When industry is wrong

It happens, and the provider still has to decide.

Consultation is an input rather than an instruction. Employers can be mistaken about what is needed, can describe their own current practice rather than good practice, can ask for training in the use of their specific systems, and can want a narrower graduate than the qualification is supposed to produce.

A provider that implements everything requested produces a course serving the immediate convenience of the consulted employers and disadvantaging graduates who move elsewhere. Qualifications are portable and should be, and that is a legitimate reason to decline a request.

Where several employers ask for something the provider judges inappropriate, that is worth examining, since the provider may be wrong. But the judgement remains the provider's and the reasoning should be recorded, because an unexplained departure from consultation input looks like it was ignored.

Telling participants that their input was considered and not adopted, with the reason, is more respectful than quiet non-implementation, and it is what keeps the relationship functional.

It is worth adding that where industry input conflicts with regulatory requirements, the requirement governs and the conflict itself is worth recording. Employers frequently ask for something a training package or accreditation condition does not permit, and documenting that exchange demonstrates engagement rather than non-compliance.