Training Consultant - The Corporate Coach Cultivating Industry Specialists
20 May 2006

Today more and more people are realising the importance of self-enhancement to increase their own personal value and competitiveness. However, not everyone can sacrifice the time or afford the money to achieve these ends. With this in mind, companies are increasingly opting to hire out-sourced training consultants to cultivate their employees to become specialists, which, in return, benefits overall corporate development.

"Some multi-national corporations like to employ their own training consultants to tailor-make courses for staff, like a mini-master's programme lasting for about two to three years, depending on the expectations of the company," says Ms. Florence Choy, a certified national trainer at the Junior Chamber International Hong Kong (JCI). She adds that among the array of training courses on offer, the Project Management programme is the most popular.

As a special agent appointed by various companies, Ms. Choy says an understanding of human nature is a key factor in achieving success in corporate training. "We have to grasp the rationale behind different cases like a conflict of interest among staff or the willingness of management to allocate resources for training a particular group of employees, etc.," says Ms. Choy. She herself has to fully appreciate the expectations each party has for training programmes during the pre-course focus group sessions. For this reason, trainers, whatever their frontline or supporting roles, should always be curious about people and issues. Moreover, they should specialise in at least one to two areas of expertise, like Ms. Choy, who is in particularly strong in sales and marketing.

A trainer should also have a wide business network to fall back on, since he or she must keep in touch with people involved with different aspects or grades within a project or operations. Ms. Choy discovered her own inadequacies in this area when she returned to Hong Kong from Canada six years ago. As a newcomer, she overcame obstacles by actively studying courses at the university of JCI. She also practiced a great deal and sat in on many lectures and seminars.

Regarding trainer quality, Ms. Choy points out that the industry does not have any strict or recognised standards. Some trainers learn from their own experience while others possess higher education qualifications. Most operate as freelancers who rarely work full-time in a particular consultancy company. In fact, the current growing emphasis on specialist training offers an abundance of opportunities for further development of this sector.