Believe Housing Corporate Plan 2020 by Kieron Goldsborough

corporate plan - 2020 update we believe in a life without barriers

introduction We have big ambitions as set out in this plan. And while we are working to deliver this, we have identified the key areas that we will focus on to measure our success. What will success look like? We have set ourselves stretching targets in these areas so that collectively we have something we are striving to achieve. These are:

80%

98.5%

£2m

of customer-led transactions will be self-serve

will be our Net Promoter Score

or more rent will be collected

will have been delivered in social value

believehousing.co.uk

Our corporate plan was developed to cover the period from 2019 to 2022. In the first part of this period, we have learned a lot and have taken the opportunity to reflect on: the plan we had put in place; how we share this with our colleagues, customers and stakeholders to communicate our ambitions ; and what steps we need to take to make sure we achieve these.

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who we are believe housing is one of the largest housing associations in the north east of England.

We manage around 18,000 homes

Covering more than 862 square miles from the rural Pennines in the west, through the centre of Durham and across to Seaham’s coastline.

Employing over 540 people, with a thriving apprenticeship programme

We take pride in putting our customers at the heart of what we do and making them part of our journey in providing better housing services, homes and communities.

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our story so far Fantastic progress has been made towards delivering our customer promises. We’ve completed hundreds of new homes, with lots more on the way. We’ve developed a customer app to allow tenants to access our services 24 hours a day. And we continue to invest in digital technology to make a real difference to customers’ lives.

Our vision has remained constant we believe in a life without barriers.

We launched believe housing in April 2019, with a further ambition to push the boundaries in customer services and create outstanding communities, reflecting our new values and uniting our people behind a common purpose.

Looking to 2022 and beyond, we’re continuing to challenge ourselves.

our values At believe housing we agree that our core values are simple. We all agree to: Do the right thing: For our people For our customers For our business.

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at a glance In 2019, believe housing was formed. Built on strong foundations, in our first nine months we invested ...

£14.3 million

£0.4 million

£23.8 million

in developing our housing stock

in community programmes

in new build programmes providing 250 new homes

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vision and our mission

Values Our values were developed by our people and are considered every day when making decisions.

r people, for our cu u o sto for me : r ing bring new ideas to the table

ess busin our for s,

Our vision for this corporate plan We will be recognised as a market leader in the housing sector, underpinned by strong foundations. We set the bar for customer satisfaction, people experience and innovation. We are renowned for the role we play in sustaining thriving communities and our peers regularly look to us for inspiration.

do th e

If everyone expects more, they can achieve more, and we can transform lives together. It is this power of ‘more’ that will let people realise what is possible - change perceptions, raise aspirations and create inclusive, vibrant communities.

rig ht th

We believe in life without barriers

it’s a group effort, we all have a voice

add value through everything you do

give respect get it back

there’s always a way

bring solutions be ready to open your eyes, your ears and your mind

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our strategic pillars Our overarching objectives are linked to our values and form three strategic pillars with targets mapped against our corporate scorecard to measure our performance.

believe customer experience

believe people experience

believe business experience

Deliver a great customer experience consistent, reliable, quality, taking responsibility

Innovative and creative organisation - don’t stand still

Respecting and protecting our planet

Collaborating with others and recognising our success

Being a sound and secure business ready to take opportunities

Building our relationship with customers Creating thriving places and homes people want to live in

Invest in and celebrate our people

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our culture The promises we have made to our customers and the objectives we’ve set ourselves against the strategic pillars can only be delivered if we have the right culture. Two years ago we started pilot projects to look at how we could work differently or, as it’s become known, the ‘believe way’. Fundamental to this approach is giving our people the tools, trust, freedom and autonomy to make decisions about how and where they work so that they can deliver great services for our customers. The recent accommodation move has been a real catalyst for change but working the believe way is about much more than where and when people work, it’s also about what we do and how we do it.

In November 2019 we shared our 2022 vision with all of our people and asked them to give us their feedback about how our culture might need to evolve and adapt to deliver it through our first ever culture audit. With a fantastic 91% response rate we are now working with our team of catalysts to create an action plan, which will develop our culture to unlock the potential of all our people so that we can achieve our aspirations.

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how we operate For us to succeed and deliver the ambitious activities and objectives we have set out within this plan, we need to have robust and clear arrangements in place. Our vision was set by all of us, our board and employees together, and we all have a role to play in achieving success. Our board members have clear oversight of our activities and help us to make effective decisions. This structure was developed to ensure we can offer the very best for our customers, deliver on our objectives and can deal swiftly with emerging regulatory and legal changes. In the past 12 months we have reviewed and strengthened our Senior Leadership Team so that we have the right skills, capacity, knowledge and strengths to ensure the delivery of the organisation’s ambitions.

