Are training courses a waste of time? Angela Casey, MD Porter Novelli, Edinburgh, debates their value

There is a popular saying: “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” But is that the case? Certainly, training courses are big business. The PR industry bodies are fiercely competitive over price, dates, location. Clearly it is a good money-spinner and, let’s face it, once a trainer has their patter well-rehearsed, they need do little more than keep running the same course over and over again. Sounds easy. Perhaps I am in the wrong job?

However, I have recently been reviewing what PR skills training is available for our team. Some of the trainers I spot running these courses are highly skilled PR practitioners and a few of them are well-loved former colleagues. So it is not the case that they have given up the day job for something more lucrative. It is that they have gained valuable knowledge they are now willing to impart across the industry. What is more, they are clearly saintly in their level of patience. To have to take people through these skills courses over and over again must be hard work and requires a considerable skill of its own.

While training on the job is immensely valuable, and a good team leader will lead from the front with demonstration and patience, there is no substitute for taking time out of the office to concentrate on a core skill. The value of talking to someone outside your own office about your weaknesses and training needs, and taking stock of the day-to-day, is worth paying for. I also find the phrases I might use day in day out (“It’s all just common sense.”, “good writing is vital, but to do it well you have to plan ahead”, etc) are the ones usually used by trainers. Somehow, for colleagues to hear these things said externally seems to add weight to them. I may sound like a stuck record, but I am glad to know I am not the only one!

So I must conclude that external training is valuable because it allows time away from the job to think about skills acquisition and to learn from experience. It is worth looking into what is out there and identifying the courses you want to do to help you do your job better. Then ask your boss if you can go on them. It is naive to think he or she will be reading the training guides and thinking about what would be best for you – so don’t wait to be asked!

Years ago, when I was first taking a business through Investors in People, we created a system for training course evaluation. By spending time before the course thinking about why someone was going on it and what they hoped to achieve, it helped them to concentrate on getting best value from it. A post-training course chat and quick evaluation not only helped to catalogue the positive outcomes of the course, but also enabled the participant to pass on to colleagues the key points they had learned. This all adds to the value of the time and money spent. And in a business that is structured around the value of both time and experience, it is probably essential.

Time out of the office is a good source of refreshment. It offers a perspective on your role, your career path and your skill set – and it’s in your grasp to get on the courses you want and to get real value from them. I still remember, and use, a top tip from a course I did on new business 20 years ago and I remind myself of it every time I am standing outside a pitch. If it still rings true years later and I still get benefit from what I learnt, to my mind, it demonstrates the ultimate in good-value training.