ER News July 2023

Welcome & Farewell

No starters this month

Leavers

Susanne Gray

Cameron Franks

Jack Curtis

Mike Matthews

Welcome to your East Boro staff newsletter

I’m always happy to include your birthdays, anniversaries, births and good news stories.

If you would like to contribute to YOUR staff newsletter in any way please contact me, sue.hole@aster.co.uk

Do you know about our ‘Recommend-a-friend’ scheme?

This year our sheltered tenants’ meetings are being rebranded as Roadshows. Our tenants can voice their concerns and ask questions. They can also use the platform to thank us for the work we do.

Our tenants wanted to thank Aneta Ehlert for the excellent job she does as Caretaker/Cleaner. Well done Aneta!

Any colleague who recommends someone for a job with East Boro, and they are subsequently appointed to the position, will get £100 as a thank you from us.

They will also receive a further £100 when the colleague has been in post for one year. So if you have any friends or family members that are currently looking for a new job, why not tell them about the vacancies below so they can join our friendly team at East Boro.

We currently have vacancies for:

Caretaker/Cleaner in the Dorchester/Poundbury area – 16.5 hours

Relief Caretaker/Cleaner in the Weymouth area – 16.5 hours (Above two posts can be combined)

Relief Caretaker/Cleaners in both Poole and Dorchester areas – hours by agreement

Gardener in both the Weymouth and Dorchester areas – 16 hours All days and times by mutual agreement. For further information or to request an application form please email Bianca bjones@ebht.org.uk

Our colleague and leadership development offer

This offer provides you with the practical tools, resources and knowledge to enable your growth, learning and development. It aims to help develop transformational change and provides the core skills and knowledge to enable high performing and engaged teams. To find out more, take a look at this interactive brochure.

We have completed the move from Social Care TV to Aster’s Learn system and you now have access. You have been allocated key learning associated with your role and there is a ‘Welcome pathway’ to complete. You may have completed some of the modules, however we’re asking colleagues to undertake refresher training.

You can access Learn via the links on Asternet. We also have a ‘How to video guide’ to give you an overview of the platform here . Social Care TV will change to Grey Matters for the Weymouth Care & Support Team and the swap date will be confirmed to all Team Members., however the Talent, Learning and Organisational Development team will have an extract of training carried out to date, should you need details. You can ignore any further emails from Social Care TV.

If you have any questions, please contact the Talent, Learning and Organisational Development team EEandOL@aster.co.uk

Scaling to new heights in the Inside Housing Top 50 Biggest Builders Survey

Inside Housing, (one of our main sector publications) has ranked Aster Group’s development programme in the top ten of its ‘Top 50 Biggest Builders Survey 2023’. We’ve jumped seven places since last year, up from 14, coming in at number seven. Alongside making the top ten for the number of homes we completed in the last financial year, we were also ranked ninth in the ‘Top 10 completions as percentage of total stock’ and sixth for the ‘Top 10 low-cost homeownership’.

This great achievement comes off the back of a record-breaking year for the Development team which saw us deliver over 1,300 new homes. This is our highest ever annual total. You can read more about this here.

Commenting on making the top ten, Amanda Williams, Chief Investment Officer, said: “This is such an incredible achievement for the team. More so when you consider the very challenging backdrop of circumstances, including build cost inflation pressures and an overloaded planning system that we’ve had to contend with.

“Despite this, we handed over more keys than ever to much needed new affordable homes across the south of England and in London. This effort is clear from the leap we’ve made up the charts, from 14 to seven in this annual survey. It is recognised across the sector as a barometer of how well Development programmes are faring. It’s the dedication of the team and our partners that have made this possible.

“Looking ahead we’re excited about our pipeline of activity which looks really healthy. We’ve secured the maximum amount of homes we currently have the budget for – which equates to an impressive 4,000 homes. This all helps us make our contribution towards tackling the housing shortage, which we know continues to be a challenge across the country.”

Radish These red mustard relatives bring a distinct and delicious crunch to any dish that includes them – usually salads. Find a spot with well-draining soil and watch your radishes shoot out of the ground.

Lettuce Many varieties lend themselves well to planting in August. Firstly, check that the variety you’ve got is suited to sowing this late in the year. If it is, plant out seeds in a spot that gets full sunlight, and where the soil can retain moisture. Then, from September onwards, cover your seedlings with a closed cloche.

Overwintering Onions Growing your own onions ensures a regular supply. You’ll be amazed at how flavourful freshlychopped onion from your garden can be.

Strawberries Planting out your rooted strawberry runners should pave the way for a bountiful harvest later. If you’re not familiar with rooted strawberry runners, this is a way to propagate a strawberry plant which involves isolating a runner. When the runner finds a suitable spot in the soil it roots. Once the root system is strong enough you can cut the cord linking it to its mother.

An update on integration

As many of you will know, there has been lots of activity going on behind the scenes in recent months to continue our work towards integrating EBHT, C&C and Enham into the Aster Group.

The hard work of colleagues from across the Group and our joining organisations is already having a great impact on our ability to deliver lasting benefits for our customers, communities, and colleagues. However, we know that there have been parts of integration that will have been frustrating for some of you who have been involved. Integration is never straight-forward, but over the past few months we’ve been reviewing our approach to make sure we can learn from the work we’ve done already.

What have we achieved so far?

