Pumpkin Patch - Employee Perspective

The client

Pumpkin Patch designs and retails its own brand of children's wear. It is a New Zealand success story employing more than 3,000 people. It has over 200 stores in four countries along with wholesale operations in 14 countries. The warehouse, based in East Tamaki, has 400 employees and over two years, 60 were involved in workplace literacy and numeracy training.

Although the literacy and numeracy training was introduced by Pumpkin Patch management, the employees also gained at a personal level. For some, this meant the confidence to gain promotion within the company. For others, it meant they could take the skills home to help their family.

Denise Henry, Back-Up Team Supervisor

Denise struggled with the assertiveness she needed to take on a more responsible role. The training enabled her to take on a role that involves delegating work flow for teams of up to 25 people. Training helped Denise:

• Give instructions to others, read body language and make herself understood
• Understand the cultural differences between workers and how they work differently
• Have the confidence to deal with large groups of employees
• Overcome her dyslexia so she can check warehouse information

Itirangi Daniel, Store Person

Itirangi hardly ever wrote before her training and, in a similar way, she had forgotten what she learned about maths at school. Like the other participants, maths was a core element in her training. After the training, Itirangi found she could:

• Calculate fractions and percentages for stock numbers
• Increase the accuracy of calculations she had to do in her work
• Help her family with their maths at home

Joey Jim, Wholesale Logistics Coordinator

Joey wanted to move into an office role from her warehouse position, but lacked the confidence to apply. Training helped Joey address her fear of speaking in front of others, which she had to master for the job interview. From the training, Joey learned how to:

• Demonstrate her abilities and her work skills
• Be confident and enthusiastic about learning new skills and gaining responsibilities.