Our People Are Over There
31st May, 2009 | 10:52 am | By Graham Crombie - Audit and Assurance Services, Partner and Chief Executive

I wrote my last blog while sitting on an Air NZ 777 over Russia heading for the UK.  Since then I have spent a week in London and arrived back in New Zealand.  I had a great week from a business point of view which I will talk about in another posting.

One of the things we try and do each time one of us is in the UK is set up a reunion of Polson Higgs staff currently based in London.  I was lucky enough to get one of these together last week.  We spent a great evening on a boat on the Thames kitted out as a bar.  The early summer was coming in London and it was a great chance to catch up and have a couple of quiets. 

The staff there have been in the UK ranging from nine years to three months.  There is a great tradition in the accountancy profession that people head off on their OE after qualifying as a member of the Institute. This is generally three or four years after university.

What was really impressive was how they had all built on their start with Polson Higgs and are doing what they want to do.  Some are using London as a base to travel and earn money.  Others are gaining great work experience that will set them up anywhere in the world.  Others are using the experience just to suck up a new country and some, of course, have fallen for a local.

One of the things I hear often from our New Zealand based leaders is that we need to get these people to come back to New Zealand and help the country progress.  I was fortunate enough last year in my role as president of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants to meet many of our members overseas as well as a number of our overseas based diplomats.  An interesting message kept coming back from these people.  They all had really strong ties to the country, be that family, work or simply that kiwi thing that swells up when you hear a haka or see a silver fern when you are travelling.  Almost all of them however believed that they would not end up, during their business careers, working in New Zealand.  This was based around opportunity, personal development and earning potential.  Most however indicated that they want to return to New Zealand later in life.

The diplomats had taken a very pragmatic approach.  Many New Zealanders, including the Polson Higgs alumni, had worked their way into influential positions.  The key was to use these relationships to assist our New Zealand based business, not ask these people to return home. 

Do our staff based in the UK know what is happening at home – absolutely!  With Facebook, Bebo etc they are in constant contact with our current staff as to what’s happening in the firm.  In fact, they knew more about what was happening in relationships than I did!  With the ODT online and emails from family they also have a great knowledge of what is going on in the community. 

It was great to see the development of all these people.  We need to keep thinking how we can benefit from the relationships they are developing. 

Thank you to the team for the hospitality – my shopping was a little slow the next day!

You can contact me at graham.crombie@ph.co.nz

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Last updated: 8th June, 2009 | 12:40 pm