Is There Career Progression as a Disability Support Worker? (At Enriched Care There Is!)
So, you’re a seasoned Disability Support Worker with experience, skills and certifications under your belt. You love working with participants each day in your role but feel like you have more to offer. You often find yourself wondering;
“How can I implement my ideas for process improvement when attending the local pool with a participant, across their whole team?”
Or
“How can I make sure my unique perspectives on the daily needs of my participants are utilised?
Or
“I wish I could use my skills to train my team in effective communication with nominees and family members?
Maybe you’re just about to enter the disability support services industry, but don’t know what a lifelong career in disability support could even look like.
The introduction of the NDIS has allowed the disability support services industry to grow and flourish in many ways. This includes rightfully enabling disability support workers to be seen as valued professionals in their field.
Enriched Care Solutions highly values their disability support workers’ knowledge, skills and experience. In 2021, Enriched Care introduced the roles of ‘Senior Support Worker’ and ‘Care Coordinator’ to provide avenues for the professional development of their staff. This has exponentially improved the quality of care we give to our participants and their families, as the people in these positions all started ‘on-the-floor’, working day in, day out with our amazing participants.
We recently sat down with our two Care Coordinators to talk about their experiences at Enriched Care that led to their promotion into their role.
Enriched Care (EC): Thanks for sitting down with us today! What are your names and how long have you been working for Enriched Care?
Sheree: Hi, I’m Sheree and I have been lucky enough to work for Enriched Care for just over four years now.
Carlos: Hi, I’m Carlos. I’ve been working at Enriched Care for nine years now.
EC: What do you do for fun outside of work?
Sheree: I love to read, I love going to the beach, relaxing, and having time with my family.
Carlos: For fun I enjoy playing football (known as ‘soccer’ here in Australia), I also enjoy playing tennis, going to the gym, and cooking good food.
EC: What did you enjoy most about starting out at Enriched Care as a Disability Support Worker?
Sheree: What I really enjoyed most was that every day was different. Every participant is unique with their own needs, their wants, and the goals they would love to achieve. I liked the flexibility of being able to use different skills in each shift. Whether it was encouraging someone to learn how to make a cup of tea, to go to a store they’ve never been to before, to play basketball, have new experiences, or do a little bit of cooking. It’s those little things that make a participant shine from the inside, and that’s so rewarding.
Carlos: I echo Sheree’s words about the importance of a support worker being able to help a participant empower themselves. Being able to help them achieve their goals through their own learning and to reach their own milestones, no matter how long it takes them to achieve it. The important part is in the process of achieving something, and you as a support worker get to join them in that, empowering them every step of the way.
EC: What does a week look like for you as a Care Coordinator?
Sheree: Carlos, you and I both know our week can start off with a beautiful plan, then there’s one phone call and the whole day can turn on its ear! One of the great things about being a Care Coordinator at Enriched Care Solutions is that we learn to flex and bend…
Carlos: …. Unpredictability! Surprise! …
Sheree: … (Laughs) Absolutely! And I think that’s where we actually show our best selves, when we’re under the pump and when things pop up out of the box. Our duties range from writing reports, to investigating forms…
Carlos: … to liaising with staff, and participants, and their families…
Sheree: … that’s right! And let’s not forget all the specialist appointments (OTs, speech)…
Carlos: … unscheduled hospital visits! Don’t forget that one…
Sheree: … you’re so right! But do you know what I love most about our role?
Carlos: That you get to work with me?
Sheree: Oh, of course! But also, that we get to empower, encourage and support not just our participants, but our staff.
Carlos: So true.
EC: What would you say to a support worker who’s looking for career progression?
Sheree: At Enriched Care Solutions, career progression is something we encourage. I am thrilled to be able to say that our entire Client Services team is built of Care Coordinators and Senior Support workers that have been long term employees of this company. We all ‘worked the floor’ as support workers for a number of years, and we have stepped up. Honestly, I only know of a few other NDIS disability support service providers who offer that opportunity.
I know why I started working in this business; and that’s because of why it was originally started. It was a business started by a family full of love, who wanted to give extra support to those in the community who needed it. As the company now grows, it still has those values; heart values of encouraging dreams, building connections, and creating solutions. I don’t think we’re ever going to lose those values, no matter how big we get…
Carlos: … no, I don’t think we will! They are the same values which I was encouraged to display when I was a support worker, and still do now. These values helped me to further my career by stepping into a position that helps me to live those values in a continual way.
If you have these values and that passion, you’ll naturally step up, step-by-step into each role that the business offers.
Sheree: That’s right. One of the awesome things about Enriched Care Solutions is that we offer further training for our staff. Whether you want to do your Certificate II, Certificate III, Certificate IV, your Diploma… man, I’m just really impressed by what we offer. And we encourage anyone to step forward or step up. Expand yourself, we promise you’ll love it!
Thanks Sheree and Carlos for sharing your career learnings. If you’ve read this blog and want to further or start your own disability support career here at Enriched, why not get in touch today?