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the voice of our customers Our Values Group ensures that in addition to all the wider engagement we carry out, customers are directly part of our governance framework and are using the customer voice effectively to inform and influence Board and the wider organisation on key areas of improvement. Our customers helped shape the first plan for believe housing and we have kept this version of the plan true to their priorities and ideas. We have built on this using feedback from our satisfaction surveys including our annual survey, focus groups, customer journey-mapping and our Values Group work to inform our refresh. We created this plan recognising that the decisions we make and the plans we put in place have an impact on our people, our customers, communities and partners. We have continued to listen and use the feedback to shape our ideas.

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external challenges affecting our business The world in which we operate is constantly evolving. To help us predict what might impact our ability to deliver our ambitions, or could lead to opportunities we need to be ready to take, we have considered several factors when developing our plans. Known as the TIDES framework, the key external areas of technology, institutional change, demographics, environment and ethics, and shifting societal values were considered.

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technology

institutional change

demographics

environment and ethics

shifting societal values

Increased use and evolution of internet of things

Impact post Brexit not known, leading to an uncertain economic outlook

People generally living longer and having fewer children leading to an ageing population

Increasing challenges worldwide to tackle climate change

Shifts away from the traditional family makeup

Increased expectations from customers of businesses to be able to interact electronically

Majority government now in place, need to watch emerging policy decisions and relationship with housing sector

More people living alone, leading to social isolation and affordability issues

In UK, specific requirement to replace gas by 2025

Different expectations of a ‘career’ or pathways and work-life balance perspective

Progression of AI and automation and its potential to significantly disrupt ways of working

Public’s trust in government and public organisations continues to be at an all-time low at the same time as populism is increasing

Continued health inequalities and differences in life opportunities

Challenges of affordability for renewable heating sources

Evidence of growing tensions, and polarised views alongside pressures on some public services leading to perceived increased tolerance of low level antisocial behaviour

Continuing risk of cyber attacks and risks to data security

Disruptors entering market changing the material structure of businesses

Increasingly diverse workforce with young people entering the market and people retiring later due to changes in state pension age

Cooling of properties also likely to be a challenge as temperatures increase

Focus on creating a fair and equitable organisation

Advances in connectivity and our ability to utilise it (5G)

Workforce have different expectations including increased flexibility and purpose rather than salary

Ethical and sustainable construction practices increasingly expected

Growing need for society and community support for the most vulnerable

Development of modern methods of construction

Skills shortages in some roles and trades leading to a pressure to attract and retain talent

Local impact including increased risk of flooding in communities

Value of home ownership increasing again and element of choice for people

Social media now the main source of communication and information for people

Continued challenges for young people to enter the housing market

Increasingly important to be seen as an ethical organisation with clear purpose

Role of social media in sharing information, reviews and views

Ethical funding options becoming available

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risk management and strategy development To ensure our corporate plan is robust and realistic we have reviewed our strategic risks and opportunities. A summary of the key areas follows: customer experience

strategic risk

people experience

Agile business Deliver a great customer experience - consistent, reliable, quality, taking responsibility

Cyber threat and business resilience Governance and compliance

strategic risk

business experience

Agile business Innovative and creative organisation don’t stand still

Cyber threat and business resilience Robust financial management

Political uncertainty Respecting and protecting our planet

Reputation

Cyber threat and business resilience Governance and compliance

Robust financial management Collaborating with others and recognising our success

Data quality

Robust financial management Data quality

Robust financial management

Agile business Being a sound and secure business ready to take opportunities

Political uncertainty Robust financial management Governance and compliance

Asset investment and growth Creating thriving places and homes people want to live in

Asset investment and growth

Data quality

Agile business Building our relationship with customers

strategic risk

Agile business Invest in and celebrate our people

Robust financial management

Reputation

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aligning our resources to the plan We continually look to deliver more with the resources we have so we can achieve the best outcomes for our customers and our people. Our approach to value for money begins with our vision and values. Reflected in our corporate objectives, our vision and values ensure our work always aligns with what we want to achieve. We have developed key strategic projects which are measured against key performance metrics, enabling us to monitor our aims and whether we have achieved the outcomes of the strategic projects and therefore our corporate objectives. Close monitoring of our performance against these metrics is fundamental to understanding the progress we’re making and to allow us to quickly address any areas of underperformance. Ultimately, we believe that we will have delivered value for money if we have maximised the delivery of our corporate objectives with the resources we have available.

