Staff Conference - November 2014

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Foreword By Andrew Martyn-JohnsIt was great to see so many of you at the Staff Conference and to have the chance to hear Simon Weston speak. The way he has managed to overcome so many problems is a real inspiration to us all and just shows what can be achieved if you set your mind to it. Speaking of achievements, I thought that the video was a great reminder of what you have all been doing over the last year. It really has been a great performance and one that I think we can all be very proud of. It takes real team work to achieve what we’ve managed and I’d like to thank you all on behalf of the Board for being part of that team.

Our vision is a very demanding one and I remember, when we discussed this at Board, some thought that it might be perhaps too ambitious. It talks about being the top performing social enterprise in Wales by 2019, transforming lives, creating an environment where people can have a brilliant quality of life in areas they aspire to live and work. These are certainly stretching targets and ones that we’re not going to achieve overnight. However, looking back at when I first joined the Board in 2008, I can see the progress we’ve made and the speed with which we’ve achieved it. There are things we’re doing today which the Board certainly never imagined we’d be able to do so soon in MHA’s existence. That video really shows what we can do if we set our hearts to it and work as a team and I’ve every confidence that the vision, despite its ambition, can be achieved.

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ArrivalThe Staff Conference was held at St Pierre Hotel in Chepstow on Thursday 6th November 2014, everyone signed in and helped themselves to tea and coffee. Unfortunately, there were no bacon rolls this year... not that anyone mentioned this! All staff were allocated a street within Monmouthshire which would be the team they were on for the day. Staff were seated in the main St Pierre Suite and welcomed by John Keegan and Andrew Martyn-Johns (Chair of the Board).

Andrew and John opened the conference summing up the year, outlining the many achievements and thanked the staff for their contribution. Both spoke about the tough vision for the coming year and about the stretching targets for next year. Andrew read out a poem (below) which had been sent in that week from one of our tenants;

“Making a Difference - My Laptop and I”

Sat in my closet for years on endFar too technical for me to understandDaren’t lift the lid or switch it onIn case it exploded like a nuclear bombShould I sell it, give it away or recycle itPerhaps into a toy I could playThen lo and behold I had a booklet through the doorMHA offering computer skills and so much moreShould I ring? I have nothing to loseNot realising I had everything to gainThen Cath enters my life like a breath of fresh airFilling me with confidence, never with despairJulia too with patience and kindness galoreReassuring me that I’m not a choreA new world is opening to my great delightMy laptop to me is no longer a frightNot just an object for me to useIts real enjoyment which I almost came to loseSo with a heartfelt thank you to all involvedBecause MHA you have made a difference to me.

Gill Holland - Achiever of the Year

Irish BingoGail Sheppard then delivered the Ice Breaker of Irish Bingo. Everyone was given a bingo ticket and had to stand up and if you had the number on your ticket you had to take a seat. The remaining top five had to come to the front of the room and Holly Doughton was the winner of tickets to watch Cardiff City play football.

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Guest SpeakerSimon Weston OBE Our surprise Keynote Speaker was Simon Weston. Simon’s awe-inspiring speech covered the past 30 years since 1982 when the Sir Galahad in which he was serving was destroyed in Bluff Cove on the Falkland Islands. He graphically but humorously, described his struggle to overcome his injuries (46% burns) and redefine his role in life. Simon’s moving message was one of accepting change, facing challenges, triumph over adversity, seizing the moment and succeeding.

Following his injuries, Simon’s road to physical, spiritual and mental recovery saw him active in a number of highly successful ventures including ‘The Weston Spirit’, a Liverpool-based young people’s charity. His charitable work earned him an OBE in the 1992 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Simon enthusiastically described work that he has done with other housing associations and demonstrated his knowledge of the type of work we do. He was complimentary of the benefits we make to the community and how proud we must be of our achievements.

We all found his speech to be truly inspiring and was acknowledged by everyone with a standing ovation.

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Activities & WorkshopsGail gave a briefing about the day. Each team had a jigsaw piece on the table with a street name and activities, quizzes and workshops which involved earning tokens to purchase pieces of a community such as houses, trees, ponds, playgrounds etc, placing them on their jigsaw piece to build their community.

WorkshopsThe workshops were delivered by three facilitators, all of whom volunteered; they were Shayne Hembro, Nikki Giant and Nick Battersby and the workshops they delivered were: Community Investment, Commerciality and Lean Systems. One or two people from each team attended the workshops, either in the morning or afternoon. The team had to come up with an objective out of the workshop that could be utilised within the MHA strategic plan. If the objective was approved by SMT the team would win a token that could be used to purchase something for their community.

Commerciality Workshop The commerciality workshop was run by Capsel’s new independent board member, Nick Battersby. He covered a few different ways of looking at an organisation’s strategy looking at things such as potential markets, customers, pricing, and marketing approaches. He led a lively discussion about how Capsel should meet its future challenges.

Staff present talked about the need for marketing it properly and who our target market might be. In the light of established companies that offer home boiler servicing, we considered how we could use our local brand as a strength to compete. Pricing was also discussed - and whether we needed to undercut our competitors in order to build market share.

Marketing was also on the table, after all people need to know about us before they can do business with us. There was one suggestion that we go door-to-door to drum up sales - although this might need further consideration.

