Lagant has been around for 30 years and is a well-known name in the field of change management. Take us back to 30 years ago, to the beginning of Lagant.
Jeroen Ykema: ''30 years ago, in 1991, we were founded by Messrs. Ad van den Akker and Piet Verpoorte. After Piet Verpoorte accepted a management position at a large international IT company three years later, Ad van Den Akker gave direction and guidance to Lagant in the role of general manager. He then quickly became accredited as a trainer for PRINCE2 and that is how Lagant started offering training.
From that moment on, the course has been set towards a combination of training courses and interim consultancy jobs. Looking further at the timeline, we therefore attach great importance to the fact that, in addition to providing training, our trainers also have practical experience. This, to master an optimal balance between theory and practice.
In the recent past, partly due to the financial crisis, you subsequently saw that this was changing; the number of consultancy and interim assignments decreased, while the number of training courses skyrocketed. As a result, Lagant has increasingly become a training agency, with at some point 90% of its turnover coming from training.
I myself joined as director in 2011 and one of the things I wanted to change is that there would be a healthier relationship, so that it would again move towards a more balanced balance. We then set to work hard on this and if I now look at the current situation, in terms of turnover we are at about 40% turnover from training and 60% from turnover from interim and consultancy services. This shows that a healthier balance has been created, which we would like to keep and continue that way, now and in the future.”
There are now more than 20 specialists that you call change guides. How was the road here?
Jeroen Ykema: ''About 5 years ago we saw a change in the market, in which we focused on the questions from our customers. What you saw was that in the questions we received, the emphasis was on change management in the broadest sense. The Agile method played an important role in this, with its increase in popularity.
And although we gave our first Agile training in 2006, it never really got beyond giving training. So we decided at the time to broaden our focus a bit, by focusing on change management in general. And that is where the term change guide originated. What we mean by this is guiding the way to creating a sustainable and lasting effect. We achieve this by having the changes carried out by the customer himself instead of taking the lead himself. This, so that the customer actually masters the process. We are therefore really active as, as the word implies, change guides.”
Over the past 30 years, things have certainly changed in the field of studying/teaching, working on a project basis and implementing changes in organizations. How has Lagant dealt with this?
Jeroen Ykema: ''First of all I have to say that the amount of changes is not that bad. For example, if you look at how people learn today compared to 30 years ago, there isn't much of a difference. For example, 3 types of students can still be distinguished, namely: auditory, visual and reading students.
However, what you have seen change is the fact that we have turned from mainly physical training sessions and the occasional virtual training, to now mainly provide virtual training and the occasional physical training. The change in this has of course been brought about, primarily, by the COVID360 pandemic and its impact and associated consequences within our branch.
Lagant wants to be in the top 3 when it comes to consultancy organizations in the field of Agile, Project, Project and Portfolio Management. How are you going to do that?
Jeroen Ykema: ''We have drawn up 2 principles for this, which we work with. The first is by putting the needs of customers and companies first. Offer a listening ear to the wishes of the target group and adjust your offer accordingly. This may have to do with the content, but also, for example, with the visibility of Lagant.
The other principle is our desire to grow as a provider. We need even more people to achieve this, so we're really looking for what we call the craftsmen. The people who really go for the profession, they also fit very well with Lagant. In addition, we have the explicit goal of sharing our internal knowledge with the outside world. We want to achieve this by expanding and communicating our digital knowledge base.”
What does it mean to be a change guide? And what does it mean for a company to have a good change guide?
Jeroen Ykema: ''The perfect change guide is someone who can bring along a healthy degree of self-confidence and who can also convey it to the customer. This is of great importance when including and certainly also activating the customer in the process. And for us this often comes from mastering the professional knowledge down to the last detail. Hence the term craft idiots. It is very important to us that you simply have the knowledge of the profession.
What characterizes a change guide is his excellent communication skills and thinking along with the customer, but also the courage to tell the customer the truth if necessary. And this is certainly not always easy, but it is ultimately our job to bring the message honestly. Ultimately, the customer benefits the most from this and the desired result can be achieved in this way as efficiently and effectively as possible. So the intention to really help the customer is woven into a good change guide."
What are the future plans for Lagant?
Jeroen Ykema: ''We plan to make a big step in our growth, so we are actively working on this right now. After all, we aspire to growth, in all areas. In this way we continue to invest in and develop our training courses. One of the aspects of this is that we also want to be able to offer even more digitally. This includes developing subscription types, but also platforms so that people and companies can meet each other and we can initiate a continuous cycle of information exchange. And so there are many more interesting developments and challenges on our agenda, which, as always, we are working on and engaged with full of energy and enthusiasm.”
Lagant has been around for 30 years and is a well-known name in the field of change management. Take us back to 30 years ago, to the beginning of Lagant.