our vision We believe in life without barriers If everyone expects more they can achieve more and we can transform lives together. It is this power of ‘more’ that will let people realise what is possible – change perceptions, raise aspirations and create inclusive, vibrant communities.

our values At believe housing we agree that our core values are simple. We all agree to: Do the right thing: For our people For our customers For our business.

believehousing.co.uk

our key projects for 2020-2022 Setting plans, even just for three years ahead, can be difficult when we are operating in a world with significant levels of uncertainty and the speed of change. However, we have set out some key areas where we will focus our energy and resources to take believe housing forward and build on some of the successes already achieved.

believe customer experience

believe people experience

believe business experience

Digital delivery and customer hub

People experience and culture

Green plan

Customer journey and sustainment

Corporate social responsibility

Service charge review

Property and repairs improvement

Data strategy and data warehouse

Customer experience lettings and marketing

Placemaking

Homes for 2050

believehousing.co.uk

believe customer experience Our customers consistently tell us that staff keeping their promises, treating people fairly and the way we deal with repairs and maintenance are key drivers of their satisfaction with us. In our latest annual survey, 86% of our customers were satisfied with our services and our Net Promoter Score was 48.5%. As part of our plan last year we had set ourselves a target to reach over 53 by 2022. While our position is very positive, and our satisfaction places us among the top housing organisations, we want to continue to raise this and tackle those things our customers say we should improve on. We also know that increasingly people want to access services at a time, and in a way, which is most convenient to them: with over 50% of our customers using the internet daily to carry out other activities. We will continue to develop our services to enable even more people to access them online and using traditional communication methods.

86% >53 target

of our customers were satisfied with our services

Net Promoter Score

48.5 actual

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believe customer experience We have transformed the way we engage with our customers. And over the last 12 months we have gathered feedback from a much wider range of customers who have told us about their real-life experience of getting a service from us. The most common themes from this are to communicate well, keep people informed and try and deal with an issue at the earliest opportunity.

How we deal with repairs is always a key area for customers. With more than 65,000 repairs completed every year, we know that delivery of this service can have a major impact on people. In the last year we have completed our plan to bring all our repairs services in-house and introduced a new repairs policy so that we have the control to deliver a great, consistent service. We now need to take the opportunity to build on this and create a great experience.

In the last 12 months we have reflected on how we work with customers to help them sustain their tenancies, this is a key area for them to enjoy a stable home, and for us where this fails there are significant costs to the business. Having listened to feedback, we will work over the next year to try new ways of working to support people and reduce the number of tenancies that fail.

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believe customer experience We want to plan for the needs of our customers and communities both today and in the future. We are committed to delivering the 700 properties by 2022 promised in Durham County Council’s original offer to customers with over 250 delivered so far. Looking forward we are defining the properties we want to develop for 2050. We are responding to climate change to create a new build development strategy based on robust data to set out the type of homes we need and where these need to be as part of our future place-based approach.

We will also build on our Community Investment activity, learning from our experiences to offer projects and support as part of our place-based approach. This includes working with community organisations to deliver activities that meet the needs of the areas and the individuals living in them. We will develop our approach to employability support to find ways of supporting those already in work to progress and access sustainable employment to help them manage better in our homes.

We will develop a clear understanding of the profile and expectations of our communities for it is only by listening and working in partnership with others that we will be able to deliver the type of properties and support they will require from us now and in the future.

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Increased proportion of enquiries dealt with at first point of contact

We will measure the proportion of customer-led transactions that are self-serve to reach our target of 80%

how will we measure success? 5% or less of tenancies ending in less than 12 months

going forward We are creating a digital customer portal, which will improve efficiency by enabling first point resolution for customer enquiries

More than 700 new homes delivered

Proportion of social value achieved from our community investment activity £2million

Net Promoter Score - 53 Customers Satisfaction Score - 89%

Enhanced self-serve opportunities will enable even more customers to interact with us at a time and in a way which suits their lifestyle

Improving the customer experience, which is focused on sustaining tenancies

Create a customerfocused, efficient and cost-effective repairs service that provides a great, consistent and modern offer

Develop a new build development strategy taking into account the key areas outlined in this plan

Continue to develop and evolve our approach to community investment and employability to make sure we’re having the biggest impact in our communities

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believe people experience Our business can’t work without committed, enthusiastic employees and our people experience underpins our ability to deliver on all of our ambitions within this plan. In our annual STAR survey, the attitude of our employees always scores very highly so we know we already have great people working for us.

