Client Centred Quality

There is a lot of predicted change in the world of driving instruction, it is making the news in the trade magazines and has generated a lot of surveys through different medias, for those who are involved in training outside of the green badge system, classroom presentations and fleet presentations the proposed changes are likely to make a difference there too.  Fleet clients are much more aware of their business needs and actively seek value for money and quality assurance. So how can quality be assured by a provider who is a sole trader?

The plans behind the streamlining of Government services, the introduction of changes to legislation which will see the phasing out of the pink badge completely as it does not fit in with quality control and will be difficult to monitor under new guidelines, will see more regular checks across the board in all departments not just driver training.  Drink drive rehabilitation courses, instructor training courses, new driver training courses will all be subject to spot checks. So will the spot light shine on the on road courses delivered by trainers, well it is believed, or may be sought, for CPC to come under deeper scrutiny, this will be achieved with the help of independent testing.

Then we come to driving instruction, the standards check, are you up to standard or does your service fall below par. Data collected from a recent survey found the majority of ADI's against radical change, with just 22% saying they thought that learning to drive needed a shake up. if that is the case then how will the 85th percentile be reached.  Well the easy way around that is for it to be 85% of those who respond to surveys or consultations, from past experience those who respond are clearly the associations representing members although not necessarily the majority view, and those who are really interested in the future of their career, voting apathy has spread across all sectors, even voting within the private sector for board members has fallen to an all time low.

Can the instructor be heard, it is possible it really is if you want it, would you like your career to be the same one it was when you qualified, would you like your career to have prospects and be a respected profession, or do you want to just have a say about how you would like change for everyone else.  A PDI survey, again difficult to encourage participation across the UK, muted that ADI's want harder qualifying exams for new entrants when they should be concentrating their efforts elsewhere. The longer someone is qualified the easier it is to see flaws in an entrance procedure, however that applies to everything, experience is key, or is it?

The favourite subject at the moment is client centred learning, and I have come across a few blogs relating to this, I was amazed to find that not one had grasped the concept. Clients do not want more or different questions, our phone is ringing more frequently with pupils complaining that they need a new instructor as their old one keeps asking at the beginning of each lesson, what do you want to do today. That most definitely is not client centred, as the instructor has a responsibility and they are being paid to fulfil a role, the clients expectations, client centred.

A life coach would never sit in front of a client and say what do you want to do today, does your dentist say what would you like me to do, the expert guides and encourages and waits for feedback. Then the client makes a choice, client centred.  Trust has to come about in a learning environment, between both parties, which is where a formal agreement is essential, signed by both parties. A client does not lose trust in their tutor a client is led like a child learning to walk and then let go to make their own footsteps. When they stumble there is someone there to reach out and stop the fall, and when those hands are no longer needed the client begins a path of their own. Client centred equals client responsibility.

Coaching and the Client

Today I stumbled across a website specifically aimed at driving instructors, as most of my students and clients know I run a driving school and I am a practising life and executive coach, so my experience is as varied as the people I meet everyday.

The website claims, 'with the advent of the new check test and it's heavy reliance on coaching or client centred approaches I have developed courses to help you become ready for the 21st century' surely nobody actually falls for this sort of unrealistic claim, it actually leads other instructors into believing that this one ADI knows more than anyone else about coaching and client centred learning.

The DSA is quite clear about the fact that client centred learning is about giving the customer what they want, coaching is not a teaching tool and the evidence supports that coaching for the novice, be it driving or sky diving is not the way forward. The DSA recognise this and are not looking for coaching, their modernisation is a less restrictive approach to teaching and learning not an overhaul of the current system.

For the cynic amongst us, by incorporating the fleet check test and the ADI check test it is a smoother path for independent examiners to replace the civil servants who currently oversee the work of the driver trainer. By introducing a customer friendly service by the ADI, the standards that examiners will seek are the same as within any organisation or business that serves the public. As role play will not be an option it opens the door for any private sector service provider to tender. There is a whisper that the DSA will offer training to the private sector for testing, to coincide with their accreditation of courses, this will include driver trainer courses and see the end of the ORDIT registration, as this will no longer be needed.

