Är kompetensutveckling en fråga för individen eller organisationen? : En studie om chefers uppfattning av kompetensutvecklingens funktion

Sammanfattning: Competence as a part of human resource development is a well discussed subject as the individual is being seen as human capital for the organization. The question of whether competence development generates any effect creates an interest in examining it from an individual perspective. This study investigates the perception of competence development among people working in a management position. The purpose of this study is to examine how different individuals in managing positions reason about - and perceive - their own competence development, as well as how it relates to the needs of the organization in which the individual works. The study is carried out with a qualitative methodological approach where the empirical data has been collected through seven semi-structured interviews with respondents who all work in some form of management position. In order to create a wide range of respondents, the respondents consisted of managers from different types of Swedish organizations, both in the private and public sector. The data has been processed with a thematic analysis, where underlying themes have been identified based on the respondents' perception of competence development. The theoretical framework consists of Ellström's four perspectives on competence development, which intend to operationalize the purpose and raise perspectives on how competence development is shaped. The results show that the individual perceives their own motivation, as well as the possibilities of the organization to offer activities, as important factors for competence development. Also, the fact that the respondents work in management positions creates a two-sided relationship with the organization, where the respondents perceive a dependent relationship between their own and the organization's need for competence development. Thus, the result illustrates that the needs of the organization are governing in how competence development is designed, and that the individual's own interest in competence development can be influenced by how the need is expressed in the organization.