A Bermudian consulting firm has teamed up with KPMG in Turks and Caicos to take advantage of the multi-million dollar Caribbean market opening up in the specialised human resources sector.

Creative Consulting has gone into a partnership with the firm of accountants in Turks and Caicos islands which will offer its services to the 80 islands in the area.

Jack Harris, president of Creative Consulting said: "It is a wonderful opportunity. We will work through the Caribbean at first, and then hope to go global in the future.'' The partnership will offer to companies the services normally provided by a personnel or human resources department, concentrating on the hiring, firing and training and development of staff.

"The global trend is to out source training and development,'' said Mr.

Harris. "Out sourcing has in many cases increased the quality and reduced the overall investment. And a survey of Fortune 500 companies revealed that training is the best overall initiative and stimulant to empower successful work forces.'' And many accounting firms are diversifying, shifting from auditing to counselling, a trend which KPMG in Turks and Caicos islands seems to be following.

Mr. Harris has taken on a senior member of staff to head up the Caribbean operation in the Turks and Caicos.

Training firm expands The new manager will soon be jetting between islands providing specially tailored services to companies.

Mr. Harris said: "The average cost of maintaining a single professional training provider is in excess of $105,000 per annum and often severely limits the overall versatility of the training plan.

"Due to this cost many companies settle for second best or generic training instead of training directed at the specific needs and goals of the company.'' During Creative Consulting's research, the company had 600 face-to-face interviews and gathered research done by global training providers.

What the company found was that local culture and traditions were normally ignored by imported trainers, who did not take into account issues which are vital in the areas such as race or religion.

"For instance, in religious communities you may find that talking about husband and wife might be offensive, and you should talk about partners.

"Issues like race, rights and confidentiality are very important on many islands. What might be highly effective in London may not be in Bermuda, and this has to be recognised. What we have done is utilised the local knowledge we have of the Caribbean and put it to good use.'' He added: "We found that the most efficient and economically effective way to train and develop human capital resources is with an annual training plan.

This ensures overall continuity of training needs and focus to maximise business and personal development.'' Jack Harris