“The workshop took us through Profit & Loss, Expenditure, Cost Analysis the talk was very informative and Nick set us a Task at the end of the workshop. It was a very enjoyable session, but I think others would beg to differ.”

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Lean WorkshopShayne Hembro from Wales and West Housing Association carried out the workshop based around Lean thinking. Shayne explained what Lean thinking is and the fact that it is based around how we think, the assumptions that we make and the practices we put in place.

Shayne explained that working practices are often put in place by others who do not carry out the work and by assuming they know the required outcome or performance measure. A system is often adopted by using assumptions about how they think work should be organised although this isn’t always the correct outcome for the customer (internal or external). An example was given of Wales & West’s repair service where Shayne said that the system was put in place by their management team and the statistics were showing that the system was working when in actual fact it wasn’t. A member of their DLO team kept a diary of jobs that he couldn’t complete because of the system in place. This was then discussed amongst the management team and the system was changed as a result of them speaking to someone who actually does the job.

Another part of the workshop looked at a washing machine engineer, Fred. Shayne asked the delegates to identify things that may go wrong with a job such as wrong tools, wrong skill set, too much work on a given day, wrong address etc. Shayne then asked the staff members to look at which ones were the systems fault or the engineers fault; the majority of faults were down to the systems put in place.

The outcome of the Lean Workshop is that in order to have a good system, the procedure has to reflect the work needed and the desired outcome. It is important to listen to the people who do the job and ensure at the end the system is ‘Fred Led’. Shayne added the best way to find out if a system is working is to go and spend time with colleagues and find out for yourself.

Communities WorkshopNikki Giant from Full Circle carried out the Community Investment Workshop. Full Circle is a social enterprise based in South Wales, and was established in February 2012. They work to improve the well-being of children and young people, by addressing key issues to improve their school attendance, achievements and aspirations for the future with a particular focus on addressing the issues affecting girls and young women.

They work with housing associations and are currently working on a new project with us called Girl Power to;• Engage young women aged 15-25• Address community issues affecting women • Raise the profile of young women in the community• Build confidence, self-esteem and skills

Community engagement is a spectrum, from informing people about issues with minimal communication, right through to empowering people to make real change, entrusting the community with resources, power and control.

Good practice was shared from a variety of housing associations and the benefits of community investment were highlighted, such as;• Improved service delivery and efficiency• Good communication between staff and tenants• Informed and knowledgeable tenants who have the

skills and confidence to influence decisions• Shared accountability • Tenant empowerment and increased tenant

satisfaction • Stronger communication and understanding of each

other’s perspectives between staff and tenants • Minimising misunderstandings, helping to build trust

and respect between landlords and tenants• Increased job satisfaction for staff • Improved community relationships and

neighbourhoods

Participants of the workshop had to consider MHA’s vision and how to achieve this, by engaging with the community, and identify our own ideas to take forward. There were some really good ideas being discussed in the workshops and you can find out what these are over the page.

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Objectives From the Workshops

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Commerciality WorkshopTarget former council properties, now privately owned - “Your property used to receive these services for free. We can’t offer a free service, but you may find our service packages attractive” - then try to undercut British Gas/SWALEC packages.

Performance based on customer outcome/satisfaction rather than target. Planning from front line staff, other than managers and SMT.

Link in with building contractors when they are renovating/building new properties to offer a low price service to them when building in exchange for promoting our service to new owners/tenants or include our service as part of an ‘owners package’. Extend this to any service rent deals with ‘first time buyers’ homeowners, when moving elsewhere, new people are more open to change.

Each department within MHA should be offered a commerciality “bond” a “bond” is an idea which is subtitled to SMT - who look at the commercial idea & award a set amount of money to pilot that idea to develop that commerciality idea. If the pilot works then the idea is developed by Capsel.

Clear branding - i.e. people still think we’re MCC. More resources, i.e. proper responses. Better Marketing Strategies. Find a target market i.e. leaseholders & staff. Look to offer “something extra” to make us different from British Gas.

Be prepared to work with younger tenants at their level, a level which they are comfortable. Sometimes things come across as “too corporate” which can put young people off and lead to disengagement.

Take time to talk with tenants/customers and remember to listen. To aid growth and satisfaction.

Customer service must be sorted at Capsel. Never answer phones! (Although Rob has started to do this - others just let them ring). MHA is trusted with our partner organisations - we need to trade Capsel as

being a subsidiary of this trusted name to them.

Promote our brand by distancing ourselves from MCC. Target letting agents/private landlords to promote Capsel. Service charges for flats - huge cost are present to MHA to clear/clean communal areas.

Create a method of peer appraisal for our processes & systems - measure system performance against customer expectation.

Market awareness - local services. Heating - service, repair, renew. Electrical - fit new appliances. Buy appliance elsewhere, offer to fit. Skips in the community - recycle waste.

Offering PAT testing to local businesses & organisations (could be used as an ‘in’ for further services/goods).

Furniture recycling with emphasis on ‘white goods’ (this would also safeguard MHA income by offering low cost options to tenants.

Consultancy - selling our In House expertise including customer service/contact centre.

Need to make the community aware of services, gas services, electrical maintenance, and building services.

