Meet Support Coach Jigme!

“Making such a valuable difference to someone’s life brings me a sense of satisfaction and purpose.”

Before joining Workpower, Jigme was the Field Manager for Native Nomads, where he collaborated with Workpower on a Carbon Credit project for Decarbonology. Following the project, Jigme joined Workpower’s Environmental team, before transitioning into his role as a Support Coach role, in August 2023.

With just a year under his belt, Jigme is thriving in his new role, and has recently won Workpower’s Golden Egg Awards.

The Golden Egg Awards is a peer-nominated program presented to Workpower’s Community Supports staff whose dedication and hard work have been recognised by their colleagues and customers.

Currently, Jigme works with up to five clients and recalled a success story, "My favourite success, as written in one of my Golden Egg awards nominations, was working closely as a team with the OT, managers and coaches to build up a strategy to help a client overcome challenging behaviours on holidays such as Mother’s Day."

Through daily video clips and conversations, the team helped the client develop healthy choices and respect for his mother, resulting in his mother saying it was the best Mother’s Day she had ever had.

Jigme’s journey into support work began with his earlier experience as a support coach, assisting disabled people in various healthcare settings. "I wanted to work as a support coach in Workpower because I find this work serving the community to be very rewarding," Jigme shared.

Jigme's favourite part of his job is helping clients integrate into the community and become more independent.

"Although challenging, making such a valuable difference to someone’s life brings me a sense of satisfaction and purpose," he says.

He honours Workpower’s team culture and professional environment, noting, "Workpower has a good team culture, with upper managers working well with coaches from diverse cultural backgrounds. It is a friendly, professional work environment. Some team members have been with Workpower for over 20-30 years, which proves it is a quality organisation."

For those considering a career in disability support work, Jigme advises, "It is very important to work as a team, help each other, and support each other in our individual roles. Listen, understand, and apply according to the client's needs and what they are actually looking for, and understand their physical, verbal, and psychological communication about their needs and choices."