Management Development Boer & Croon: you get to write your own story

What does the programme entail?

Lidia: We have devised the Krauthammer Hero's Journey, a three-year leadership programme aimed at developing talent. Our people have a permanent pool of trainers who monitor their progress. Each participant has their own set of challenges and goals, but the training sessions are done in groups. This way, the talent are able to mirror each other and learn from each other. Our assignments are demanding and you get thrown in at the deep end. We believe that we have the most talented people in the Netherlands at work here, and we try to help them to unleash that talent that they have inside them.

Sterre: During training, intervision and coaching sessions, we are challenged and pushed to get the most out of ourselves. The programme is structured in such a way that fits in well with the assignments that we undertake. We can often put new insights and tools into practice the very next day.

What makes the programme so different from a traineeship? Lidia: At Boer & Croon, you are assigned as a Young Executive to various roles and positions across a variety of companies and sectors. You enter a totally new environment each and every time.

Sterre and Tycho, what do you consider to be the added value of the Management Development programme? Tycho: The ability to quickly progress to roles that require more experience and larger projects. You start by learning management skills and then you learn a lot of substantive aspects during the assignments, which soon enables you to be employable in a wide range of roles. It is often the other way round at other (large corporate) companies. Often, you first deal with the content and work on your leadership skills at a later stage. In Boer & Croon's Management Development programme, you start by building up your management skills, and thanks to the challenging and diverse assignments, you learn a great deal, which makes you employable in a wide range of roles. Sterre: I was able to develop myself pretty quickly. I also appreciated the fact that I went through the programme with a set group of eleven people. We got to know each other really well and were able to challenge each other in our own development. What's more, friendships have also been established. And another thing: it helps you discover which professional direction suits you best. The coaches at Boer & Croon also help you with this.