The standard check forms that are being revised are point scores, so clearly designed by the private sector for ease of use.

This myth about coaching being CCL, quite apart from the rejection of this by the DSA, is quite ridiculous as not one person who is a coach, life or executive will recognise or refer to CCL.  The coach does not teach. The DSA have referred to the coaching chapter in the NDRS document as not being relevant, this supports the statement from the ERSC, and the fact that HERMES 2 was in 2010 and further developments have taken place since then.

So how does one person working for a national school but advertising themselves as an expert in the future of the check test justify scaremongering amongst those that don't want to be left behind.  In the case of all Government parties, it is better to just wait and see.  Having written to two ministers and having two completely different replies, I can't see that there is anything definite on the table.

As the DFT is to become the DFTandF we are in year one of a ten year programme to reform the back office and for the injection of private sector money, the NHS reforms and the fact that the NHS is also to be fed private money leaves the UK over a barrel, a very deep one.


copyright A.Green 2013 no extracts or reproduction of this blog without express permission of the author

CCL for learner drivers

Four weeks ago I wrote to the minister of transport, as a fully qualified life and executive coach. I did identify myself as a driver trainer, however I also passed on some of the research I am involved in.

 I am deeply concerned by the watered down approach to change within the driving instruction industry, particularly this spoon fed coaching which are words with no substance. having studied hard for my qualifications over the last few years and taken time to build a robust portfolio of clients within the executive sector as well as individual clients, I have found it quite difficult to see how coaching can be incorporated in it's purest form to help learner drivers. It was a relief to find that it has been recognised within Government that misuse of coaching has the potential to be damaging to the client, as I felt that had been over looked.

Some of the response covers the Standards document and the fact that trainers should not change their methods, just that ADI's have felt restricted within their work with clients and this encourages more listening and a better transition of the transfer of responsibility from trainer to trainee.  It also says that once the standards check comes into force instructors will be given a clearer idea of what is expected of them and this will enable them to choose more effective training.

I asked how an instructor could present coaching to a client without years of study and qualifications

'We do not want to lose what we already have and if we were to suddenly say that all ADIs had to become coaches there would be some who would become confused about what was being asked of them.  Others would try to deploy what they understood to be coaching tools and not do it well.  The result could be an overall deterioration in the quality of driver instruction.'


I asked why CCL is considered to be coaching within the driver training industry, the response was

'I can assure you that we are very aware client centred learning (CCL) is not the same as coaching. '


Although the reply was very in depth I have felt that these are very relevant to the sudden twist towards coaching for instructors, there are many other elements that were specifically asked linked to my research and understanding of the real risk within the young driver sector.

However, I am passionate about road safety, I do still work as a driving instructor, and I desperately would like to see better fatality figures for young drivers. Some of you may have seen my research and others may have read extracts from my up coming book, although not for the driving instructor industry, young drivers and road risk is touched upon. So, with this in mind I needed some answers, and today they were not just answered in full, but they satisfied my concerns.  As I am known to be cynical, as most writers are, when dealing with quotes and lengthy exchange, I feel that this response was by far one of the best I have received to date.

Moving along, it was felt that although HERMES was used as a reference which had emphasised coaching as a concept, this has been decided against, with the overall feeling being that there will be no attempt to use fully formed coaching skills, the aim is to relieve instructors of rigid approaches to training and allow more listening in the learning environment.

This appears to be quality control with the clients needs being more important and the tutor taking a guiding role. However, although this seems like a sensible approach it still doesn't tackle scientific evidence which shows that the young driver brain activity, risk, excitement etc is the controlling influence as opposed to the training environment.

Copyright A.Green 2013 - no extracts or reproduction without express consent of the author.

