Building a global wine brand is a big focus for Craig Lindsay, National Winery Operations Manager for Delegat Ltd. Based in Glendene, the winery is an integral part of the business where products are prepared and distributed. But along with grapes, Craig is clear that investing in staff is a key ingredient that he must nurture.
Off the back of COVID and escalating living costs, Craig knew that workers were struggling with personal finances. After receiving a leaflet promoting Project Ikuna and its Future Ready: Money Confidence course and learning about the programme through Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, Craig saw the opportunity to help staff.
Taking the idea to the Delegat Wellbeing Committee (made up of workers), Craig received an overwhelming endorsement from them to organise the course.
Long-term workers Kirisome and Ngapoko recently completed the Future Ready: Money Confidence course and can’t stop smiling. For both of them, their lives have been changed significantly and they are doing their best to encourage others to enrol.
Both Kirisome and Ngapoko can laugh now about their relationship with money, but it wasn’t always something that bought smiles to their face. ”Coming from the islands, I didn’t have the best understanding of money. It would come into my account and disappear all on the same day” says Poko. Kirisome says “I’ve never had a good relationship with money, so when the course came up, I jumped at the opportunity”.
Kirisome now recognises the stress money brought to his life with restless and broken sleep. This is now a thing of the past with the skills he has developed.
Learning from the tutors and workmates, Kirisome realised that everyone has challenges with money, just that some are better at handling it.
For Ngapoko, the course helped her learn about avoiding debt. “I’m bad at spending money and the course helped me realise how bad I was,” she says. Unlocking the ability to save has been life-changing for Ngapoko.
Working with education provider Upskills, Craig was able to accommodate workers on different shifts “This tutor delivered one course at 8pm, so our night shift workers could start once it finished at 10pm,” says Craig. This flexibility was much appreciated.
Even when confronted with a lockdown, the Upskills team was able to adapt the programme to ensure participants didn’t miss any lessons.
“The tutors were great. What they delivered and how they delivered really worked for us,” says Kirisome.
Prior to the start of the course, the tutors organised individual sessions with interested participants. “This allowed them to break the ice with staff and understand how ready our people were not only with the content, but with the idea of getting back into a classroom,” says Craig, adding “for many, the thought of training was daunting as it had been a long time since they were in one”.
For Ngapoko and Kirisome, their ability to save and increase confidence around money has been a turning point. Ngapoko is proud that her last trip back to the islands was a result of her saving and not taking out a loan and having to deal with debt.
Craig says the impact on staff has been overwhelming.
He goes on to add: “We know that it will help them manage their money better and lead them towards better living situations, which can only be good for our workplace”.
“This course has been built and designed for Pacific people, so they can step into the classroom and feel comfortable with the learning environment which will help them be confident to learn,” says Craig for any employers thinking about enrolling.
“The Money Confidence course is a great opportunity that allowed us to cater for the diverse needs of the workforce,” he adds.
Knowing the challenges of the labour market, Craig encourages other employers to see the training as an opportunity to empower and support staff with their wellbeing, but for a company to have a more engaged workforce.
The Future Ready: Money Confidence course that made such an impact at Delegat Limited is part of Project Ikuna, a four-year MBIE-funded programme designed to help upskill Auckland’s Pacific workforce. It’s aimed at giving people the skills and knowledge they need to adapt to the future of work.