We pride ourselves on our amazing staff here at Zest and love to acknowledge their hard efforts and dedication. his month’s ‘In The Spotlight’ piece is all about our People Engagement Officer for The Hunter branch of Zest, James. Over the last year James has used his expertise to recruit support workers for Zest to ensure the company continues to grow.
What is your job role?
My role title is the People Engagement Officer for the Hunter branch of the business. I’m a bit of an all rounder in terms of my duties; most of my role is the recruitment of Support Workers who work with our clients. I also assist in rostering a couple of days a week and act as the main point of contact for clients, support workers and other businesses in relation to the Hunter office.
How long have you worked with Zest Care?
I started with Zest Care at the end of November last year, so I have been with the company for almost 8 months now. I initially started in the Sydney office as a Recruitment Officer and relocated to the Hunter office 3 months ago.
What does a typical work day look like for you?
It really depends on the day – each one can be vastly different. If there isn’t a lot of rostering support to look into, I will focus on screening new potential support workers. Otherwise, I will help fill any vacant services we have for the week or chat with clients or their coordinators about various things. Between all of that, I will run inductions and interviews and help out wherever else I can.
What do you love about your job?
I love the flexibility to run my day the way I see fit. There is a lot of trust from my management team that I can handle my role in my own way. It makes it easier to get everything done and it means a lot to have that trust. I also really like that no two days are the same. You never know what to expect when you come in for the day.
Thinking about your role, how do Zest Care go the extra mile?
Working from a satellite office can be hard at times, but the team down in Sydney try their best to make sure I know I am part of the team. They reach out all the time to make sure I am doing alright and let me come down to work from Sydney every now and then to catch up with everyone in person.
How do you self-care to avoid taking your work home with you?
This was definitely something I struggled with initially, but now I am much better at switching off. I make sure that everyone knows to contact the Sydney office outside of business hours and I switch my phone off when I am not at work now. I just have to always remind myself to focus on myself when I am not at work.
When you have 30 minutes of free time, how do you pass the time?
If I have 30 minutes I will generally watch some Netflix or play some video games. If I have a little more time, I will go to do some training at my karate club or go for a walk.
Your message for the team
Thanks to the entire team for a great 8 months. A lot has changed in that time, and I am very excited to see where the team and business will be in another 8 months.