Each month we will bring you behind the scenes to put the well deserved spotlight on our staff that help us make a difference to communities throughout the North East. This month meet Becky Gustard, Compliance Co-ordinator!
Can you give an overview of your role?
I started PCP part time on 2nd January 2001 on reception as my previous working experience had always been in customer service. My role quickly moved to full time and I progressed through the organisation – administrator, supervisor, PA to previous CEO, quality co-ordinator.
My current role is now split over three days. As Compliance Co-ordinator, I ensure PCP keeps on track with the maintenance of their Quality Standards and deliver quality inductions to new staff. My second role is with the Workplace Health Team, supporting and assessing businesses in County Durham & Sunderland to achieve their Better Health at Work Awards.
Pre-COVID I worked in the Pioneering Care Centre and travelled to the various BHAWA (Better Health at Work Award) businesses for appointments. Since the pandemic I am now mainly home based, visiting PCP for Quality meetings but the majority of communication with my businesses is via Teams, this means I can support many more throughout the day than if I had to visit and this seems to suit them as well in their busy workplaces.
Describe a day-to-day in your role
For Quality I co-ordinate & monitor the internal auditing processes and document control for ISO and help to maintain the Quality Action Plan and Management Review to ensure we meet the deadlines of all our standards. For BHAWA, this includes contacting new businesses to recruit onto the awards. I carry out training on the online assessment portal, taking part in health & wellbeing webinars and spending a lot of time with my (currently 25) businesses to guide and support them through the processes.
What do you like about working for the PCP?
As previously mentioned, I started 2nd January 2001, I have many memorable moments having seen the organisation grow from about 12 staff when I started to 130 now!
One personal special moment was when Carol nominated me for the international Investors in People award in the community worker category. We travelled to London (Senior Management and my friend Kath, the then PA) and attended the glittering awards ceremony. To my shock I won, this was a global award, so it was an amazing moment to which I was very proud to win.
Being what I like to call ‘semi-retired’ working three days a week I don’t strive to achieve anything new, I just love to work with the businesses and feel good when they achieve their awards, and working to maintain or reach the higher levels of our Quality Standards.
What is the most rewarding aspect of the role?
With Quality being so well engrained into PCP now, and with Sandra Roberts, Governance and Development Manager, taking over the Management of Quality, my role has reduced to mainly keeping on top of deadlines, looking after the document control and internal auditing process for ISO.
Working on the BHAWA assessments is rewarding. Especially the new businesses, they start without knowing what to do, then with my support and guidance, we work to achieve their awards. Then I follow them throughout their award journey, I make those connections and even friendships with them and the thanks they give me is very rewarding. I also work with two excellent teams for Quality and BHAWA and we support each other throughout.
Has there been any additional training you’ve done since you started working for the PCP?
Initially I was developed through training into supervisory role. Then I progressed to one day work release to complete my Level 4 diploma and NVQ in Business Management with Darlington College, where I gained nomination for Student of the year. I also had to undertake Assessors Training with the TUC to carry out my current BHAW role.
PCP is proud to deliver Better Health County Durham. The service supports organisations through the Better Health at Work Award (BHAWA), that provides training, resources and information to organisations to influence wellbeing being prioritised in the workplace. For more information about Better Health County Durham, you can visit their website here.
For more about what the PCP offers, visit www.pcp.uk.net, email enquiries@pcp.uk.net or call 01325 321234.