Allison Lawton: YES a great programme for youth

Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) is based on experiential learning for high school students and takes them through the knowledge and skill sets required to run a company. Photo/Getty

This week the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) was officially launched in Rotorua, and what a fantastic concept of learning this is.

The programme is based on experiential learning for high school students and takes them through the knowledge and skill sets required to run a company.

The journey starts at the company formation, leading through to setting up and running a real business.

Young people learn how to develop their own product or service and take it to the market. This includes developing a business plan and understanding the financials.

The students are put into competitive situations and learn the skills of persuasion, teamwork, governance, and decision-making.

Finally, they learn how to reflect, assess their performance, and importantly how to improve their business going forward.

Oh, how I would have loved to have had the opportunity to be involved in the YES scheme when I was at school.

I am sure by now I would be retired, living the life of a millionaire in some exotic location. But sadly, no. For many of us we have learnt our skills and knowledge on the job, and perhaps some of us are fortunate to have a qualification.

So how can we reap the benefits of the YES scheme while working in our businesses?

At the Chamber we are developing a model which we hope will allow people to engage and easily identify what type of skill, knowledge, and/or inspiration they need to inject enthusiasm into their business.

Ultimately I believe high energy leads to a positive work environment, leading to better financial results and a more balanced lifestyle. Broadly the model will outline four levels of thinking starting at the base level of building knowledge: get inspired, find out what you don't know and get excited about it.

The second level is applying knowledge both technical and soft skills, it includes customer service, budgets, how to use business applications, etc. The third level is analysing and assessing: how to develop a business plan, what are KPIs, people management, HR legislation.

The fourth level is at the governance, senior leadership level: how do we govern effectively? What is happening globally and how will this impact our business?

We are working on this model and developing supporting workshops, seminars and programmes which will be launched soon.

Allison Lawton is the interim chief executive for the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce.