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Rising Stars ethics test
What’s it like to have your housing ethics interrogated? To find out, Alex Turner accompanies this year’s Rising Stars finalists as they face a tough date at the Chartered Institute of Housing
At mid-morning, the office breakout area is deserted. Coffee machines sit silently next to vinyl chairs – one of which is occupied by a sharply dressed individual, who waits nervously as the clock on the wall ticks.
It’s a scene familiar to anyone who’s faced a tough job interview. But the person in the chair as Inside Housing arrives – Jameel Malik, head of service delivery at 3,300-home Cotman Housing Association, part of the Places for People Group – isn’t seeking a new role. Instead he’s come here, to the London offices of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), as one of the three finalists of this year’s Rising Stars competition.
We’re on hand to get the contenders’ impressions as they receive a grilling on their ethics – based on their responses to three tricky scenarios – from Emma Maier, editor of Inside Housing; Melanie Rees, head of policy at the CIH; and housing consultant Greg Falvey.
The candidates have already hinted at their ethical strengths as part of a Q&A session published by Inside Housing earlier in the year. Mr Malik explicitly mentioned the CIH’s 2015 Code of Ethics as containing values that should drive the housing professionals of the future.
Stiff competition
Responding to the same set of questions, Vicki Maguire, policy and strategy advisor at 52,000-home Riverside, flagged up lessons the sector can learn from regeneration projects that have increased inequality.
Meanwhile James Sanderson, resident sustainment project manager at 30,000-home Hackney Council, talked of housing’s need to renew its social purpose. These are all positive-sounding credentials, but how will the candidates approach the day?
Mr Sanderson, who quips that he doesn’t usually wear a suit for work “so had to dust it off and make sure that moths hadn’t eaten it”, describes his pre-interview state of mind as “nerves, but good nerves”.
The politics graduate adds that his academic past has left him with a taste for debate, which he hopes will serve him well. Handily, he’s also part-way through a master’s degree with the CIH. The current study module is on ethics, meaning his homework has also been his preparation for the interview.
“It’s great to meet new people and be put on the spot – it’s been a huge boost for my confidence.”
Vicki Maguire, policy and strategy advisor, Riverside
Mr Malik, who says he’s “really excited” ahead of his face-off, has taken a different tack, brushing up on different schools of ethical thought and on the judging panel “to get a feel of the slant they might come at”.
Ms Maguire, who admits that “I do get nervous with interviews”, has been getting some guidance from 2012 Rising Star champion, Dean Slavin.
“He gave me some good general advice around how to approach the competition. I’m feeling OK now,” she says with a smile.
They have 30 minutes to figure out responses to two dilemmas.
Asked about a choice between offering a night shelter bed to a young woman or a vulnerable man who’d previously been badly beaten, Ms Maguire says her voluntary work with a street homelessness team guided her thinking.
Mr Malik says he drew on different resources. One of five trusted mental gauges he applies to difficult decisions is his “Hull Daily Mail test”, which he named after the hot-on-housing local paper in the Humberside city where he used to work.
“If it became a headline – ‘Night shelter refuses young person who is attacked for the second time in however many months’ – could I live with that?” he wonders.
The answer, based on “reputational and stakeholder impact”, is no – and so he and Ms Maguire move via different paths to a similar conclusion, in potential breach of the fictional night shelter’s first come, first served protocol.
Food for thought
While the three candidates acknowledge the importance of such policies and procedures, they agree on the need to challenge them as and when they deliver negative outcomes for people.
“They showed that to navigate this complex world, it’s not just about having strong views.”
Greg Falvey, housing consultant
Alluding to the real-life scenario he presented to the judges, Mr Sanderson says his response was about “taking time to build a case [for acting out of the ordinary] and doing something innovative to help someone and best serve the organisation’s interests”.
The contenders say their cross-examination will prove helpful when it comes to pushing their own practice forward.
Ms Maguire, who nearly became an art history lecturer before starting as a temp for Riverside, says she’s relished the human interaction and presentational side of the Rising Stars process, which doesn’t always feature as part of her day job.
“It’s great to meet new people and be put on the spot – it’s been a huge boost for my confidence,” she says.
For Mr Sanderson, who worked at housing associations before moving to Hackney Council, the session reminded him how your work setting can affect your outlook.
“There was a question in there that made me realise that all I’m doing is talking about local authorities now,” he says. “I work closely with a couple of housing associations, so I do consider ‘what would they do?’ But maybe I need to pay a bit more mind to that – it’s easy to get sucked into your own world.”
The value of having one’s perspective challenged is something Mr Malik also picks up on. Such is his enthusiasm for the day’s dilemmas, he says he hopes to take them away and use them in future team-building events to help his staff reflect on their roles.
“They showed that to navigate this complex world, it’s not just about having strong views,” says Mr Falvey. “It’s having them without forgetting stakeholders, your organisation, your personal integrity, the profession – and balancing all those things when reaching a decision.”
The Rising Stars competition is sponsored by Orbit Group
