Nine to five nirvana

Housing associations must be doing something right for their staff. Last month they blitzed the 2010 Sunday Times best employers lists: 16 of the 100 best medium-sized companies are housing organisations providing either accommodation or supported housing services. And they’re not lurking at the bottom of the pile, either.

Supported housing provider and social enterprise P3 scooped the overall top spot, Luminus Community Housing climbed 10 places during the year to rank second. New Charter Housing Group leaped 46 places to settle at number six and Calico Housing Association was number 15, up from 28 in 2009. So what is it they are doing to keep their employees so happy?

Make people feel valued

Vicki Howard, who job-shares as head of human resources at Calico believes it is the personal touch that the association’s reward and recognition scheme offers its 269 employees that keeps them smiling - almost 45 per cent of them have been on the payroll for at least five years.

‘We can reward virtually on the spot when someone has gone that extra mile,’ she says. Managers can dip into a pot of around £11,000 to award a £50 voucher, a bottle of wine or a bunch of flowers as soon as an employee delivers impressively. Ms Howard believes that job-sharing and flexi-time have contributed to the fact that now nine out of 10 of the landlord’s senior managers are women.

Equality and diversity is imperative for employees to feel valued. Housing association Gentoo, a new entry this year at 32, came 16th in the Stonewall 2010 Workplace Equality Index for lesbian gay, bisexual and transgender employees. Gentoo has its own staff network group for these staff, B-GLAD.

Know your company’s vision and values

A dominant vision from a strong leader helped nudge Luminus up from 12th to second place this year. Chief executive Chan Abraham puts the performance down to his leadership which, he says, imbues people with meaning in their work.

‘At the heart of it is giving people a sense of a vision - they need to know where they’re going and why,’ he explains.

Mr Abraham’s vision is of a changed society. ‘A leader has got to make sure that he or she understands where they are going - if you don’t know where you as a person are going in life, you’re not going to be able to lead other people.’

To this end, Luminus has launched a 10-year vision called Road to Renewal. ‘We believe that Britain is broken and that we are part of the solution,’ says Mr Abraham.

Christine Amyes, director of organisational development at New Charter Housing Trust, which jumped 46 places this year to sixth position, says values and identity were key to its improvement: ‘We really honed in on this last year - what does it mean to be a New Charter employee?’ This was answered during workshops to design its new branding in which employees explored their relationship with the company.

Angela Lockwood, chief executive of North Star Housing Group - which reached number 11 in the best 75 public sector bodies category - says the north east provider developed its vision and values, ‘with staff, tenants and board, through conferences, team meetings, mixed discussion groups and via our intranet discussion board’. Messages are displayed on posters, literature and as screen savers.

‘We constantly ask people to check out whether we live our values in decision making, our approach to services and in the way we operate.’

Foster a coaching culture

‘All our managers are trained management coaches and all our senior managers will have a coaching qualification [NVQ3 upwards],’ says New Charter’s Ms Amyes, who has a postgraduate qualification in coaching, specialising in psychology. ‘It gives them the ability to help people reach their potential.’

Ms Amyes says that, rather than disciplining employees, staff mistakes prompt a ‘coaching discussion’ where manager and employee explore what went wrong. ‘We honestly believe that if we have happy, fulfilled staff they will deliver better customer service,’ she says.

Housing association Plus Dane Group - ranked 29th - runs a neighbourhood investors leadership academy for current or aspiring leaders which offers personal coaching, psychometric testing and 360 degree feedback - where everyone who works with you, from peers to external stakeholders, comments on your performance. Some 20 per cent of the 69 attendees were subsequently promoted.

Nurture personal development

New Charter’s learning and development team strikes deals with local colleges and trade unions to offer subsidised courses for its employees. These include Latin dance lessons for employees and families at £3 per session.

Workers can also bid for learning opportunities before a Dragons’ Den-style panel comprising the chief executive and senior managers. The pitch must demonstrate how learning would enhance both professional and personal life. Employees have successfully bid for Turkish, dressmaking and sailing lessons.

Help staff to relax

All Plus Dane’s 486 employees are paid during the landlord’s two-week Christmas shutdown and are given five days off to settle a child into school.

There are also in-chair massages and a chill-out room ‘where people can sit whenever they like’, says Clare Mawdsley-Geoghegan, head of learning and development.

‘We treat everyone as adults who are talented and creative,’ she adds.

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