Charges for nursing residential care start at £480 per week. Good care homes charge a top up to this of £200 per week. Social Services pay £480. There was 1 nursing place available in South Monmouthshire when required in an emergency. Elderly population are living longer. Under Capsel: convert Radstock to nursing/care home. Aim high with excellent care facilities, higher charge.

Link and approach with owner/occupiers on our estates. Offer 24/7 service as per larger organisations. Offer cheaper options local and reliable. Cost effective. Cost effective quotes OAP.

Extend Capsel’s current services to include insurance cover for electrical, plumbing & drainage problems.

Objectives From the Workshops

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This would build on our current position using the skills & competencies of the current staff. The target market would be private tenants via letting agents and also owner/occupiers. *Product - we already have the skills available to deliver a service, we have a brand i.e. Capsel. *Promotion - We could target letting agencies with a direct approach. We could also leaflet drop private estates. *Price - We could offer bundles and discounts to letting agents along with credit terms. We could also offer credit terms to private tenants. *Place - We already have the logistics in place to provide this service.

Capsel to offer servicing and boiler replacement, or a service plan with private sector. Do not stretch current staff to the point that they only achieve 50%

When the DLO are doing a roofing programme for example in a particular street e.g. Trewen (where there are also lots of private RTB homes) they should be asking/marketing their services - new roofs to them. This would make more profit as they are already on site/all materials sourced/learning curve. I think they could go in with a good offer for this as savings are already being made so more profit on the break even chart. I for one would take this up if they come to my street.

Lean SystemsCapsel - use a bulk bag system to collect construction waste. To offer a granulating facility for hard plastics to sell, a raw product to local plastic manufacturers

Lean processes for planned maintenance.

Work like Wales & West. Do all jobs that need doing in one trip.

More team work to get things right first time.

Reduce amount of inspections Maintenance Officers carry out. Trust DLO staff to identify and resolve repairs. Have an outcome focussed process.

Estate management - reduce/remove tasks and replace with end result and possibly role out to other service areas.

Give the engineer the chance to speak to the person who’s reported the call and also the member of staff who allocates the job before booking the work.

Is there a branding problem that would, if changed, improve how we are perceived? Change “Monmouthshire” (a county name) to e.g. Wallace Housing Association.

Check for repairs required in properties and feed back to the offices.

Review the company PDR system - its unwieldy, takes up loads of staff and management time, doesn’t improve performance, loads of people involved in chasing, monitoring. Have coaching and mentoring instead you can reward effort and deal with under performance without it.

Encourage staff & managers to be more open and honest about their productivity and performance, and focus more on the tenants requirements.

For the customers fixed time appointments. Shorter appointment slots - benefit MHA and provide a better customer service.

Job shadowing - All managers should have to shadow their staff - random selection – compulsory.

We need to understand our tenants/residents/communities as consumers - Develop the services they don’t know they want yet based on what we know of them.• The focus will not be cost driven• Target driven - scrap• Empowerment of staff but ensures accountability

Empower operatives by removing time allocation of repair and during the call out complete a “mini” property MOT to gain accurate diagnosis, right first time and prevent tenant having to phone CSA’s with

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these multiple repairs.

Rents - acknowledge current good performance. Ask frontline staff if ‘processes’ and ‘systems’ are fit for purpose and what could be done differently. Ask tenants how we could do the arrears/address rent issues better.

MHA spends too much time measuring performance (money).

Community Investment ObjectivesCommunity play boxes with a worker and access to play equipment etc. Could use employment project, volunteering schemes to help support the project and gain experience in childcare/play working etc. Tie in community investment and employability.

Hand out flyers to tenants to make them more aware of the services we offer not just to them but to the whole community.

New initiative (parents) all ages. Aims - all ages, consultation of tenants to establish demand, identify who needs what service, before/after school, funding, informally encourage engagement of younger tenants.

New parents initiative - Consult on demand for groups for new parents - e.g. coffee mornings, play schemes. Offering free ways for parents to meet and entertain children and access information. Attach to health visitors.

Bereavement Group. Tackling loneliness - getting together to talk.

Engaging with people with mental health issues and learning. Link in to disability group.

Be clear in what we are offering. Promote local service. Make us stand out in the community as a company. Not always about price it’s about the service and our name. Highlight what we are doing wrong to help put right to move forward.

Arranging a Christmas function for elderly tenants who are on their own. Possibly develop into a befriending scheme. MHA choir could also attend.

Community Gardening - Link in with external planned works.

Can be fully or part funded from communities benefits section in works contracts and will enable tenants to grow in their own gardens following completion of works. This will also benefit the tenants.

Play box scheme - supervised to start, parents take ownership afterwards.

Community gardening - grow, cook, eat. Grow produce, learn to cook it, surplus can be sold on.

New parent group - Engage with new parents see what they need.

Grow, cook, eat project. Intergenerational project. Grow healthy foods on community centre land, cookery classes to encourage healthy eating, and entrepreneurial opportunities via sale of excess produce.

Young mothers soft play area for pre school children (1 to 5) indoors. Possibly young mothers or dads. Village hall is normally for older children & charge around £4 a session. Soft play area to be free of charge.

Doorstep play / Play in a box - a box of toys/sports e.g. taken to within a community for children to play. Staffed for 2 months, local volunteers required to be trained/supported to continue as the supervisor - kids playing, healthy, happy community, tidy (litter picks) neighbours talking/relationships community cohesion/capitol - training opportunities for volunteers.

