FUNERAL ARRANGER Review

I am a funeral arranger and my daily tasks involve regular phone calls and queries about funeral, quote and the woodland burial grounds and what we offer such as trees, benches, log seats and plaques. I also handle cash daily and verify my petty cash and issue cheques when required. I often have to deal with walk in queries and families who ask about grounds, funerals, prices, funeral plans and what we offer here. My day to day responsibilities include opening and closing the site gates, checking the grounds and building on a regular basis for health and safety issues. Liaising with the grounds keepers to ensure we have everything we need. Often we have to get the lorry / digger and dumper fixed or services so I will call the appropriate company to attend to resolve such issues if they occur / arise. I will arrange funerals for families which could entail order of service flowers obituaries and liaising with the ministers and churches or arranging and booking the use of our service chapel here at Mayfields. This is a challenging job however very different and rewarding, even though it can be emotional challenging sometimes, however I thoroughly enjoy my job and would love to progress and excel my career in this field. I am currently awaiting new staff to be recruited to help reduce my work load which will then enable me to get more time to start engaging with the local community more and re starting up the bereavement groups and getting out in the community and engaging in activities with the local publish and residents. It has been an up and down experience in terms of having 3 nvq assessors however I now have a permanent nvq assessor and have regular email contact and meetings. Unfortunately lone working is making it difficult to complete my work sometimes. I am now taking the work home with me to do and hope once we have more staff here that it will enable me to have some time to compete the written work and obsersvations in work time.

Yes I have learned a lot about myself and the job and learned by on the job experience and from other staff and team members. Also I have updated my maths English and ICT skills and gained qualifications in those. I am learning daily and feel I am constantly improving with my work knowledge and experience and learning how to deal and speak to families better and my empathy and attitude is always improving. I enjoy the training courses I attend in work time and do find them useful and there is a variety of training and ways to learn it is death by powerpoint.

I do feel like I learn a lot and enjoy the training and do find it very useful. The NVQ is good in the way it is written and practical so you are learning and proving your skills in a variety of ways. I do enjoy the work however it can be stressful to get work completed when you have funerals on and are busy in work so this rsults in having to do the nvq written work in your own time.

Some managers and staff appreciate you and will thank you for your hard work however I do feel this could be more wide spread. Sometimes your hard work and extra hours are not always noticed or it doesn't feel that way. There are a number of staff and mangers who do tell and thank you for what you do. but like I said it could be more noticed and widespread and for more people to be aware of things like the digital cards, simply thank you's etc. Also the use of recognition in our region on facebook and witter isn't as vast as other regions. External recognition ie as in from families is great they always make you feel you've done a good job and will tell you.so that is nice and it does make you feel good and like your proud in your work and makes the job worthwhile.

induction when I started wasn't great however it has now improved and new starts get on training very quickly. The training we go on is useful and varied and I do enjoy it. Studying and support is ok but at times stressful wen you have a big workload on and lone work, however I have found my L+D trainer and nvq assessor very helpful and supportive. Task delegation isn't great in the workplace but is improving. Team hierarchy is a bit hit and miss but we have a new manager now and I can already see positive changes so this is on the up.

Training provide in terms of in house learning and development is great the company who provides the nvq doesn't have much contact, but I am lucky that my nvq assessor is on the ball and very helpful and good at communicating via call and email. My L+D and NVQ assessors are very helpful and quick at replying to queries and issues so I have no complaints at all. This make it easier to enjoy the nvq work and makes you want to do the work and do well and complete it to a high standard.

manger doesn't ask or offer much support in terms of nvq or cover for the branch for me to complete my work, however my learning and development team are very helpful and my nvq assessor is helpful and understanding. I feel I get enough help and support from learning and development and my nvq assessor that I do not often need to ask my manager for help.

the part time isn't great but the job offers I feel a decent hourly rate. they will help with travel costs if needed and provide you with food and hotels if required to travel. My location for work isn't far from home so I have no complaints.

yes there is a lot of events however I do feel they could be better advertised and for staff to be made more aware of and given equal opportunities to attend and help out at events. We have a good benefits scheme but I feel this could be told to more staff and we could all be made more aware of what is available to us in terms of staff benefits and discounts.

Yes

It is improving and it has good company benefits and has good values and ethics which I believe everyone should live and learn by even in their home lives.

Make sure you do your research, be wanting and applying for the job for the right reasons. Show you care and be prepared and give examples, do not give up and keep trying. Gain experience in volunteering and community work and be a proactive person who enjoys learning developing and helping others without being asked. I do feel we could be told more about the intranet AND COMPANY BENEFITS IE CREDIT UNION VALIDIUM AND CYCLE TO WORK SCHEMES AND COUPONS VOUCHERS AND DISCOUNTS ETC.