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From the frontline - James Smith
South Yorkshire Housing Association’s James Smith on customer engagement, work/life balance and what he would do if he could clone himself
What does your job involve?
I run job clubs, help older people get online, assist customers to develop and run community projects, organise street parties, manage groups of volunteers and much more.
I love being creative within my role and really enjoy making a regular vlog – a video blog on an award-winning litter picking project that I help customers run.
How did you get into housing?
I was a probation officer for eight years and noticed that a very high percentage of the people I saw had unstable or transient accommodation.
This is where my interest in social housing came from, so I researched lots of local housing associations and set my heart on SYHA.
How do you motivate tenants to get involved?
First and foremost, I listen to people. I work with tenants on their ideas and I don’t try to impose anything on individuals or communities. I try to build relationships and help to grow people’s confidence and inspire them to put their ideas into practice.
What’s the best thing about your job?
Working in a really supportive environment is a massive plus; I love feeling valued at work and I love that I’m trusted to grow customers’ ideas and explore exciting opportunities.
The flexi-time helps me to have a great work/life balance and do a good job while enjoying an active family life and being a hands-on dad to Summer, my four-year-old daughter.
And the most challenging?
Getting colleagues to buy into engagement work can be a challenge. I work with people who are dealing with some really heavy stuff and I can see why customer engagement might not be top of their priority list.
What is your dream job?
I think I should have been on TV. I always regret not taking my mum’s advice and going to drama school. I opted to play football instead.
What would be your superpower and why?
I’m no Marvel expert, so I’ve had to do a bit of googling. Apparently there’s a character in X-Men called Multiple Man. He can create instant duplicates of himself.
The possibilities would be endless. I’d probably use it for boring things nowadays like having a lie-in while also doing the nursery run, or washing up while reading the paper, but it would have been interesting to have this power back when I was young, free and single.
What’s the most private thing you would be willing to admit to your colleagues?
I’m pretty much an open book at work, perhaps too open at times. But despite that, I’ve always been embarrassed to admit to people that I’ve experienced anxiety since I was young.
I live alongside anxiety in peace nowadays, and it’s never stopped me from doing anything throughout my life.