Direct marketing to current MHA tenants to help increase Capsel’s awareness as a separate company. i.e. business cards, information packs and offers. SWOT - analysis brainstorm, clear target market, low competition. Product, Price, Promotion, Place. Overheads = premium = high quality, high price. Cost = development/introduction. Profit = Growth/maturity. Maintain service. Adapt & continuous improvement. Use existing advertising and customer pool.

Provide a centre for young people to help keep them off the streets resulting in less anti social behaviour as well as safety. Promote exercise by providing

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equipment in the centre as well as an allotment to promote healthy eating and sustainability. This can be very self rewarding towards young people.

Market a packet for needs of the person, make it flexible.

More marketing in other towns to show what we can do, including telephone sales and advising. Create a good partnership with banks and insurance companies - raise Capsel profile.

Create a method of peer appraisal for our processes & systems - measure system performance against customer expectation.

Buddy Scheme - older persons to buddy up with another more able person or a younger person.

Grow, cook, eat project - local people & children learning to grow & cook fresh foods and possibly sell on. Integration in the community for all ages.

Leisure centres to have regular weekly play schemes available for all ages. So children can play safely together whilst parents can engage in sports.

To provide soft play areas within local village halls for pre-school children. Need to consult with parents and village/community hall committees on this to start it up. Firstly for us to kick off and pass on the contracts to parents and community to run.

Community Youth Club ‘evening’ - help to start up and plan trips, but then look for community members to take over and run in the future.

Afternoon ActivitiesAfter lunch, Gail delivered another briefing highlighting the afternoon activities which included the workshops, working on the jigsaw piece to build your community, the SMT challenge and the climbing wall activity. A raffle also took place, with a raffle ticket being given to participants in the morning – Kate Bradbrook and Simon Saunders won the raffle.

The climbing wall was in the grounds of the hotel and gave everyone the opportunity to have some fun whilst scaling a 6.5m high climbing wall. The climbers could race each other up the wall on either side of the structure, or try the two different routes up the wall. The climbing wall proved fun for everyone that took part.

Each team was given a member of SMT to support in the SMT challenge, the SMT member’s photo was put in the packs on the table. The photo showed them dressed as Ninja Turtles. The challenge consisted of a member of one of the teams rolling a dice and the SMT member taking that many steps forward or backwards. The winner of the SMT challenge was Ian Atkinson.

At about 3pm all teams, managers and facilitators gathered in the St. Pierre Suite where the workshop facilitators and day facilitator, Gail, were given gifts to thank them for their hard work during the day.

The teams then had an hour to finish off their communities on their jigsaw piece, including finishing off the last of the quizzes etc. to win more pieces plus the teams had to ‘Tweet about their street’ using no more than 140 characters. The jigsaw pieces were put together in the main foyer to make one large jigsaw. Each of the roads on the jigsaw interconnected and the communities became one big community with the MHA logo in the middle. The communities and tweets were judged by the other teams to pick a winner and runner up – the winning team was Wheatfield Close and the runners up were Queens Road. The winners won high street vouchers and the runners up boxes of chocolates.

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Runners

Up

Queens Road

AwardsJohn Keegan gave out the Awards to the winners of each category these are:Brilliant Customer Service Awards

Winner: The CSA’s – Community Services Team

They have had numerous changes of staff this year for a variety of reasons but they have managed to support each other and work with the new team members to make sure they continue to be efficient, professional and polite. They have so much information to learn about the whole organisation, as well as the variety of software that they are working with. They are an amazing team and continue to deliver a brilliant frontline service.

Always doing their best to help the tenant’s on the other end of the phone even when the tenants are not happy with MHA. They always do their best to improve their satisfaction and help tenant’s.

They always deliver excellent service despite not always being recognised as doing so by other departments in the organisation.

Delivering Values and Objectives

Winner: Facilities Team

The team have worked really hard with getting in place various structures and achieving accreditations. Their work has contributed significantly to delivering a number of objectives within MHA. They often have to advise the organisation making sure various departments are doing what they should be, but they do this in a very accommodating manner.

They have also worked really hard in achieving the BS18001 accreditation for H&S; and the Green Dragon 5 accreditation for environmental management; identifying changes required and implementing them throughout MHA to achieve this award.

Outstanding Achievement

Winner: Kerris Winter & Stacey Edwards

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Best Inhouse Pickle

Winner: Joe Worgan

Joseph Worgan - Joe has gone that extra mile to sort out a misunderstanding between MHA and a vulnerable tenant and her family. The result has shifted from anger and frustration to sheer joy and gratitude to be an MHA tenant.

The other nominations were:Tanya Brannigan and Bridget Gibb - For the excellent work done with Bridget in a domestic violence situation and for staying in work until 8.30pm to ensure the tenant’s safety.

Lorraine Challenger - For going the extra mile to create a fantastic showflat at Plas Mawr and coming in way under budget!

David Price - Thank you to Dave for helping Bridget (Support Officer) to gain access to a property where tenant was locked out, he worked after his finishing time to ensure that key and lock were both in working order.

