Meet Win

“I joined the Trust in April 1998 as a Training and Placement Officer on a Work and Independence project, predominately working with individuals with learning disabilities, sourcing training and work placement opportunities.

I’m now the Area Client Services Manager for the Merseyside team delivering the New Deal for Disabled People contract. Its aim is to support disabled or disadvantaged people on health related benefits into sustainable employment. As challenges go, this is a big one.

My work

Each adviser has a large caseload and each client requires a detailed action plan specific to their personal goals, barriers and career aspirations, in order to start their journey towards becoming truly ‘job ready’. The Personal Development Adviser will support the client with identifying their career goals, interview techniques, CV writing and any training required. This process can take up to several months. Once this is completed the client is introduced to the Employment Consultant who begins the intense job searching and job matching so that the client can gain sustainable employment. When a client gets a job after being long term unemployed the whole team celebrates.

What is my role in all of this? I manage the day to day organisation of it all. With a a busy team working across two sites, supporting on average over four hundred clients, things are never dull and no two days are ever the same.

I believe the qualities required for my role are:

broad shoulders
a clear head
a very flexible approach
a good sense of humour.

Juggling priorities can be a challenge on a daily basis. It is the constant variety of my role that I enjoy the most. On any given day I can be talking to clients who have financial concerns regarding entering employment, or addressing HR issues with staff in the morning and then in the afternoon attending a meeting with Senior Managers from partner organisations discussing contract compliance.

Personal development

Shaw Trust is the best employer I have ever worked for, it really invests in its people. It gives its employees the opportunity to expand and grow within their roles, and also develop skills for their future careers within the Trust. Recently I was given the opportunity to apply for the Executive Leadership Development Programme, and I was thrilled to be accepted. This programme is a Post Graduate course accredited by Middlesex University, designed specifically to develop the skills the Trust look for in their future leaders. This is just one of the many wonderful opportunities that have been open to me since I joined the Trust.

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