 

Government Consultations

Road safety consultations, NHS consultations, MOJ consultations, the list is endless, so why, for the last few years we have had occasional consultations, usually when the Government wants to trade an unpopular idea, but over the last few months surveys and consultations are in abundance, with a new survey in almost daily mailings.

How many consultations can one person respond to, or read thoroughly without losing the will to live? It seems quite a lot, although time consuming answering these surveys makes us feel as if we might at least be heard, yet when you look at the volume of replies it is shockingly low, are we that apathetic that it just doesn't matter any more, or do we believe we are unheard. Well, if out of 64m people a few hundred reply then how can we expect to be taken seriously as a nation.

The Government back office is fulfilling it's duty, treat the public as paying customers, which we are, listen to their comments and act on the majority, because when they present to the private sector seeking investment they need to be in a position to say, we did listen, but if you can't be bothered to get involved and say what you want then don't expect to get it, quite rightly too.

Privatisation is here to stay, the merging of offices is not a surprise, the merge of VOSA/DSA had been mentioned several times in various papers, the DSA are not striking because they are bored on Fridays, more that they can see the ship sinking and are trying to save it, but really the ink is dry so they would probably be best advised to jump.

Driving tests, modernisation, syllabus, consultations, reading between the lines and adding it to the facts from the back office and their announcements in trade papers tells the whole story.

For more on the Government consultation summary follow the link below

http://www.centraladitraining.co.uk/2013/06/21/consultation-summary/

Research

I am currently collecting research data and am looking for some more volunteers, it involves filling in a short questionnaire, all responses are confidential and no personal details are asked for, if you wish to be sent the conclusion please tell us, otherwise your details will be deleted on receipt of your response.

You need to be a driver, it does not matter whether you have a full or provisional licence, but you do need to be female.

This research will be included in a book due to be published later this year, no references will be made to those who take part only the content of the group as a whole.

If you fit the criteria and would be willing to take part please contact us at aicoachingsolutions@aol.co.uk and a questionnaire will be emailed to you.

A huge thank you to those who have already taken part.

AI Solutions: Shaking up the Learner Driver

AI Solutions: Shaking up the Learner Driver: How many have noticed major changes to the learning to drive process? In the last forty years not much has changed. We now have a th...

Shaking up the Learner Driver

How many have noticed major changes to the learning to drive process? In the last forty years not much has changed. We now have a theory test, yet for those of us who were asked a couple of questions from the highway code I believe we learned more, rather than the multi choice game that can be taken several times. Then we have the hazard perception test, a useful tool for a tutor, but for a test of ability?

So what else has changed? A couple of know your car questions, slightly longer in the driving seat, parking manoeuvres.

Yet the current Government, under pressure from the EU are after reform, on a grand scale, to reduce the amount of young drivers killed and seriously injured on our roads, despite the fact that the growing group are over 65. Will a big shake up be a vote winner? Of course not, so how quiet can they keep this? have they gagged the press? There has been very little information bandied about yet with the green paper due to be published next month it's gone quiet.

If you have a teenager about to learn to drive do you want it to be harder? The changes affect all age groups, so with more people leaving the learning process until they are twenty or older, is this just lip service, will it make any difference to the figures. Although teen drivers have always been a singled out group, how risky are they? Does the complacency of the older, experienced drivers put them at risk by not playing fair on the roads and expecting the novice to know how to cope with their random actions. Our roads are shared space, but in real terms does it really feel that way?

If we, as drivers, were nicer to each other, would road death fall, and would young drivers have a better chance?

Many would have us believe it is attitude, yet there is scientific evidence to suggest otherwise.

The interest of the driver is represented by groups of road safety professionals within the confines of the Driving Standards Agency arena, how many potential drivers get a say? How many are asked? The future of the learner driver is decided by those who have a financial interest.

I'm sure Mr McLoughlin would like your views? Or maybe not!