Housing Hero

Winner: Cath Murray

Cath is a dedicated and committed individual and really understands the role she is undertaking. She is a fast learner, and within a short period of time has been able to make a huge impact within the team she works. This award is for outstanding contribution towards the organisation and the community, the work that has been undertaken within the Way into Work programme ticks both boxes, it assists the community by getting young people into employment and raises the organisations profile and credibility as a credible player in the employment and skills arena.

Since her appointment to MHA she was worked extremely hard to understand the organisation and deliver the Way into Work project, getting 26 young people employment. The project subsequently went on to win the Youth Excellence Award in Wales, which is a significant achievement for MHA and it puts MHA right up there.

She is an excellent role model for those in the Way into Work project which she now leads on and those seeking volunteering work within MHA. She was running the second phase of Way into Work whilst still being on Jobs Growth Wales and covered for the Work and Skills Wise Officer whilst still an apprentice and thanked us for the opportunity despite taking on loads of additional responsibility!

She goes above and beyond to change people’s outlooks and prospects. Getting people energised and enthused about employment is a tough task, however she has managed get lots of young people into employment through her positivity and commitment.

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Brilliant Customer Service Here’s what your colleagues said about you:Bridget & Tanya in the 55+ (Supported Living Team)I don’t think the Supported Living Team get the recognition, respect and acknowledgement they ALL deserve. It can be a challenging and demanding role, where support officers often get the brunt of the customer/service users complaints or queries but they remain professional and resolve all issues in a composed, friendly manner, always being professional. Both Tanya and Bridget worked a number of hours out of their normal working hours, which shows how much they care for the people they work with, their roles as Support Officers and more importantly, the association they are representing.

Clayton CharlesAlways goes above and beyond to help tenants and colleagues alike.

Cleaners Because they are always extremely friendly, even though they have to be in work at what seems like 3 in the morning.

Corporate Services For reviewing the Complaints process which is now much simpler for all Stakeholders to understand and staff to self-manage - resulting in better customer service for our tenants.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •The Corporate Services Team have carried out a review of the complaints service during the last year. As a result of the review and the new process that the team put in place, more complaints are being dealt with informally providing better customer service to our tenants. A lot of work went in to the review and the positive results are now showing.

DLO Maintenance Team/ Tradesmen I believe the tradesmen are MHA and are a forgotten frontline team and should be nominated as follows. They are MHA’s image, all with their knowledge, professionalism, appearance, vehicles and friendliness. They are the people who interact with the tenants daily, report back issues and follow on works. I feel they are a little forgotten and not only do they deal with the ever changing face of MHA on how works are carried out with PDA’s etc they deal daily with difficult situations. It is easy to nominate a (one) person who is going to university or undertaking courses to better themselves within MHA however I feel again, this is the forgotten team who could do with a BOOST <- And I don’t mean a chocolate bar. - Domini Barnes

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Dean Phillips Always does what he says he is going to do. - David Maloney

Finance Always try our best to help, automatically cover each others roles/phones. Small team that cover a lot.

Homesearch Team They deal with difficult customers on a daily basis with diplomacy and tact. They always do their jobs to the best of their ability, often under pressurised circumstances and do it with a smile on their faces, despite the challenges. The friendliest, most helpful and efficient team in MHA.

IT Team Despite being only 3 staff, they provide an excellent service.

James Perry He recognised a tenant in need of additional care whilst organising the gas servicing, and forwarded the details on to Social Services which resulted in the tenant having organised carers coming in weekly.

John Davies & Scott CollierMaintaining good and positive communication skills through major works in Magor.- Bridget Gibbs

Karen Doyle Karen looks at the bigger picture and shows a great deal of initiative when tackling problems and challenges. I particularly like her attitude towards internal customers, very helpful and professional! - Kate Bradbrook

Katrina Peniuk Always works over and above her contracted hours to ensure older tenants have a great range of activities. Always uses her wide variety of contacts in and out of work to bring unusual people in to entertain older tenants.

Lauren Francis Lauren always is a happy person. Answering the phone with a smile on her face. She is positive and thoughtful. She understands MHA’s objectives and delivers the service with a smile 10/10.- Jane Philpott.

Lettings For going the extra mile to ensure that the most vulnerable are housed in the best accommodation available.- Lisa Way

Maintenance Team Always helpful and get back with answers and information.- Pat Doughton

Maintenance/Voids Team They are always happy to help and give advice - even though we contact them on a daily basis - they never make us feel that we are pestering them - making a smoother process for our tenants.

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Michael Harper After recently starting a new role within the Neighbourhood team, Michael has gone that extra mile to help me understand how CAPITA and rents work to ensure tenants are given accurate info re their rent accounts. I would call on a daily basis and he would always make the time to explain any queries and offer any assistance.- Lauren Lewis

Naomi Pearson Deserves this award as throughout the summer activities she always gave a quality front line customer service, nothing was too much trouble for her.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •For the work Naomi does out in the communities and for her hard work studying at the same time.- Philippa Worgan

Neighbourhood Team They are front-facing staff who have to deal with tenants in often difficult or challenging situations. They care about the tenants, their colleagues and the environment - even to the point of picking up litter left on grass verges and disposing of it properly while out on their visits. They try to lead by example. - Julia Rice

