For the employment consultants at Workbridge, sometimes it’s not just about finding someone a job.

Often it goes much further than that.

Tammy Mackie has learnt sign language to assist her jobseekers. She used it to help Hinemoa in interviews for her role at Selwyn Park rest home’s laundry. And she’ll use it again when the pair celebrate Hineomoa’s three-month milestone.

For Tammy’s Northland colleague Christel Foster, that extra support was about something much more mundane but equally significant.

Bryan hadn’t worked for 10 years following a series of epileptic seizures. 

Christel spent months helping Bryan build his confidence, which led to an interview and then a job, supporting a blind woman around her house two days a week.

But part of the role was making breakfast and Bryan had to admit he’d survived on microwave meals and struggled to peel, cut and select ripe fruit

He also struggled with the training because of his embarrassment over difficulty completing what for others would be a basic task.

So Christel stepped in once more.

She bought fruit and invited Bryan into the Workbridge office for training on how to cut the fruit and check that it was ripe.

“Bryan grew in confidence and now prepares breakfast easily, remaining in employment and even picking up some additional hours,” says Christel.

Sometimes, going above and beyond doesn’t have to be big and bold.

As Bryan and Christel discovered, often it’s the little things that really matter.