Ask the expert: Save cash before opting for study

By MARIE WILSON*

Q. I'm 57 years of age. I have a business diploma but now I'm working myself out of the business industry. I am keen to do a Maori counselling course for two years but it would mean going back on to the widow's benefit, which is $216 a week. I would also need to take out a student loan.

I feel that I can do counselling-type work until I'm 80, so to speak. Am I best to go for broke now, or continue my present employment, which is financially stable but has only a two-year lifespan left?

A. It's not clear to me that your existing qualifications and business experience could suddenly become defunct (with such certainty) in two years.

This is more in Mary Holmes' territory, but it seems to me a financially stable income for the next two years is pretty attractive, and jobs are increasingly hard to come by in our 50s and 60s, so I would feel very uncomfortable suggesting you quit to go on benefit and study at this stage.

If you are right and your job does come to an end in two years' time, and then want to study, you'll have had two years to pay off bills and build up some financial reserves (not your only ones I hope).

I assume that you have already thoroughly checked out what the employment prospects are for the diploma you are planning, and are very confident that you will be able to find employment as a very mature, Maori counsellor in four years' time.

You are probably already aware that it's very difficult to get a return on investment for education later in life, so you, like many others, must be pursuing this out of genuine interest and passion for the field.

I hope you enjoy this career change, but I would definitely advise finishing out what you are doing - and earning - before taking such a step.

Q. I have a problem in one of my branches - the staff are very unhappy with the management style of their manager. Is there a survey I could send to all staff asking them for feedback on how they thought the branch was running, how things could be improved etc?

A. Yes, you can send out a survey to all staff, but there isn't one that's "off the shelf" and you will have to follow it up.

You should probably send it to all branches as well, not just the troublesome one, and you'll need to assure confidentiality. You can use something quite simple, just a few questions, with open space to write responses and a postage paid envelope to send it back in.

You can make it quite detailed or keep it simple, with open ended questions, such as: What does the company do really well? What does the company need to do to improve? What three things would you most like to change in your branch? What three things would you like to keep the same in your branch? Ensure that the feedback is confidential (so that you'll get frank responses) and have a third party summarise it for the company and each branch.

To be really effective, you'll need to report back to all the staff on the results and what you intend to do about it (or they'll wonder why you bothered to ask). Then follow through with required actions, including coaching the managers involved who need assistance in the development of their skills.

Alternatively, you could ask for feedback about all your managers, either in a similar format or in a formal 360 degree review, but this needs some time to be fully integrated into performance management.

Ideally, you would like a good overview of the effects of the manager, as well as other problems, and be able to respond holistically, rather than just jumping in there.

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