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •The Neighbourhood Team, is an effective front facing team that deal with a multitude of issues.- Julie Mckim

Nigel Casson For his management of the void process, improving turnover times and value for money. - David Hood

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •For consistently brilliant customer service. One example - on 13th August 2014, the Community Safety Team became aware of a vulnerable elderly tenant who had no electricity supply to his home. Nigel was asked to deliver a message to the tenant on his way home from work on

a Friday evening that SWALEC had been contacted and would be attending later that evening. When Nigel got to the address, SWALEC also attended and were not prepared to assist the tenant at first. Nigel persuaded the SWALEC staff that the tenant was elderly and vulnerable and desperately needed the work to be carried out. Due to Nigel’s perseverance, the SWALEC staff reluctantly carried out the repair enabling our tenant to have heating and lighting at his home. Nigel stayed there until gone 7pm on a Friday evening in order to ensure our tenant got the service from SWALEC that he deserved. - Alan Webber

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •Because he will go the extra mile when doing viewing for new tenants giving them any local information he is aware of, letting them know where the best shops and schools are and all information that is really useful if you are new to the area. He also does a great job in selling the properties, highlighting the best bit i.e. views of the area, new installations or decorations.

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Peter Stephens Always sorts out utility and leasehold queries.

Philippa Worgan Since being at MHA (4 years now!) nothing has ever been too much trouble for Philippa. She regularly goes the extra mile for her colleagues, this has included help with funding bids, help with the financial side of business cases (ie. staffing costs/overheads) as well as taking time out to ensure that colleagues understand what is being sent to them in their budgets, and where applicable clearing up concerns. As well as doing a fantastic job, Philippa is also really generous with her time and will regularly be involved in cross department working groups - her input is always valuable. Examples include; Community Heroes & the Big Chat. Philippa is completely reliable and someone I know will always give me excellent customer service. - Cheryl Tracy

Shani Howley She does a fantastic job on the reception desk which gives a brilliant first impression of MHA.- David James.

Tenant Support TeamUnfailing in their support of MHA’s older tenants. Despite staff changes and absences, the team have carried out all duties in a conscientious and efficient manner. - Helen Carter

Timothy Redwood Always available to help and give advice to neighbourhoods. Also excellent at dealing with tenants who have difficult queries.- Geriant House

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Delivering Values & Objectives Here’s what your colleagues said about you:

Anne-Marie Murray For the excellent work carried out in decanting elderly tenants out of St Cadocs Court and helping them to find and move homes.- Helen Carter

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •Anne-Marie goes the extra mile, not only for the customers but the association. She has single handedly helped and is continuing to do so with the decant/move of elderly people moving from St Cadocs sheltered scheme as this building is going to be demolished in the future. She has chosen curtains, carpets and furniture so this enables the vulnerable elderly moving after being settled for numerous years feel safe, comfortable and happy in their new home/homes. She has had to

organise and schedule removals, all on top of doing her other work that include daily visits and monitoring of all the vulnerable elderly that is on her caseload. Well done Anne-Marie, she is an asset to the team and association.

ASB Team Excellent achievements dealing with difficult client group.

Bedsit Conversion Crew Always ready to go extra mile with minimum amount of complaining. - David Maloney

Cath Murray Cath has embodied the MHA values since she started here on a Jobs Growth Wales placement and has encouraged so many people in the time that she has been here. She throws herself into everything she does, never shies away from a challenge, is so encouraging and supportive of every person she meets and goes the extra 100 miles in every area of her work. She is an inspiration. - Jane Grayer

Cheryl Heslop Cheryl is the dictionary definition of delivering values and objectives in her role helping staff to develop.- Geraint House

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Community

Winners

Chris York Chris constantly gives 110% to ensure work is completed on time and to a high standard. Works hard to motivate others and is in a role that is rarely recognised for its great importance to MHA in delivering it’s objectives and maintaining its values.

Clayton Charles For his dedication to the North Team, providing support and motivation for them to provide a sensitive, fair, yet effective rent arrears/collection service.

Community Safety Team For the intensive work carried out to secure an incredible 9 injunctions in one very complicated ASB case. By tackling these difficult issues head on the team are ensuring that we are developing communities where people want to live and have a brilliant quality of life.- David Morris

Community Services Projects Teams For assisting tenants to achieve their ambitions, through employment and inclusion in the various projects.

Corporate Services They have an amazing ‘can do’ attitude and always strive to improve what they are doing with great results. Certainly live the values and promote this attitude with others, are adaptable, flexible and professional and more importantly very supportive to their colleagues.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •The Corporate Services Team always look at how they can help not only achieve their own objectives but how they can contribute to help other departments to ensure that MHA’s overall objectives are met.

Community Services Advice TeamThe CSA Team have gone through an enormous amount of change this year with a number of staff

changes. Despite the challenges this has posed, the team have continued to provide excellent customer service and a portray MHA in a positive light when customers/tenants first contact us. They are also incredibly positive and helpful when other departments need a hand. This includes; admin, research and even providing additional support at community events. - Cheryl Tracy

DSO Carrying out an excellent job in improving tenants living arrangements through the bedsit conversions. The DSO consistently performs well in it’s top KPI’s and provides excellent service to tenants by offering appointments and achieving repairs right first time. The DSO has also improved efficiencies through the use of PDA’s, and measuring any non-productive time and reviewing how this can be improved, as a result imprest stocks are being revised. The DSO has also reduced the CO2 footprint by scheduling work efficiently and reducing the vehicle fleet.