• All EBHT, C&C and Enham properties are on Aster systems , and repairs are being raised by either joining organisations or by Aster colleagues

• We’ve successfully integrated our Finance systems with EBHT and C&C, and are close to integrating Enham into our Finance system too

• The first Customer Data Extract from C&C’s CX housing system is now complete and is being tested

• We will be manually entering Enham and EBHT customer information into our systems

• 90% of C&C’s contractors have been onboarded into Aster systems for repairs and maintenance

• All EBHT, C&C and Enham colleagues now have access to elements of The Aster Offer, including The Aster Way Awards

• EBHT and C&C colleagues have been able to access Perkbox, Bupa , and our wellbeing programmes for some time, with Enham set to receive these benefits from September

• EBHT and C&C colleagues have access to Asternet

• EBHT, C&C and Enham colleagues are invited to join quarterly Group collab calls , and leaders from all joining organisations were invited to join the 2023 Aster Leaders events

Our approach to integration moving forward

To help us on our journey, Executive Board have agreed that all decisions relating to integration will sit with them. To make sure we’ve got a joined-up approach, all integration activity across EBHT, Enham and C&C will be overseen by a single Integration Overview Group, which will be supported by six workstreams. This new structure clearly sets out who is responsible for each area of integration and makes sure the right people are involved in relevant decision making. You can find out more about this here (please note that the structure is under constant review).

Next steps

Our ambition is to integrate all systems and services by November 2023 . We’re also going to be carrying out work to understand how all our brands are perceived by colleagues, customers and other stakeholders. This will help us make an informed decision about the best approach to take with the multiple brands within the Group moving forward. We’ll be keeping you regularly updated on the progress from the Integration Overview Group and integration workstreams. In the meantime, you can see the rough timeframes we’re aiming to work towards here

Colleague Voice listening to your feedback

As part of The Aster Offer, this year we’re going to be investing in getting to really understand what it feels like to be part of the Aster Group today. Since the pandemic, the way we work and communicate with each other has really changed and in that time multiple businesses, each with their own cultures and ways of doing things, have come together

Over the coming months, we’ll going to be asking colleagues for their feedback in lots of different ways. This feedback will help us understand what’s working well and what we need to improve.

Our culture audit

Rather than running an annual survey, we’ve invited a random sample of colleagues to take part in a much more in-depth project which will get under the skin of what’s going well and what isn’t.

A small number of EBHT colleagues have already been included in this project, but it would be great to include more. If you’d like to have your say, we’re looking for EBHT colleagues to take part in virtual feedback sessions on Tuesday 8 August and Thursday 10 August. Please email sarah.palmer@aster.co.uk with details of the times you’d be available for a 30 minute call on Tuesday 8 and/or Thursday 10 August. We’ll be sharing the full findings from the culture audit in September.

Our colleague surveys

We’re going to adapt our survey approach to focus on specific milestones such as starting a new role or moving teams. The data we get from these surveys will help us understand what we need to keep doing and what we need to improve to make sure every step of our colleague experience is as positive as possible.

We’ll also be sharing a short survey with a sample of colleagues each month, with everyone being invited to respond at least once over the course of the year, meaning we’ll have a live view of engagement on a rolling basis throughout the year. We’ll give quarterly updates to senior leaders and all colleagues on the key findings from our surveys.

The Big Conversation – our workspaces

There are multiple generations working together at Aster, and we know that what attracts and motivates everyone is different. As part of this, what we need from our workspaces is continually evolving, whether this is an office location, a work van, a desk at home, or somewhere else.

Now that we’ve set out our workspace model , over the summer we’ll be working with one of our inc entrepreneurs, Bibo, understand how our workspaces can help create a great colleague experience. To do this, colleagues who take part will be asked to submit five photographs that they feel show something about their current workspace(s). The team at Bibo will analyse all the photos, and will then run a series of face to face workshops with colleagues in September/October to explore feelings about how we use workspaces at the moment, and to think about what our workspaces need to offer in the future. This will include a focus on how we can come together and connect in the best possible ways, whether that’s virtually or physically. If you’d like to take part in this or find out more, please get in touch with sarah.palmer@aster.co.uk

Other ways for you to share your feedback

• The Transformation Network is a great way to share your feedback and input into Programme Experience, with groups meeting every other month to share feedback on our Customer and Colleague activity. If you’d like to find out more, please chloe.patterson@aster.co.uk

• For some concerns, it’s right to use our Speak Up process – you can find about that here.

s on

By

From freshening up our perspective to helping us feel in control, here are five surprising ways laughter supports our wellbeing. They say that laughter is the best medicine, but it turns out there might be some solid evidence behind that old saying.

In research from the University of Warwick, researchers Professor Stephanie Schnurr and Yanyan Li have uncovered the ways that laughter and humour can be used in our daily lives, in order to support better levels of wellbeing.

What they saw was that research that looked specifically at laughter and humour in the workplace and in health-related scenarios showed that they are able to alleviate worry, diminish feelings of isolation, and also offer people a sense of control over their mental and emotional state.

1. It can help us find the positive side 2. We are able to take back control 3. Stress relief

4. We can gain a new perspective 5. It brings us together

Read more on happiful.com

Laughter has been scientifically proven to boost our wellbeing ...here’s how it works

Kathryn Wheeler on happyful.com