At WISE, the work happening behind the scenes is just as important as the results people see in the community. From early mornings on site to helping whānau stay warmer through winter, our insulation team plays a big part in that mahi.
For this edition of “What Working at WISE Means to Me”, we sat down with Vaitusi, better known as Tusi, our Insulation Team Leader. Tusi leads the team out in the field, helping make homes across Taranaki warmer, healthier, and more comfortable for the people living in them.
We asked Tusi a few questions about his role, what he enjoys about the job, and what working at WISE means to him.
1-Can you tell us a bit about your journey and how you first got involved with WISE?
My journey started when I was doing youth work at the local high school at Waitara High only doing part time while studying in my diploma of youth work at the same time so was juggling studying and part time work at the high school and also with another cleaning job I was part timing too with my parents cleaning business. Eventually I decided to go to do full time work and my mentor at that time helped me apply for WISE and got the interview and learned about what WISE was about
2-What brought you back to WISE after leaving for a time?
What brought me back to WISE after leaving for a time was the culture that I knew that was there and got offered a leadership role in operations and thought that was a sign from God that I was a meant to be there.
3-How has your experience working at WISE changed since you first joined?
My experiences now compared to when I first joined is definitely a lot more clarity in terms of communication. I really think now we have allowed our co-workers to have a lot of say in the things at work and our leadership team really actions most of what they said they would do.
4-What do you enjoy most about leading the Operations team?
What I enjoy about leading operations crew is everyone is so easy to talk to and everyone is always willing to grow not only our job related skills but life skills as well.
5-Can you share a moment at WISE that made you feel proud of your mahi?
A moment that made me really proud was one of my co-workers and I finished a 12hr install, pushing through a challenging underfloor to make sure we completed that job for a client and for the company. Was really grateful our team operations manager came from a meeting to help us complete job at the end of install, travelling 1 hr to reach clients house after a 5-hr meeting.
6-How has WISE supported your personal and professional growth over the years?
WISE really has supported me in my resilience especially in our department, its not the easiest job but with a great support network at WISE, it really does make it alot worth it to do the hard jobs. WISE has also supported me in my personal life by providing me AA courses that has led me to get my restricted and full license.
7-What skills or experiences have been most valuable in your role as Team Leader?
The most valuable skillsets I see is most important in not only my leadership is to love and respect. In my experience I really need to love my co-workers and respect them like my own family. Learning how to balance how to balance me challenging my co workers but also willing to walk besides them when needed. Also respecting my co-workers opinions and hearing them is also important because I always them to help me lead operations and that helps me grow. I don’t want to be a know it all.
8-How do you see your role contributing to WISE’s kaupapa of sustainable employment and community support?
I see my role contributing to WISE kaupapa and community support because I feel the need of our communitys physical wellbeing with nice insulated homes that helps reduce the cold but also reduce sick people that could be affected. A house could be a generation home for families and if we can somehow keep it sustanably warm for years to come then we have did our job!
9-What advice would you give someone joining WISE for the first time?
An advice I can give to someone joining WISE for the first time is be willing to be comfortable with being uncomfortable because in the uncomfortable you find new parts of yourself you’ve never knew about and that’s exciting because you’re growing !!! Even better is we’ve got a great crew here at WISE willing to grow with you and walk alongside you, no cap we’ve got great culture here and young crew too filled with vibes and energy.
10-Looking ahead, what are you most excited about achieving with the Operations team?
The most exciting thing about achieving with the team is to get our incentives which I believe our team is working really hard to achieve with quality work guided by our NZS4346 standard used for operations.
