Words Of Wisdom From Ian Harper “Wot I want”

Or perhaps some of these.. World peace Equity for all Freedom of speech Elimination of poverty Abolishment of cruelty to children Abolishment of cruelty to animals Abolishment of cruelty to me

But.. As the Rolling Stones said “You can’t always get what you want”

So, to be more specific Wot I want for Supported Employment Agencies and staff More specifically still.. in regard to training, development, professionalization and longevity

Wot I want! I want each staff member to have a “T.N.A. / Skills Register” and a specific set of strategic training / development goals This would be integrated into their performance appraisal From the collated training needs, I want agency managers to access relevant programmes or to contract a training consultant to develop specific programmes to suit the needs of their staff This would eliminate the situation where an agency relies on external training providers telling them what they need I want this to be a multi-organisational approach, so that a group of agencies with similar needs can pool resources

I want agencies to be able to set a specific training budget for each staff member which also includes a “study-time” allowance This would be utilised flexibly in relation to conference, industry specific training, external training and personal development – all would be negotiated and prioritised individually I want all organisations in the disability field to have a 3 to 5 year plan to increase the number of their staff that have gained an industry specific qualification I want SE practitioners and managers to have the opportunity to have professional supervision / mentoring

I want Supported Employment practitioners to have an umbrella organisation which will enable them to develop their practice, gain industry specific qualifications and a “career pathway” I want SE practitioners to BE the Training programme developers, the trainers/ facilitators, the supervisors/mentors and the assessors of relevant NZQA unit standards. Rather than having these essential roles be taken by external people who are not working in the SE field I want the SE industry to actively promote “real-leadership” from within

I don’t think that’s too much to ask for is it? After all, its really about being professional, isn’t it? I hope all of this happens BEFORE government contracts include these or similar conditions

After all.... It is far better to light one candle.. than to curse the darkness” SO... to those who say: “it can’t be done” I say: “Get out of the way of those who ARE doing it..”

Cos, as the Rolling Stones go on to say... “If you try real hard, you’ll get what you need”