessment provides an opportunity for individual learning needs and preferences to be highlighted in advance of courses so that any additional provision that needs to be made, can be.
Trainer recruitment and retention
All our trainers are recruited through a thorough vetting process consisting of CV assessment, materials critique, telephone and face-to-face interviews, and the satisfactory return of two industry-related reference requests.
We select Associate Trainers based on their experience of training delivery and their relevant industry experience. As partners in all our projects, our trainers share our philosophy of total quality management, and have a proven track record of excellence in their areas of expertise.
We encourage all our trainers to acquire recognised training qualifications including the P.T.L.L.S. award and the next stage up, the D.T.L.L.S. award. We also request that trainers commit to continuous professional development and many hold memberships of professional bodies related to their area.
Trainer vetting and performance management continues past the initial registration process into the retention process, where trainers are required to evidence continuing professional development at annual consultations.
Part of the performance management process involves members of the Central Training team observing courses on a periodic basis.
Sector skills
As a training provider born out of a recruitment provider, Central Training is uniquely placed to understand, anticipate and respond to the challenges faced in the not-for-profit sector from the perspectives of service providers, recruiters, workers of all type, learning and development teams, training delegates, and regulatory bodies such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Our experience in managing the mandatory and professional development learning needs of our bank of agency workers through our extensive annual L&D programme demonstrates our expertise and proven track record in this area, and this ability to view learning and development from the perspective of all stakeholders is our comparative advantage.