It’s “Just a Job” an old boss used to say.
This phrase was used for good reason, but it’s a phrase that could not be further from the truth.
When I say it was used for good reason, I say this because in the context that it was being used, it was meant to put people at ease, to suggest to them that there was no point in stressing too much about what takes place at work as it is beyond their control.

The reality is, a job is way more important than just being a place to go, or a place that provides income. Think about when you meet someone new. After the meet and greet and exchange of names the next point of discussion is nearly always, so what do you do? Or where do you work? How difficult is it if there is no answer to provide? What does not having a job do to someone’s self-confidence?

Whenever I have had the opportunity to sit and talk about what people value most, they invariably respond with the magic three items at the top of their list, these being:

1. Family
2. Health
3. My job

It seems everything that follows number 3. “My Job”, exists and is only possible because of the job someone has.

The fact is, having “a job” is at the heart of many of our lives and we get to see the value jobs have every day at Mobo Group. Whether the jobs to which I refer are; our own, those of colleagues or those of the people we engage in supported employment or those of the people we support and encourage into open employment, the fact remains, a job does so much.

Jobs do and deliver so much for the job holder.
Jobs:

• Build self-esteem and self-confidence
• Give you a reason to get out of bed
• Help you engage in social activity
• Enable the earning and saving of money
• Enable the building of skill
• Give the job holder a sense of purpose
• Provide a point of reference for discussion and engagement with others
• Make living the best life possible, more possible when you have one

There is no time more critical than right now to recognise and to continue to promote access to employment for people with disability across all forms of employment.
The roll-out of the NDIS with all its challenges and flaws is now slowly starting to make a difference by responding to the demand that funding for employment be provided in each and every NDIS plan where an employment outcome is possible. After all what could be more reasonable and necessary for people with disability.

Together as a society, as providers and as individuals, we must continue to advocate strongly to ensure that people receiving NDIS plans are provided not just funding for “finding and keeping a job”, but also for the support funding necessary to enable them to access employment opportunities.

So what is the point of this blog post if none of what is written above is news to anyone.

The answer is very simple. At Mobo Group, I want you all to know you do great work. Be it directly or indirectly, what each of you are doing is enabling people to be the best they can be.
We do that by assisting and encouraging people into employment. These are real jobs that add value to the person employed and to society more generally. What could possibly be more valuable and more rewarding?

Back to that old boss. Whilst he used to say the line “It’s Just a Job”, it was the two words he closed the statement with that were most significant.

IT’S JUST A JOB – CHERISH IT.

Andrew Ramsey 14/5/2019