4 minute read
I could be
I could be... AN OFFICE MANAGER
NZ Plumber talks to Sarah Avery about the Office Manager role and the importance of flexible conditions for those juggling work and family life.
“Y ou name it, I do it.” That’s what Sarah Avery says about her role as Office Manager at Plumbing & Gas Works in Hamilton. Sarah joined six years ago when there were six team members and that number has since grown to 27.
The company runs a large contracts team, focusing on commercial new builds, refurbishments and drainage and a smaller maintenance team focusing on day-today plumbing, gasfitting and appliance servicing jobs.
Sarah started her career in the energy sector, primarily as a business analyst and project manager, delivering customer fronting projects. “After having three children, I decided I needed to work less and focus on family life for a bit,” she says.
“I had a ‘gap year’ with the kids and during that time I was a customer of Plumbing & Gas Works. I made some comments to one of the directors—who I had worked with many moons ago—about improving their invoicing processes and it went from there.”
As Office Manager, Sarah does everything from answering telephones, booking jobs and invoicing customers to process improvement and implementing new technology.
“Sometimes it can be challenging juggling all the tasks to be done, along with playing Camp Mother to a number of our staff members,” she admits. “I have recently been out on some work sites doing Quality Assurance Checks. This has been enjoyable as it has given me an opportunity to work with other staff members who I don’t see very often and to see what goes on at a site.”
Sarah was also involved in the creation of the company’s core values: Company Wide Team Work, Dynamic Business Culture and Strong Client Relationships. “Underpinning these values is the belief that our company creates an environment where initiative and hard work is recognised and rewarded.
“We work synergistically to deliver consistent and quality services and build our client relationships on mutual respect, trust and understanding. These are the values I hold and expect of others, especially when working with our clients.”
At the 2021 New Zealand Plumbing Awards, Sarah was the recipient of the Jackson Women in Plumbing Award for her outstanding skills in time management, documentation and for bringing this Master Plumbers member company into the 21st century by introducing systems and processes that increase efficiencies for the benefit of the staff and customers. As the Secretary of the Waikato Master Plumbers Association, she was also instrumental in making the Association’s annual awards night the showpiece it has become.
Asked how it feels to be a woman working in this male-dominated industry, Sarah admits it was a bit of an eye opener when she first started working at the company. “I had come from a corporate background to a small, privately owned company where there were no other women.”
Since then, she has seen an attitude change to women in the industry and the acknowledgement of the capabilities they bring to the workplace. “It is great to see the that the overall company benefits if you can run your office smoothly, as well as putting processes in place to help the tradesman on site. I would like to see more women in the trade, especially as tradespeople, so they can break the ‘tradie’ stereotype.”
It can be a challenge to juggle work and family demands, and Sarah would encourage anyone employing staff members to look at providing flexible working conditions. “Your employees will be so grateful.”
She says she is fortunate that her husband Matt has always been flexible with juggling home life too, which started back when their first child went to school. “I was adamant I did not want my children to go to afterschool care, so both of us worked full-time jobs, but different hours, or I would work late at night at home, or in the weekends.
“When I started at Plumbing & Gas Works, I came in on reduced hours to make life a bit easier—and I still work reduced hours. Another of our male office staff now works in the office during school hours and works from his home office after school, so he can juggle his wife’s career and the family.
“It seems to be more of the norm now for flexibility in the workplace and all the part-time working parents I worked with in the past were machines at work. They can get through a large amount in a limited time.”
A can-do attitude, great organisational skills and believing in your capabilities are all good skillsets to have as an Office Manager, says Sarah Avery of Plumbing & Gas Works, who is shown here discussing customer requirements for a job with team member Shawn.