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FinanceThey just do! Without a solid financial footing MHA would not be able to achieve as much as it does now. They also appear to me to be doing a very good and thorough job. - David James

HR Team They are MHA’s unsung heroes however without their expertise in getting the right people into the right posts MHA would not be able to reach their values and objectives. - Julia Rice

Inclusion Team Always happy to help their customers and provide them with the best help and knowledge & succeed well in making tenant’s lives better.

Lorraine Challenger For having endless patience and working alongside development, social services, the OT and most importantly the tenant and his family in securing suitable accommodation. Loz has also built trust with the family and taken away a lot of their anxiety. - Lisa Way

Work & Skills WiseTrying to help people into work.

Nigel Casson Nigel gives 110% at all times to internal and external customers. Nothing is too much trouble. He is a genuine guy who believes in the values of MHA and the objectives and delivers them all of the time and graciously. - Jane Philpott

Rob Carey For the contribution he has made to developing tenant and resident involvement at MHA by putting tenants to the heart of all we do and continuing to think of them first. A real Tenants Champion. - Michele Morgan

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •Rob absolutely believes that our work should reflect our values. He champions that approach in every contact he has with customers, colleagues, SMT, Board and the sector. - Kath Deakin

Systems Team For expanding the payment options available to tenants, with the minimum of fuss, and crucially, minimum of cost.

Terry MacColl Continues to give guidance and assistance regarding the tenants in his neighbourhood. He has helped with consultations and obviously knows his tenants very well.- David Hood

The Neighbourhood Team/Maintenance For constantly going out into communities gathering information required for pilots/projects and other teams to feed into MHA’s values and objectives, realising the importance of gathering the information and not complaining (too much) about it. - Karen Doyle

Work & Skills Wise TeamThey have had fantastic results and are constantly working to improve. I think they are a perfect example of a team that has helped MHA reach their values and objectives.

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Housing Hero There were so many nominations received, here are a selection of what your colleagues said about you:

Alun Weaver Goes out of his way to help tenants outside normal office hours. Always willing to help and assist NO’s in improving communities and homes. - Geraint House

Alan Webber For the difference he has made to the lives of tenants suffering domestic abuse. Alan has shown compassion, empathy and works hard to safeguard and support victims. - Michele Morgan

Alison Smith Regularly receive compliments from tenants who appreciate her pleasant telephone manner and caring attitude.

Angela Zenati Angela has used her holiday time to support and encourage families of military personnel who have lost a loved one. She has pushed herself to confront difficult and traumatic situations and showed immense depths of compassion, empathy and wisdom in supporting both adults and children. She also conquered her own fears by abseiling down from a height to prove to the children that you can do anything if you really want to. She is my hero! - Jane Grayer

Anne-Marie Murray Anne-Marie played a key role in the decanting of Trevor Bowen in order for MHA to progress with their future plans, and single handedly is now doing it all over again with St Cadocs Court. Not only does Anne-Marie sort out the Homesearch and bidding process for clients she monitors them right through to settlement in their next property, which has included physically being present and helping in the move as well as organising and purchasing furniture and fittings.

Caroline Mann She is always willing to help the residents of Cwrt Severn, Caldicot. Caroline brings fresh veg from her garden and eggs for the residents, she helps with the parties etc. takes them to the doc’s if needed and plenty more. - Pauline Massocchi

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Cheryl Tracy Cheryl works tirelessly for the benefit of the community and to promote and nurture MHA’s professional reputation. She is an effective leader and always tries to instil a sense of belonging, encouragement and joy within everyone she interacts with. Well Done Cheryl! - Julie Mckim

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •For all the work Cheryl does with the communities and the projects that she manages. She also puts a lot of effort into the Housing sector and is lovely to get on with. - Philippa Worgan

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •For starting up “Council Homes Chat” to try to counter the awful negative publicity that Social Housing and its tenants were getting from certain TV programmes. - David Morris

Clayton Charles For being extremely helpful always and having good relationships with tenants in order to work well with them. He is always friendly and open to helping others.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •Clayton quickly gets on with everything. Stepping up when needed and always thinking of the needs of the customers and his team. When you tell him ‘well done’ he says ‘well that’s my job’. - Kath Deakin

Dafydd EvansFor always wanting to go that extra mile for people - Lisa Way

David Hood & Terry MacCall For the outstanding work they carried out at St George’s Crescent while the WHQS Environmental works were being completed. Not only did they make a massive difference in how the communal garden at the rear looked, but they engaged with tenants around estate management. - Karen Doyle

Dean Lannen He has settled into his role very well, taking on work from out of his usual role/remit. He has engaged well with all the service users and builds up positive and professional working relationships while promoting the service. Dean has managed to bring down barriers that some individuals were experiencing and turn them into positive outcomes, leaving the individual feeling reassured, supported and having a good experience of the service/the association.

