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It is time for the sector to truly back young professionals
The sector must start encouraging its talented young professionals to get more involved, writes Neil Goodrich
When developing talent within the sector, it is easy to focus on large, one-off opportunities. Many are excellent for those involved to put jet boosters on their career development.
Yet whether you are developing an individual, a team or an organisation, the small, everyday stuff matters as much as the big-ticket items.
At CIH Futures we’re keen to ensure that we use our platform to help as many as possible grow their careers.
We’ve already started with our Futures50 series, in which we release one blog a week from a housing professional on a topic of their choosing. If you haven’t read them, I strongly suggest you do. They can be found here.
The passion, thoughtfulness and talent of those who have participated is highly impressive, and is typical of the potential the sector has.
We’ve got many more to come, but I’ve already been blown away by the standard of the pieces submitted and the conversations they’ve generated.
However, we want to go further. Details are still being confirmed, but at CIH Futures we will shortly be launching our Outside In Strategy.
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We will set out how we will be more inclusive as a board moving forward, with the aim of giving more opportunities to those still building their career to help them flourish professionally.
It is a commitment from us that, whatever events we’re invited to and whatever projects we’re involved in, we will share that platform.
Want to work with us? Great!
“Let’s give your staff the chance to grow”
But let’s give a young housing professional the chance to prove themselves, be it via making a joint presentation, leading on a project or co-speaking at an event.
Let’s give your staff the chance to grow.
To prove the point, this will be my only piece for the IH50 that I’ll be writing on my own.
The rest will be co-authored with some of the fantastic young professionals who work in the sector.
Our vice-chair, Evie Copland, will be doing the same. We hope that by introducing Outside In, by steadily increasing the opportunities for those looking to move on in their career, more people will be able to do so.
It is often said of older individuals that age is but a number.
Yet when it comes to younger staff working in the sector, their age is often held against them. Talent can be marginalised, owing to a perceived lack of experience. One just has to look at the statistics on the age of board members to see that in effect – just 2% are under 40.
“When it comes to younger staff working in the sector, their age is often held against them”
Yet many organisations have graduate programmes, management programmes, talent programmes. So what’s going wrong? The work of Yarlington Housing Group to proactively seek a board member to develop is remarkable. It has been great to see the updates from that initial decision.
Nevertheless, it should be the norm, not the exception. Fundamentally, we should see the talent, not the age of an individual. The different focus, experience and nuance they can bring to the table. But for many that isn’t quite happening. We need to change that – you need to change that.
At CIH Futures we will do our bit, but as the organisations that make up this great sector, you need to do yours too. We look forward to working with you towards that aim.
Neil Goodrich, chair, CIH Futures; and senior performance analyst, Orbit Group
