Jim – Staff Update
Hi all,
Sorry for the delay in this update post. Julia-Grace has constantly reminded me its my turn to write one but I always seem to find something else crops up.
I am lucky enough to spend a lot of my time in the workroom where we work on supporting each other to develop our work skills while completing jobs we have received from local businesses. We receive work from a variety of local businesses including Mainland Fasteners, Modular, Fulton Hogan Signs, Pro Kiwi, Bremick Fasteners, Every Educaid and a variety of Printing firms. Its great having this variety of jobs as it means most days everyone in the workroom can do something they find interesting and enjoy doing.
The start of the day is always interesting as there is always someone who has either arrived back from a few days off or someone who has done something interesting and they are keen to catch up with their mates to tell them what they have been up to. This is also when the guys work out who’s going out as some group activities are fortnightly there is often discussions on which group went out last week. Also, if someone is away from the group you see the rest of the group asking who might want to fill in.
Finally, all the chaos settles down as the groups head out and then those of us still in the workroom start finding a job to do and sort out who they feel like sitting beside for the day. The workroom can be a hive of action most days and its great watching many of the guys work together helping each other. You will see someone sealing the bags that someone else has filled but has difficulty with the final sealing. Others will be helping get more materials for people who have runout but have trouble carrying heavy boxes.
A while ago I was really impressed with a group of guys who approached me about organizing a games group 1 morning a week. There are now around 6 people who on a Thursday morning after morning tea that will play a table game that one of them has brought in from home. A favorite appears to be monopoly and I have been surprised at the variety of monopoly boards there are now. This has now lead to another group on a Tuesday morning playing group games on the playstation. I’m never sure how much of the games get played but there is always heaps of talking and laughter going on which is great.
Around 11.45 each day chaos resumes as the groups arrive back keen to tell everyone how things went whether its who won at bowls, who won what at timezone, who they may have seen while they were out or anything else they thought was interesting. Its then lunchtime and after that the process continues for the afternoon.
Another thing we have the privilege to do in the workroom is welcome school students who are starting their transition from school process. Usually, a student will start with coming 1 half day a week. The guys at AJs always like meeting a transition student and many of us will introduce ourselves and talk about what we do at AJs. Several of the guys will ask the student what school they go to and what other things they like to do. The guys are always keen to show the students around AJs and will help them during the morning tea break.
AJs has always had a tradition that on your last day of work for the week, regardless of whether you do 1 or 5 days you are allowed a free drink. A couple of the transition students have just started a full day and several of the guys from AJs were quick to remind me that now the students are here a full day they should get a drink. I was really impressed by how they advocated for the students and how important it was to be fair.
I hope this gives you a bit of a picture of the fun and enjoyment we get to have with each other every day at AJs. I’m also sure the next update will be done shortly as most of the staff are more organized than me.
Jim
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