Thomas
After working as Resource Planner at ECL for 10 months, Thomas was promoted into a Local Business Manager role in October last year.
"I think the best part of working for ECL is the high level of support, training and career development they can offer – and I’m proud to be part of their Reablement service!"
When ECL acquired the Essex Reablement contract in December 2018, Thomas Blundell-Dickson was one of the members of staff that transferred over to the company on a TUPE contract.
“I first came to work in the care sector in June 2018 – I’d been working as a manager of a car and van hire company for 10 years and felt like I wanted to move into a profession that was both rewarding and that made a positive impact on the community. The care sector seemed ideal.
“After doing some research, I decided that resource planning would be a great career move for me as I enjoy being office-based and my strengths are in IT, computing and data.
“I’d been working as a Resource Planner for five months when I was informed that ECL had regained the Essex Reablement contract from my employer at the time and that my role was going to be TUPEd over. Naturally, I was feeling a little apprehensive about the move - changing offices and learning a new IT system – but the ECL team welcomed us all with open arms!
“During the transitional period we all worked together as a team to ensure that the service operated in a safe and efficient manner and that our customers weren’t affected. ECL provided me with an induction to the business and arranged comprehensive training to quickly get me up to speed on the new systems and processes.
“I was so impressed by the level of training and skills development that was offered at ECL that it didn’t take me long to express to my manager, Ruth, that I had an ambition to progress my career within the company. Ruth was and continues to be really supportive and agreed for me attend some additional training sessions, as well as shadow a Trusted Assessor. I was also given the opportunity to study for a level 3 diploma in Management through ACL.
“When a Local Business Manager role became vacant in October last year, I didn’t think twice about applying for it. Despite not coming from a care background, I have lots of management experience from my previous career and I felt confident in the training and experience I’d gained at ECL. I was thrilled to be selected for the interview process – and over the moon when I was told I’d got the job!
“I’ve been in my new role for three months now and it’s going really well. I’m managing a fantastic team of 14 Community Care Assistants and no two days are ever the same. I’ve been assigned a fellow experienced manager as my mentor, so I have the support there when I need it and my plan is to spend the coming months embedding myself into the role to ensure I become a trusted and well-regarded manager within the organisation.