Transcript

I would recommend working for Oxfordshire.

The support within my role has been absolutely amazing, and my team are very very supportive any problems I have, you know, we have Teams groups, we have peer support sessions, 1– 2–1’s, supervisions and group supervisions.

I love supporting my teams, and one of the things that I’m really aware of is our very clear access to Senior Managers.

Even the higher up people are always available to answer your emails, or to answer your questions and to remind you that you are valued.

Everybody’s supportive.

It can be challenging but you know that there’s lots of people to rally around you and help you.

There are numerous resources online as well, documents and policies and information case studies that we can refer to.

I do feel like I have had that wrap around support and that I haven’t been thrown in at the deep end and that there is always someone there that I can go to and say that I am overwhelmed, and I’ve always felt that listened to in that.

It’s definitely encouraged that you prioritise your own time and your own self care and not just the people that you are supporting.

Developed from a newly qualified through to an assistant team manager at Oxfordshire County Council.

It’s a place where you get given opportunities, it’s a place where people invest in you.

I think it’s a chance to do a lot of good, there’s a lot of room for impacting the people that we serve

Onboarding is a really big part of people starting and if you get it right people really feel valued so that’s something that I take really seriously. We spend a lot of time planning what that persons first few weeks are gonna look like in terms of a bespoke timetable depending on what they need in terms of shadowing and support, we ensure that you have got a buddy in your team so that when you join you’ve got somebody that you can always go to, to ask all of those silly questions that you might feel embarrassed to ask your manager. You’ll have loads of one to one supervision time and that’s informal and formal just to make sure that anything comes up you’ve got covered.

Oxfordshire’s capacity to listen to their workers, listen to their teams and understand what we need in terms of support and to look at how that is offered sets it apart from other local authorities. I’ve received lots of training, lots of opportunities to go and do lots of training I’m currently with support from the County I’m doing my Masters in Psychology.

We do have to work really hard for our families but when we are off, we are off and so really trying to be as productive while you’re at work while obviously having a good time as well and chatting and having tea breaks and everything, but then when you go home and you have annual leave you really switch off and everybody’s quite hot on each other about switching off in the evenings, weekends and annual leave.

It definitely can be challenging, and some days can be more challenging than others. Something that I really enjoy about my team is that there is always somebody to kind of check in with, or somebody to support you on those really challenging days so you know if something is harder or you are struggling that there is always somebody to go to for a bit of advice or you know who will just check in on you and that’s something that I really enjoy about my team, because when you’ve worked really hard with something and you see the families that you are working with working really hard as well then to come out of it the other side and overcome those challenges can be really really positive for you and for the families.