As HR managers and learning experts: How do you choose suitable trainers for further education? As soon as the goal of a training is established, a suitable trainer can be sought out. Whether in-house or external, a good training concept is primarily one thing: sustainably successful. Find out now how to recognize such a concept!

Are good trainers hard to find?

New goals in human resources mean new measures: Once it becomes clear that internal training should be expanded or changed, a question forms in the mind: How do I find the right trainer? There are formally various offers, but as an HR manager, you should first answer a few questions when choosing the trainer:

In-house or external?

In-house trainers seem to be the "safe" option for many companies—and the easier one. However, in-house solutions are often more of a stopgap, because external trainers do not bring enough attachment to the company. External trainers, on the other hand, are often better trained and bring more experience. Therefore, the question repeatedly arises: What is the more important criterion?

Company attachment or a wide range of experience?

The range of experiences and especially content is a point that many HR managers underestimate when choosing a trainer. An experienced external trainer and his team typically have spent several years developing content. This focus on content is often not possible with an in-house trainer.

What are our criteria for a trainer?

You should ask yourself this question before starting concrete negotiation talks. Not just the price must be right: From the content orientation to methods to personal charisma—the list of criteria is long.

Some characteristics a trainer and coach should definitely have: Infectious enthusiasm is an absolute must! Professional competence must also not be lacking, but this is much harder to measure: The trainer's experience is an indicator, but not a guarantee for excellent training.

What goal does my company pursue with further education?

So first clarify what goals your company has that should be achieved through training. Probably a specific aspect should be promoted—and ultimately lead to greater success of employees or executives.

Long-term success: Sustainability is a quality criterion for further education

One of the most important criteria for new trainers or coaches is the sustainability of learning success. Immediate improvements during training or shortly thereafter are indeed a great experience for trainers and participants. However, if only a few months later, little change is felt, the training has not been worthwhile for the company.

How do I recognize a sustainable training concept? We at blink.it interact daily with trainers and coaches and have come to know some training concepts over the years. That's why we've summarized the most important criteria for sustainably successful trainings:

Checklist: Here’s how to recognize a sustainable training concept

1. Personal connection between the trainer/coach and participants

2. High practical proportion with clear calls to action

3. Possibility for exchange with other learners

4. Incorporating personal experiences in everyday work

5. Regularly activating training content over weeks or months

6. Short, focused learning units in microlearning format

7. Involvement of all relevant groups of people

Perhaps this classification is already enough for you when selecting the next trainer or coach for your company. To clarify the individual points further, we will explain them briefly again:

1. Personal connection between trainer/coach and participant

A didactically sensible training is tailored to the learning objectives and competencies of the participants. Therefore, it is important that the trainer can understand the challenges from the participants' perspective and motivates them to exceed their limits.

Info: Do you want to make your online course more motivational? Then find out now how to impress with the first content: More motivation in the online course – Why the first content matters

2. High proportion of exercises with clear calls to action

Practice makes perfect—this saying may be old, but its true essence shows up in many educational programs. A high number of exercises alone is not enough; the call to action must be clear and present, so that the participant can put the theory into practice.

3. Opportunity for exchange with other participants

In general, the trainer or coach should offer a good mix of various learning forms. Social learning (the exchange with others) should not be forgotten. Find out more about the different learning forms in the Think-Read-Talk-Do model: How does learning work with the TRDT model?

4. Incorporating personal experiences in everyday work

The interlinking of training and everyday work is essential: After all, the participant should also be able to apply what they've learned in their job. A training is good if it is clear at all times how the learned material is helpful in practice.

5. Regularly activating training content over months

This point is also crucial for the success of a training—and yet often neglected. We learn in school that "cramming" is not sustainable and that we should be learning for our long-term memory, not just for a test. New content needs to be repeatedly brought forth and practiced—this applies even more to adults than to children.

6. Short, focused learning units in microlearning format

This aspect is just as true for adults as it is for children: Our attention span sharply decreases after just a few minutes. Furthermore, we are generally more inclined to invest five minutes daily than to spend a whole hour once a week—and the effect is greater with such short, focused learning units!

7. Involvement of all relevant groups of people

A final point that HR and trainers should not neglect for a thoroughly successful training: Ideally, discuss together who in the company (or outside of it) has contact points with the training content. Involve executives and ensure that no one feels excluded.

Successful future with digital skills

In addition to these seven criteria for a good training concept, the topic of digital competence is an important consideration in the first conversation with the trainer. For good training, you can't just rely on the mere existence of digital methods!

Trainers should also fit with the alignment of the company. After all, further education is strongly future-oriented and should also be up to date. A classic in-person trainer with methods from the last century may be very well-versed—however, such a concept probably no longer meets the expectations of the participants. Contents remain, but people change, and with them, also the methods.

But wait! This does not mean that a good trainer should automatically pursue a purely online concept. If this assumption were true, we would eventually not need any human training anymore. A good trainer understands the company's requirements and offers both online AND offline methods depending on the situation.

From classic in-person trainer to “blended trainer”

There are various blended learning models through which you can integrate online and offline training in your company: Depending on the starting situation and goals of the company, a “blended trainer” offers in-person events (e.g., individual coaching or classic seminars) and also online impulses that the participants can work on independently.

The aforementioned goal of sustainability in training can be wonderfully achieved with blended learning: Short, focused learning units in in-person training are difficult, but they work perfectly online. Regularly activating training contents is also best done online. On the other hand, personal relationships between trainers and participants work best in person.

The central benefits of blended learning for your company:

• Increased learning effect

• Increased measurability

• Lower absenteeism

• Location-independent learning

• High transfer to everyday work

In addition to the criteria from the checklist for a sustainable training concept, you can recognize a professional blended trainer by additional competencies:

Checklist Part 2: What distinguishes a good blended trainer

• A flexible concept that is adapted to your company's requirements

• Selected methods that contribute to the learning objectives of the participants

• A learning-friendly and experimental atmosphere in further education

• A broad repertoire of online and offline didactics (depending on the training format)

• The technical requirements are tailored to the participants of the training

Questions for trainers and coaches during the presentation

You have now learned some criteria for a sustainable training concept and the competencies of a good blended trainer. But how do you recognize whether a trainer or coach meets these requirements? We will show you possible questions you can ask in the initial conversation to ensure the criteria mentioned are fulfilled!