After a severe accident turned Michael Dibdin’s life upside down, he has worked relentlessly to relearn and rebuild, and it has more than paid off!
We are proud to announce that Michael, who is a Production Team Leader at Business Solutions Mackay, recently won the Central Queensland regional finals for his category, ‘Equity Vocational Education and Training (VET) Student of the Year’ at the prestigious Queensland Training Awards 2022!
It felt pretty amazing [to win]. I said I didn’t need an award but it’s great when you win something like that. Now I can see my success in a plaque, and it’s something that I will keep on my wall for the rest of my life.
Rommaney McAullay, Production Manager at Business Solutions Mackay said:
It’s been awesome seeing Michael flourish. We travelled to Emerald to support him when he won his award, and we were all very excited
The Queensland Training Awards have been shining a spotlight on excellence in training and the transformative power of skills since 1962. The category that Michael won recognises outstanding achievements in overcoming a significant barrier or disadvantage.
Michael’s journey
Michael has undoubtedly overcome substantial barriers and disadvantages in his life. After a significant fall left Michael with chronic back pain and PTSD, he underwent Electroconvulsive Therapy which caused short-term memory loss. Moreover, he lost his job, home, ability to support his family, and hope for the future.
Before my accident, I used to build computers. Afterwards, I couldn’t work out how to turn one on. I was at a very difficult place in my life
Through Michael’s determination and with the help of Disability Employment Services (DES) Community Solutions, Michael worked hard and gained a Certificate III in Individual Support as he wanted to pay it forward.
Helping others less fortunate than me gave me purpose, a sense of gratitude, and the opportunity to contribute in a way I hadn’t done before,
– Michael
Michael had the knowledge he needed to care for people in home and community settings and mixed with his resilience and experience; the Mackay team knew a good egg when they saw one! On a walk around through the site one afternoon, Michael was headhunted directly through Endeavour Foundation and has been a valued member of #TeamPossible since September 2021.
We had to do a sales pitch to get him to come here because a few other organisations wanted him!
– Rommaney
After the walk around, I knew I would fit in here well. There was no hesitation at all,
– Michael
Michael joins #TeamPossible
As part of his role as Production Team Leader, Michael trains and educates the people we support with innovative implementation strategies. In conjunction with traditional training with a PowerPoint or a video, Michael discusses the content with his team and brings different examples into the training session to make learning engaging and easier to understand.
I completely understand what it’s like to have a disability and how to work with that. I tell them not to get stuck in their head because they’re more likely to get down and in the blues. It’s always good to speak to people to see how they’re going. Just like R U OK day, we need to continue to speak up and support each other each and every day
Michael’s mantra is:
Don’t get stuck in your head, talk through it
Various learning speeds and abilities are also no challenge for Michael.
You might have a group of people where six of them can’t read or write, so we openly discuss it and get everybody talking about it, and even though they can’t write it down, they’ve got it in their head. I’ll help them fill the book in but with them knowing the answer. It all shows that you care
– Michael
I tell them that I have a disability and that I can’t read or write, and it doesn’t matter if we spell it right; if we know what we’re writing, then that’s all that matters
Michael sometimes wonders how much has sunk in but often hears his employees talking about his training even after the class, and that’s where it really shows.
If these guys walked away with 10%, 5%, 3%, they still know more than what they did yesterday, so next week we’re picking up another 3%, and that’s how we roll on.
His strategies have not gone unnoticed.
They love training with Michael. He’s very good at explaining things so they can understand it by breaking it down and giving them other ways to learn the information
– Rommaney
Michael is going to complete his Certificate IV in Disability and we do not doubt he will continue to flourish and inspire us, and the people we support.
We’re very excited for Michael and appreciate everything he does. He is a great inspiration to all our workers, and he shares all of his knowledge. They love learning and working with him. He’s always thinking of out-of-the-box ideas and contributing in the workplace
Michael’s success was not missed by Steve Waters, previous Executive General Manager of Sales and Marketing, who sent him an email thanking him specifically for the impressive support structure he has implemented.
I’d worked for ten years without getting any praise, and it’s Steve, Rommaney and all the other staff here who inspire me.
We look forward to seeing what is next for Michael as he continues his training and we congratulate him once again on his extraordinary success and personal growth!
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