So! You’ve found your niche; you thrive in a role where you are supporting people living with disability to navigate day-to-day life. While your job is incredibly rewarding, your skillset leaves you wanting more. Or perhaps, your lifestyle and personal circumstances better suit a hybrid work position with maximum flexibility. Whatever the case, stepping into Support Coordination from Support Work is quite common and can be a natural progression!
Case study: OnSide Support Worker Sally*
Let’s take Sally*. Sally has been many things in the past; from a barista, postie, account manager and even a miner, before becoming (and thriving as!) an NDIS Support Worker. After all – what could be more fulfilling than assisting people to live their best lives? *(Sally is based on a real-life OnSide employee.)
*OnSide NDIS Support Coordination joins the chat*
As a Support Worker, Sally was thrilled to be in a role where she supports a small group of people. As a real people person, Sally loved going shopping with the people she works for and joining forces to make a yummy meal or heading to the local cafe for a coffee.
OnSide Academy – A Stepping Stone to Furthering Customer Relationships
A close friend highlighted how Sally’s unique skills and attributes were an ideal match for making the transition into a Support Coordination role. Interested to find out more, Sally attended the NDIS OnSide Academy’s ‘Intro into Support Coordination’ course, to learn more about the role from current OnSide Support Coordinators. If she’s going to embark on this role, best to be supported by the team at OnSide!
Support Worker vs Support Coordinator – What’s the Difference?
As a support worker, Sally was there to ensure her customers were getting specific supports like access to their relevant and necessary appointments. Let’s use an analogy:
If Support Work is an orchestra, Support Coordination is the conductor.
Each instrument provides its own unique purpose and quality as it follows the sheet music. In this analogy, you are the sheet music, and the conductor out the front, ensuring everything is timed correctly, on the same page, and working together succinctly? The Support Coordinator!
Each instrument represents a Support Worker, and each section of the orchestra represents different support services you need to access. Wind? Is community access. Brass? Medical appointments! Percussion? Personal Care – you get the picture!
Alone, each section is effective for its purpose; but when all sections play at once? THIS facilitates success, accurately reading your song and ensuring each individual AND section starts on the right page, in the right book – and on time!
Support Work, but MORE
Sally’s favourite parts of Support Work are largely customer-centric. Accompanying her customers back into the world of face-to-face meetings and in-home visits post Covid has been mutually beneficial for both Sally and her customers. Sally’s nature is well-suited to such an engaging job.
Not one to judge and an out-of-the-box thinker, Sally’s problem-solving skills and creativity know no bounds. Her ability to treat each person with dignity and humility while supporting their autonomy and individuality is what made her such a valued Support Worker.
Same same – but ELEVATED
Being an OnSide Support Coordinator allows a big picture view of her customers progress, and Sally works with – not for – each and every one. The appeal of a role that allows a longer, more fulfilling relationship with her customers is a big win in Sally’s books. There is nothing more rewarding than really listening to her customers’ unique needs and goals, and engaging the supports and services that work toward those goals.
Are you someone like Sally: a compassionate, reliable, respectful and kind person who thinks creatively, thrives in a case-worker style role and is a natural problem solver?
Get in touch with us to find out if OnSide NDIS Support Coordination could be your next fulfilling career step.
Sign up here to attend our next NDIS Onside Academy course, where real and experienced Support Coordinators will be on-hand to answer any questions you may have.