Leaders have mastered their course money

In my experience, the Danes are indeed purposeful and determined when buying education and development for their companies. For this reason, I was surprised when reading a letter in Børsen on 21 December. In the article it was claimed that Danish managers do not know how to convert education of employees into bottom line figures. The explanation could be that this point of view is supported by a book based on American conditions written by Robert O. Brinkerhoff.

Today in the Danish reality most people buy courses and further education as entertainment or as indulgence in order to strengthen the competency development. During the last 10-15 years, the level of human resource management has increased significantly, not only in the many newly established HR-divisions but also in the management and among middle-managers. The decisions being made are professional ones and this professionalism is clearly visible when the companies specify their wishes. They are perfectly aware that these kinds of courses help to impart skills to employees but they also know that this traditional sort of learning must be combined with coaching on the job in one-on-one situations which will put what has been learned into context and thereby improve the employees’ understanding. The manager’s involvement promotes this process further.

Focus is on implementation from the customer’s side. And no expenses are spared. In the field of educational and development tools, the demand is rising – both when it comes to quantity and quality.

With buyers this critical, it is a challenge for providers of development- and training courses to provide both good preparation based on field studies in the customer’s company, relevant and credible impact measurements before, during and after the programme and deliver the best execution whether it be a kick-off event, course programmes or implementation.