Mzungu in Kasungu

Mzungu in Kasungu
Daniella in Kasungu

Monday 8 November 2010

Field staff training

I’ve been back in a hot November Malawi for a week now, fitting in meetings with management and visiting branches and groups. It’s very nice to be back, to catch up with everyone, and meet a number of new staff at the head office. Chikonzero (SPM officer), Julius (Operations Manager), the Regional Managers and Senior Branch Managers have been planning our three regional workshops, which all Loan Officers and Branch Managers will be attending over the course of this month. The purpose of these is to ensure that the main messages of the SPM workshop in July are trickling down to field level, and give the field staff tangible tools for putting these changes into place.

For example, we’ll be talking about making sure client groups screen themselves carefully, loans are the appropriate size to the business and savings are made regularly and not in a lump sum. We’ll have on hand three of our star MicroLoan trainers who are helping to facilitate the workshop, and will share their best practice for training clients using games, songs and role play. Our first workshop is taking place in the Southern Region this week.

Whilst in the south, we’ll also check to see how the piloting of the new products aimed at reaching the poorest (smaller loans with no initial savings required) and in response to client requests for longer repayment intervals (3-weekly rather than fortnightly repayments) are faring.

More updates to follow once we’ve been in the field!