What I am known for!
February 2, 2015 @ 7:30 am
“You’re the trainer who insists we take a lunch break”. I was delighted to be greeted by this in the introduction to one of my recent courses. Yes I hope I am known as the trainer who insists on self care. My passion is quality of services available to those who need them and equally passionately I believe that having a workforce that values and cares about itself is an essential ingredient for good quality services and compassionate care.
When I qualified 25 years ago that was enshrined in the practices of social work. Sadly it’s no longer the case. There seem to be expectations that everyone works longer than their contracted hours unless you leave to continue looking after others; children and vulnerable adults. The boundaries around training and leave were kept. Other people managed your absence rather than contacting you and expecting you to respond when you were out of the office.
It seems as if the priority for action has become the system rather than those expecting a service whether that’s a child, vulnerable adult or family member. Casualties in the process also have been the children of the workforce who come very low down organisational priorities and the workforce in terms of their own personal and professional development. Recognising limits to capacity or asserting the needs of others that workers have responsibilities to are seen as weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
No wonder we’re a long way from being able to provide compassionate care to the most vulnerable in our society.
These patterns occur in many professions. Long hours and devotion to work are seen as essential criteria. Rather than living balanced and compassionate lives connected to families, friends and our communities. As we examine how the wealthy live perhaps these values are coming under scrutiny.
So I am pleased that I can unite with other Renew You trainers to buck this trend and offer women safe, nurturing spaces to develop their potential. It is a prerequisite of my Renew You course that lunch, as well as the time to eat it in, is provided.
Welcome to Pendrew blog
January 5, 2015 @ 4:45 pm
The Pendrew blog is a way of communicating my thoughts and sharing them with those interested. You’ll see from the other web pages that I am a trainer interested in many aspects of personal and professional development.
Although my background is in social work and training in social and health care, there are parallels with the business world in providing attentive and responsive customer care. Resourcing yourself is an important part of providing compassionate care whether professionally or in personal roles of caring for or parenting others.The blog is a method of sharing my thoughts and ideas around these themes; recognising the importance of valuing yourself can get lost in a busy working life. Training is one way of taking time to reflect on your priorities in your life and whether you are doing the job you wish to, as well as you can.You’ll find details of my public courses on the Renew You page of the website and my contact details are available should you wish to commission bespoke training with me.
