Staff training is rightly viewed as essential to the development of careers within a business. But there is often a question mark over whether the trainer is actually delivering what was promised, and whether the training is, in fact, good value for money.

Training professional Mark Arnold has plenty of experience in the field, having worked with major organisations such as the BBC, Balfour Beatty and Exxon-Mobil.

Now he has launched an offensive against the “hype, jargon and false promises that pervade the training and coaching industry.”

He recently launched the Training and Coaching Manifesto, a hard-hitting attack on how the training industry operates and is intended to be an eye-opener for line management.

In it Mr Arnold explains: o How the big players can cream off huge fees while delivering little to their customers o Why training is too important to be left to a training manager o How training companies make big promises they can’t fulfil He said: “I know what I’m saying will rub a lot of people up the wrong way, but I don’t care.

“I am sick of seeing line managers having the wool pulled over their eyes. I want them to be able to cut through the web of nonsense woven by training people.

“I’m sure my message will resonate with a large number of line managers and business owners who feel the way I do. It’s those people I want to help.”

Mr Arnold recognises that most companies realise the value of training but are faced with a lot of questions.

Do they go for a planned approach throughout the organisation, or do they look for the priority need areas, and end up taking an ad-hoc approach?

Do they resource the training internally, or do they buy it in? How do they measure its effectiveness? Do they favour courses, coaching, mentoring or e-learning? And how can they justify the cost?

The way companies answer those questions will have an impact on the bottom line.

Mr Arnold added: “The biggest cost of training is one that will not appear on the training company’s invoice, and that is paying people’s salaries while they are being trained.”

He explained that a major problem faced by training and development is the lack of focus on results.

“If you want to see a training expert’s face glaze over, ask them about results. What effect will an investment of £1,000 in training have on the bottom line?”

That is the key question to ask and yet that is the precise area in which training experts become vague and slightly uncomfortable.

Rather than providing training inputs which generate specific results, Mr Arnold feels many trainers prefer to offer general packages which can be rebranded to fit a particular scenario.

He claims another problem is that anyone can claim to be a trainer and set up in business.

“Over recent years, the industry has grown quickly as the ranks of its members have been swollen by legions of people joining it as a means of making hoped-for easy money,” he said.

“These people include many who may have taken early retirement and see training as a way of supplementing their pension — despite the fact that they may have little or no experience or track record in improving people performance.

“They also include younger people who have been made redundant and see training as easy pickings, despite a similar lack of experience or track record.”

Mr Arnold’s Training Manifesto includes a guide for companies who want to cut down the money wasted on training and coaching.

He describes a number of methods for reducing training costs, while improving results by finding the best people, cutting down on dependence on external trainers, and making the experience more stimulating.

o Contact: Mark Arnold, 01865 736005.

Web: www.trainingmanifesto.com