If a business case cannot be put forward for an event then, unless there are unlimited resources, it is likely that the same money and energy could be invested better elsewhere. And, yes, I have attended the 'tree-hugging' courses and found them of value to my personal development. Sometimes we need to take a different position on the formulation of strategies that focus on what is in the best interests of the business. Without leadership there is no change' and 'commitment has to start at the top', but after these statements have been voiced we still require an imaginative and creative professional who acts as the architect of the new culture in any business. Although the head of HRD is critical in winning support from non-HRD people to commit to investment, the whole learning culture only really exists when learning, training and development become a critical role of any line manager's or teams leader's responsibility.
HRD strategy can radically turn around a failing business.
If you don't know where you are going, you'll never know when and how you arrived. HRD strategy should be a mirror reflection of where an organisation is going. HRD has to be at the forefront of growth, merger and acquisitions, restructuring and re-engineering. Let us hope that by the end of the next decade, organisations will have mastered and de-mystified HRD strategy, and its application can be seen in the positive learning rewarded within the average organisation. Some organisations will achieve this level of performance.