Team of the year: over 10,000 homes

Over the past 18 months, the people team at 21,000-home Accent Housing has delivered a bold, organisation-wide cultural transformation that has redefined the employee experience and strengthened performance across the business.

 

The team blends expertise across HR operations, organisational development, systems, engagement, reward, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and culture. In response to declining employee engagement, rising turnover and fragmented processes, they chose not to implement incremental fixes but to redesign the entire people ecosystem from the ground up.

 

At the heart of this transformation is the ‘Be Accent’ cultural framework, which is based on four cornerstones: self-awareness, role modelling, coaching and feedback and accountability. This framework has been embedded across recruitment, onboarding, performance development, leadership, pay and recognition.

 

The team’s key achievements include a co-designed competency framework, a transparent new pay and benefits structure, a reimagined performance approach based on quarterly coaching conversations, and the launch of a new learning platform and leadership academy. 

 

The impact has been measurable and significant. Engagement scores have risen sharply, leadership scores have strengthened, voluntary turnover and absence have reduced, compliance training has reached 99% and customer satisfaction has improved.

 

The judges said:

“Really great to see a ‘people’ team get the recognition they deserve and to hear about the complete root-and-branch review of their HR systems and approach to bring about real improvements”