Jeroen Ykema: ''30 years ago, in 1991, we were founded by Messrs. Ad van den Akker and Piet Verpoorte. After Piet Verpoorte accepted a management position at a large international IT company three years later, Ad van Den Akker gave direction and guidance to Lagant in the role of general manager. He then quickly became accredited as a trainer for PRINCE2 and that is how Lagant started offering training.
From that moment on, the course has been set towards a combination of training courses and interim consultancy jobs. Looking further at the timeline, we therefore attach great importance to the fact that, in addition to providing training, our trainers also have practical experience. This, to master an optimal balance between theory and practice.
In the recent past, partly due to the financial crisis, you subsequently saw that this was changing; the number of consultancy and interim assignments decreased, while the number of training courses skyrocketed. As a result, Lagant has increasingly become a training agency, with at some point 90% of its turnover coming from training.
I myself joined as director in 2011 and one of the things I wanted to change is that there would be a healthier relationship, so that it would again move towards a more balanced balance. We then set to work hard on this and if I now look at the current situation, in terms of turnover we are at about 40% turnover from training and 60% from turnover from interim and consultancy services. This shows that a healthier balance has been created, which we would like to keep and continue that way, now and in the future.”
There are now more than 20 specialists that you call change guides. How was the road here?
Jeroen Ykema: ''About 5 years ago we saw a change in the market, in which we focused on the questions from our customers. What you saw was that in the questions we received, the emphasis was on change management in the broadest sense. The Agile method played an important role in this, with its increase in popularity.
And although we gave our first Agile training in 2006, it never really got beyond giving training. So we decided at the time to broaden our focus a bit, by focusing on change management in general. And that is where the term change guide originated. What we mean by this is guiding the way to creating a sustainable and lasting effect. We achieve this by having the changes carried out by the customer himself instead of taking the lead himself. This, so that the customer actually masters the process. We are therefore really active as, as the word implies, change guides.”
Over the past 30 years, things have certainly changed in the field of studying/teaching, working on a project basis and implementing changes in organizations. How has Lagant dealt with this?
Jeroen Ykema: ''First of all I have to say that the amount of changes is not that bad. For example, if you look at how people learn today compared to 30 years ago, there isn't much of a difference. For example, 3 types of students can still be distinguished, namely: auditory, visual and reading students.
However, what you have seen change is the fact that we have turned from mainly physical training sessions and the occasional virtual training, to now mainly provide virtual training and the occasional physical training. The change in this has of course been brought about, primarily, by the COVID360 pandemic and its impact and associated consequences within our branch.
Lagant wants to be in the top 3 when it comes to consultancy organizations in the field of Agile, Project, Project and Portfolio Management. How are you going to do that?
Jeroen Ykema: ''We have drawn up 2 principles for this, which we work with. The first is by putting the needs of customers and companies first. Offer a listening ear to the wishes of the target group and adjust your offer accordingly. This may have to do with the content, but also, for example, with the visibility of Lagant.
The other principle is our desire to grow as a provider. We need even more people to achieve this, so we're really looking for what we call the craftsmen. The people who really go for the profession, they also fit very well with Lagant. In addition, we have the explicit goal of sharing our internal knowledge with the outside world. We want to achieve this by expanding and communicating our digital knowledge base.”
What does it mean to be a change guide? And what does it mean for a company to have a good change guide?
Jeroen Ykema: ''The perfect change guide is someone who can bring along a healthy degree of self-confidence and who can also convey it to the customer. This is of great importance when including and certainly also activating the customer in the process. And for us this often comes from mastering the professional knowledge down to the last detail. Hence the term craft idiots. It is very important to us that you simply have the knowledge of the profession.
What characterizes a change guide is his excellent communication skills and thinking along with the customer, but also the courage to tell the customer the truth if necessary. And this is certainly not always easy, but it is ultimately our job to bring the message honestly. Ultimately, the customer benefits the most from this and the desired result can be achieved in this way as efficiently and effectively as possible. So the intention to really help the customer is woven into a good change guide."
What are the future plans for Lagant?
Jeroen Ykema: ''We plan to make a big step in our growth, so we are actively working on this right now. After all, we aspire to growth, in all areas. In this way we continue to invest in and develop our training courses. One of the aspects of this is that we also want to be able to offer even more digitally. This includes developing subscription types, but also platforms so that people and companies can meet each other and we can initiate a continuous cycle of information exchange. And so there are many more interesting developments and challenges on our agenda, which, as always, we are working on and engaged with full of energy and enthusiasm.”
It is our mission to help customers get their change ambitions to come true.
Our location in Amersfoort is located directly opposite the main entrance of the NS station and is therefore easily accessible by public transport.
If you come by car, it is best to park at the Q-Park P+R Barchman Wuytierslaan, approximately a 5-minute walk from our office.
