Have you been searching for an RTO consultant? This morning I heard another similar story to 3 others I heard in the past 2 days. Where the person had paid a large amount of money to an RTO consultant and had got a raw deal.
The comments from these poor people go something like…we were introduced to a company to help and assist us with our setup. Unfortunately we had our initial audit and didn’t pass. We then put in our rectification with our consultants help and received our letter of rejection. We are in the process of doing our application of reconsideration of renewable decisions.
Non Compliances
These people have told me similar stories in what needed to be rectified in the initial audit. Rewrite:
- Policies and procedures manual
- Student handbook
- Student work placement logbook
- Third party reports
- TAS
- Validation of units / observation of skills
- Marketing materials
- Validation system
The list pretty much sums up the whole Standards. AND this is after the consultant had been paid huge amounts of money! The sad thing is people put trust into RTO consultants to get them across the line and provide a successful audit. For me it is about helping each person within that RTO to understand the Standards and what they need to do. After all it isn’t me who will be managing the RTO once it is registered. A successful audit is then about understanding and acting.
Copy and Paste
One of the people told me that their auditor said the documents were a direct copy and paste from the Standards and not an indication of the way the organisation would be working. They had to rewrite them.
I am so frustrated these business transactions are occurring, so I wanted to reach out and express those feeling in a blog post. RTO Consultants need to have experience in managing RTOs, in setting them up over years, and working with the current Standards. When you are setting up an RTO I know that it’s impossible to know what you don’t know.
We’ve worked with hundreds of RTOs over many years to set up RTOs, and for ones to become or remain compliant. Everyone brings with them different experiences, different ways of wanting to operate and different personalities. Each transaction therefore is unique. That’s what I love about my clients; all the different personalities, and ways of operating.
Advice for you
So what advice can I give you?
- Seek out an RTO consultant that takes a structured approach to setting up your RTO;
- One that works with YOU;
- Find out if they are prepared to guide you through each stage to ensure that your application meets the current Standards for RTOs 2015;
- If you will get coaching to ensure that when you achieve registration you will be ready to take your first enrolment;
- Ask many questions, as these are where you learn;
- Don’t go just on price, consider the whole package. For a cheap service you often get what you pay for (but not in these cases)
- Request an RTO set up proposal including costing that details how you will be guided through the process.
At RTO Mentor we have an approach that takes the guess work out of becoming an RTO. Ensuring you know what you need to know to confidently operate your RTO once registered.
If you are considering setting up an RTO and you are not sure of the best option for you or your business, then give me a call. Contact us to arrange an obligation free telephone or skype call to discuss the process. Request an RTO set up proposal including costing, activities to be undertaken and support provided by RTO Mentor.