Karen Doyle For her management of the Maintenance Team. Reorganisation of the Maintenance Officers areas and separating the void process. Also for securing the WHQS environmental project and improving the teams’ profile. - David hood

Lester Parry Always willing to help, never says no. - David Maloney

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Naomi Pearson Naomi has settled into her new role in Community Investment with ease. She exudes enthusiasm for her role and has made huge in-roads into the work this year. She has also consistently received good feedback from partners who are involved in projects with her and she always gives 110% with the customer/tenant in mind. As well as tackling a new role, Naomi has also been a positive and generous mentor & role model to newer members of the team. The work Naomi produces is always to a high standard and she is one of our unsung heroes! - Cheryl Tracy

Nigel Casson Carries out all duties diligently. Always shares knowledge and keeps MHA staff informed with regards to voids. - Helen Carter

Peter Thomas Peter is always willing to help and maintains a sense of humour in some difficult situations.

Rob Carey So diplomatic when dealing with difficult tenants and always ensures everyone is involved and gets their opinion heard.

Scott Collier For his constant support and pressure liaising with tenants in Magor while major works have been carried out. - Bridget Gibbs

Sue Kidd Sue has managed the achievement of highly respected accreditation of BS18001 and Red Dragon level 5 for MHA, and developing MHA H&S systems into more robust and professional process.

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DVDA DVD was played showing staff all their hard work and achievements over the last 12 months. This also included staff that had completed courses and achieved qualifications through the year. This is available to view on inhouse for those who were unable to attend or if you would like to watch it again.

Sum Up of the DayDavid Morris, Ian Atkinson and Steve Higginson delivered the sum up of the day, stating how good the event had been and how engaging staff had been with the activities. They all spoke about how high the standard of the objectives were and how some of them can be included in future plans for MHA.

David Morris There was a real buzz about the day and the seminars seemed to go down well being both challenging and thought provoking. The commerciality seminar was especially timely bearing in mind the recent CIH report on Frontline Futures. The report emphasises the need to have a social heart and a commercial head and I think this will be an on-going balancing act for all of us working in housing. There were some excellent suggestions form staff including one which referred to an SMT bond that member so staff could bid for by putting together a business case to pilot their idea. I hope staff found the day enjoyable and useful as we strive to make our communities brilliant places to live.

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Value For Money?The Staff Conference Working Group start planning for this event in July and each year it’s getting harder and harder to come up with inspirational guest speakers, themes and innovative ways of getting those ‘golden nugget’ ideas which feed into the our future plans and aspirations. At the same time, making it fun and interesting. Not an easy task!!!

Having said that we feel that the mission was well and truly accomplished this year and, thanks to you, MHA has some great ideas to take forward and constructive feedback to take on board when planning future events.

It is always difficult to quantify the ‘value’ of such an event but wanted to share your feedback.

On the whole 72% of you enjoyed the day and have told us that it was great to meet new colleagues, put a face to a name, work on a project with someone you wouldn’t normally.

76.5% of you felt the guest speaker was ‘excellent’ and talking to individuals his words and experiences touched many of you.

83.6% enjoyed the food and refreshments (and yes, we have taken on board everyone’s comments about the lack of bacon rolls this year!)

The team activities did become a little ‘sticky’ and quite a few of you felt that there was too much going on, bit disjointed, facilitators could have explained activities better. The original intention when planning was for you guys to take ownership and work together to organise yourselves and the completion of the tasks in hand. However, it is recognised that instructions could have been clearer and perhaps there may have been too many tasks to get through in the time. Live and learn as they say!! However, you all seemed to enjoy building your communities and we had the usual competitive atmosphere which can’t be a bad thing!

Apart from the great opportunity the day presented in getting as many of us together as possible, the ‘worky’ part has certainly given SMT and Board food for thought. Feedback from the workshops has been extremely positive (64.6% of you thought it was excellent/good) and it has clearly re-awakened some creativity and positivity amongst us all. It was also interesting to hear that one director has set a department task to assess measurement techniques for repairs reporting following the lean workshop. It reminds us that this isn’t a one-off exercise every year. Ideas and suggestions are welcomed throughout the year and whether this be team or individual ideas, get those messages through via GEMs, one to ones and/or team meetings.

If you have had a ‘golden nugget’ idea since the workshops and would like to share, or give additional feedback about the event or ideas for future events, would like to volunteer or generally would like to comment please get in touch.

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“Llwynu Lane offers luxury living in

a connected and supportive community. A safe but

vibrant place that provides everything you need and

more.”

Limetree Avenue “A vibrant, young

community with space to play - a warm, safe place for you to stay...

#safe”

“Clean Green Community

-Energy Efficient Homes-Green Spaces

-Family Homes and PV-Local School

-Community Centre-Low cost Housing

-Doctors health centre”

“Llanwenarth View is a happy, modern, safe and energy

efficient place to live #living the dream”

“Brynglas - A friendly

neighbourhood with everything you need on your doorstep! #yourperfecthome”

“A right royal welcome awaits you”

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“Quality Street”

“#New homes. Commit to your

families future live in Oakley Way!, Quality homes for a quality

future.”

“An integrated sustainable

community with a social conscience”

“Our street has a pub, with decent booze and decent grub - Kings Fee”

“Pack ‘em up, Pack ‘em in. Let

the fighting begin”

“Derwen Way - An exclusive development

built specifically for low cost home ownership”

MHA0214

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latest events and activities we have going on

within their communities.

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