The Stress of Living Paycheck to Paycheck
I want to talk about the lives of our direct support professionals, people who provide care and support for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, children, the homeless. These are people who are paid a minimum wage or maybe just a bit above. What will it take for them to achieve their goals? What's it take for them to have a good day? Good supervisors will be concerned about the answer to those questions.
Direct support professionals also include entry level support staff like food service staff, clerical, maintenance, housekeeping etc; anyone making less than $20 per hour. These people are on an economic bubble - any little unforeseen difficulty and the bubble bursts; they're without a corrective resource. A flat tire may be an inconvenience for some, but for entry level workers it can be a true economic disaster. An op-ed piece in the NYTimes a year or so ago pointed out that for many: time, money and "bandwidth" (our ability to repond to requests for attention) were in short supply. Wealthy persons solve time problems with money - hire a housekeeper instead of cleaning the house themselves. Most of our direct support professionals do not enjoy that privilege.
It's good to see that in some areas, salaries earned by DSP's may be on the rise. But survival is more complicated than just money and salary increases are not likely to be large enough to insulate them from "life". DSP's need emotional support from supervisors. They need someone to understand the stress they live with and to provide access to resources that maybe they did not know about. Supervisors need to know about resources in the community that can be helpful for their direct reports. Supervisors also need to listen, so they are aware of the pressure points where their staffers may need help.
Supervisors, I am well aware of the fact that I am expanding your job description but there is something in it for you. That is, the better you can be at supporting your people, the more likely you are to have a loyal and dedicated workforce to help you be successful. You can't do it all yourself, so it's a good idea to surround yourself with people you can count on. Don't let life overwhelm your staff; step in help. You'll be glad you did.
Are you a supervisor now? Would you like to be making more money so that you could take better care of your family? Why not prepare for promotion. Learn about our new Mastermind class for front line supervisors. Go to www.healthierworkplaces.com and click on the Blog page for a description of the program. Call me with questions - 215-534-5625.