Building a Working Relationship
Employer profile: Christine Humphreys at Allied Building Services. Christine is a supervisor for Allied Building Services, who specialise in commercial cleaning services across Wellington. They are mainly contracted to offices and factories to provide staff for regular cleaning services. Christine began working for them 11 years ago and now has a team of staff employed at locations across the region, and is also in charge of recruitment. Many of her team have some form of physical or intellectual disabilities or mental health issues. She began hiring workers with disabilities after becoming aware of their valuable skills in the workplace including good commitment, loyalty and reliability. She feels their business has benefitted by having a reliable workforce, who are always enthusiastic about their work. This has ongoing benefits by encouraging other employers to take on someone with a disability, removing stigmas and building better relationships within the wider community. Employment is vital for people with disabilities as it allows individuals to gain valuable confidence and skills, which many go on to use in other jobs. Christine makes an effort to understand her staff as individuals, what their dreams and aspirations are, as well as supporting them with outside aspects that may have an impact on their work such as medical or social issues. She also believes that there is never a dull moment and has had nothing but positive comments about the work her staff do.
Christine and Rueben from Allied Building Services
One of Christine’s staff members is Reuben Wilson, who was recruited through Emerge Supported Employment Trust. He is working three days a week at an engineering company based north of Wellington city. He works alongside another Allied staff member, cleaning the offices. Christine believes Reuben has come a long way and with small supports in place to help him understand his job, he has proved to be a reliable and thorough worker. In the future, she would like to see more employers providing work for people with disabilities as they have a need and right to be out their working, as well as the numerous reciprocal benefits it brings “If employers put time and effort in, they will get good results and it will benefit everyone”
