Helping Hand for Samoa Business

The culture of teamwork that is inherent in village life in Pacific nations has shown through strongly in training programmes run by Polson Higgs staff in Western Samoa. The week-long courses are funded by NZAid and AUSAid. A range of subjects are offered with four Dunedin-based Polson Higgs staff winning the tenders to run programmes covering accounting, tax and leadership development. Participants are drawn from Government departments, businesses and not-for-profit

Participants in a course run by Polson Higgs staff get down to business in Apia.

organisations, Training Manager Kim Charteris-Wright says she has been pleasantly surprised at the number of university degrees and MBAs among the people attending. "Many of the tertiary qualifications were gained overseas," says Kim. "People either gained scholarships from NZAid and AUSAid for their tertiary education overseas or would take their families with them and rely on their own villages for financial support while they were away studying so they were much more appreciative of the opportunities they received and showed a great deal of commitment to what we could offer. "During my sessions I've noticed the more practical and hands-on the training programmes are, the more participants gained from the learning. Cultures that arestill living very practically appear to thrive on the experiential focus of our training programmes. "They tend to be very interactive within their communities with decisions being made collectively within the village. This enabled them to be extremely comfortable when it comes to working as a team, in contrast to New Zealand where we often are prone to working in isolation." While the training is classroom based, there are also opportunities for one-on-one coaching sessions in the workplace. Kim says the Samoan visits provide an opportunity for Polson Higgs to further broaden their cultural awareness and understanding as an organisation, responding to a growing culturally diverse staff and client base. Other staff within Polson Higgs who have taken part in the Samoan ICTP Training Programme are Partner Phil Broughton, PJ Bardsley from the Business Consulting Group and Associate Carole Greer, Assurance Services.

<< Back to Client Stories

Last updated: 4th June 2009 | 9:29 am