Thriving and working well - catching up with Sarah

We're continuing to have a different focus each month as part of our 15th anniversary year, and this month we are thinking about our staff team. One of our team is the brilliant Sarah, our HR and Projects Manager. Below she shares about her experience working for Boaz, our ‘Thrive’ staff wellbeing programme, and plans to make sure we keep offering the best possible service to our clients. So without further ado, over to you Sarah! 

“I’ve been part of the team at Boaz since 2013. In that time I have worked in a number of roles: initially as the Office and Volunteer Manager, then as Community Engagement Manager and now as HR and Projects Manager.

I really enjoy working here. The organisation’s values, purpose and work are all things that are a really good fit for me. Before joining the team, reading stories from Boaz’s work stirred something in me; I believe that the work we are doing is really important, and for me it is a clear, practical, outworking of my Christian faith.

I so enjoy being a part of the team here (we have a great team!) and feel valued by the charity. Obviously I’m biased, but as an employer Boaz treats people very well, which sadly is not as common as it should be. I’m so grateful for the support I’ve had over the years, the opportunities to use different strengths, and the chances I’ve had to grow.

In the grand scheme of things we are quite small, but we are prioritising and giving time to aspects of working life that others perhaps do not – we are being ambitious and proactive as we aspire to be an excellent place to work.

A big part of this is our ‘Thrive’ programme. Put simply, this is the Boaz word for wellbeing. Thrive is our programme to support staff, providing them with the insights, tools and practical advice to pursue their own thriving. We also look closely as aspects of working at Boaz and seek to structure them to remove any barriers to thriving. As we believe that you can’t truly compartmentalise areas of your life we have to view things holistically, and ‘Thrive’ is about whole life, not just our hours at Boaz.  In the same way that our vision for our clients is to see them experience life in all its fullness, we want to see the same for our staff team. It’s important that as people we look after ourselves and each other, especially in this sector and area of work. Our work alongside people in very difficult situations, and as a small charity, can be challenging and demanding. 

Thrive is being well received by the team so far. The feedback shows that  staff are feeling valued and cared for. Thriving can be harder than it sounds; it isn’t just about offering fruit bowls and Pilates classes! And moving from the head knowledge of what will help us to thrive to putting that into practice can be a challenge –we’re going to be looking at how we can break bad habits and adopt new, positive ones because we all need help there! We are fortunate that at Boaz there are many ways in which we are set up well to thrive – a lot of what we are doing is building on what is already here and giving it a name. We’ve got off to a good start, and it has been great to see the team taking it on and owning it.

In the coming months we’ll be building on the way we work with respect to supporting and developing the team to do our roles well. When we find meaning and satisfaction in our roles and are well looked after we can serve our clients even more effectively – and for all of us that’s what it’s all about, so our clients can only benefit. That’s the plan anyway!”