In December 2010, the BE unit of DIBD held a three-day training seminar for 6 staff-members of the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU). The objective of the training was to give PSFU an exposure to a well functioning business membership organization (BMO) and to strengthen the capacity of PSFU within the following areas:
- Policy advocacy and lobbyism
- Human resources
- Member recruitment, retainment and services
- Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)
- Communication and outreach
The participants first had two full days of intensive sessions with more than 12 experts from DI who gave a presentation within their specific field and went into a dialogue with PSFU on how they could improve their practices in Uganda. The last day of the training was spent on visiting members of DI relevant to PSFU. These visits gave the participant a chance to critically reflect on what they had learned in the two preceding days and receive concrete ideas on a best case scenario of the relationship between a BMO and its members – in this case from the perspective of well-run Danish companies.
The participants evaluated the training and commended that it had been “efficiently delivered in an interactive way ensuring maximum learning and coverage of topics” as well as being “very productive and revealing of DI’s setup, strategies and processes”. They furthermore stated that they liked the fact that instead of simply providing a generic programme, DIBD was able to tailor the training to the specific needs of PSFU and thus “focus on the areas of interest and learning for PSFU” and “provide relevant speakers that helped discussing the issues in depth”.
When asked what they had learned and could take home to use in their organization, the participant with excitement said that they would now be more capable of “involving politicians into our advocacy campaigns” which is one of the key tasks of any BMO. On an organizational level the participants said that they would now be able to better “recruit and retain members as well as develop services in a financially sustainable manner” and also “develop a more adequate public relations strategy”. Finally, they “realized the importance of good employees and thus how a proper human resource strategy is a solid long term investment”.