What makes a good Support Worker?
As a Service Provider, not only is it our duty, but it is our passion to create a safe and exciting work environment for all new staff who join our team and provide them with opportunities and support as they embark on their journey of becoming a Support Worker.
We as Support Workers are invited into the deeply personal and private lives of individuals and their families, which isn’t something that we take for granted here at CFN. We don’t pretend to understand, but we do appreciate that it can be a difficult journey made up of good and bad days. We believe that it is our job to live up to the title of Support – Worker. To do this, we needed to look beyond ourselves and experiences to engage the expertise and lived experience of the families and individuals we support, for they know firsthand what support should look like.
So we put the question to some of our CFN participants and encouraged them to answer us honestly – ‘What makes a good Support Worker?’
This one question opened up a whole range of discussion between the people participating and many felt comfortable to share some of their personal experiences over the years (both good and bad) within the group.
Some of the common words used to describe a good Support Worker amongst the group were:-
* Honest
* Compassionate
* Reliable
* Empathetic
* Fun
* Supportive
* Caring
Many members stated that it was important for them to feel valued as a human being whilst being supported, and not to feel like it was just a ‘chore’ to be around them.
Several of the group mentioned that the best thing a Support Worker could do, was support them in doing what THEY wanted to do and not what the Support Worker wanted to do or what society deemed they should be doing.
Others agreed that they loved just having Support Workers around who could put a smile on their face and encourage them to live their best lives.
The honesty and passion around the room whilst discussing this topic was just brilliant and exactly what we were hoping it would spark up amongst the group. They gave us so many answers and more!
At CFN, we also feel it is important to offer our participants the opportunity to sit in on our employee training workshops and share their experiences and advice with new support staff.
We believe it is significant for new staff to hear the lived experience and personal input of those we support in their training and to appreciate that this is the essence of CFN and what we are all about – an inclusive and diverse environment where everybody is valued and important.
If you think you have what it takes to be a good Support Worker, feel free to follow the steps on our website, to apply for any upcoming positions and begin your journey as a Support Worker.
Apply within – we hope to hear from you!