As an organisation we are committed to enabling our people to be in the right place at the right time and out in our communities rather than confined by traditional office restrictions. We will continue to embed the believe way of working to make sure that we are operating in the best way for our customers, our people and our business.

In order to succeed, we need to create the right environment for people to work at their best, invest in and recognise the great work our people already do for us and create a strong employer brand so that people with the right cultural fit want to come and join us. In delivering a great people experience we will transform our people processes and services simplifying things so that we can focus our energies on making a difference.

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believe people experience We will focus on creating an inclusive workplace so that everyone can see the part they can play in our journey and raise aspirations of people about how they can succeed and thrive in our organisation. We have already won a number of awards and been shortlisted for others in the last 12 months, but we want to build on this and continue to look for opportunities to share the work we do.

We also want to maximise the impact that our people have in communities. We will focus energy on creating awareness and opportunities to get involved in communities so that there is something for everyone and our own communities can see the benefit of our contributions.

We also recognise the opportunities that working in collaboration with others can provide. Working with a range of organisations such as the fire service and the armed forces has helped to strengthen our position in the community. But we will not rest on our laurels and will continue to strengthen these networks to make more of an impact and maximise our expertise. This will include the local authority, health services, police, other housing providers and a range of other organisations. Through this approach we will help to tackle some of the wider issues affecting our customers’ lives and impacting on their ability to maintain their tenancies with us.

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Gaining external accreditations to recognise our transformed approach

how will we measure success? High levels of engagement in culture audit

Measure through Best Companies and Glassdoor

135 people participating in volunteering opportunities by 2022

going forward Transform the people experience from joining believe through to leaving the business

Embed our values and culture in all aspects of the people experience

Successfully roll out the believe way of working to create benefits for employees, customers and the business

Build an exciting employer brand so that we attract the best talent to believe

Look for opportunities to share our successes and learning with others

Enhance our learning offer to employees

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believe business experience We have made great progress in the last 12 months to transform some areas of our business and show the great results that can come from working in the believe way. This means making sure that we have the right people working in the right way at the right time. Our journey into our new accommodation will help us to move services across the business to work in this way and creating exciting opportunities for people to collaborate and integrate. But most importantly it means our infrastructure enables us to utilise new technology to work even more effectively with our customers and go out to them, rather than them coming to see us.

looking at emerging technologies, ways of working and different ways to deliver our range of services. This means thinking about the best way to deliver services to our current customers and looking to the future to understand who our potential customers are, and what their different needs might be. To build on this and be ready to take opportunities as they occur, we need to make sure that we are operating well, that we understand and manage our financial position effectively and have clear and effective governance arrangements in place.

We are operating in a world where we are seeing rapid and significant changes in all aspects of life. We know that in order to keep up with this change we need to create a culture of innovation where we are always

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believe business experience To deliver our plan we must remain focused on our objectives. We will consider what the homes of 2050 will need to be like to meet consumer expectations alongside energy regulations and deal with the impact of climate change. We will consider the materials we use in our new build programmes and maintenance programmes to reduce our environmental impact wherever possible. We will build on the reduction we have already made in our general business miles to make reductions in our fleet mileage. We will also make sure we do not lose sight of the impact on our customers and consider how we are supporting them to deal with these issues. Through these areas alongside a range of other activities, we continue to play our role in tackling environmental issues.

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Achievement of Investors in Environment accreditation and SHIFT Benchmarking

how will we measure success?

Development of clear framework of service charges

Reduce our business waste

going forward Benchmarking our environmental performance with others and make significant steps to reduce our environmental impact and gain Investors in the Environment accreditation

Specifications for new properties

Improve the energy efficiency of our existing properties

Review our approach to service charges across the organisation to ensure these are fit for purpose and consistent

Achieve Energy rating D for existing properties

Effective delivery of our corporate scorecard and our targets

Reduction in fleet miles

Identify solutions for our new build properties to deal with the pending removal of gas

Reduce our carbon footprint through a range of methods Become a datadriven organisation

Test different technologies and identify how they could be used to support our customers or help us work more efficiently

Create a data warehouse

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our key projects believe customer experience

believe people experience

believe business experience

Digital delivery and customer hub

People experience and culture

Green plan

Customer journey and sustainment

Corporate social responsibility

Service charge review

Property and repairs improvement

Data strategy and data warehouse

Customer experience - lettings and marketing

Placemaking

Homes for 2050

believehousing.co.uk

How do we achieve our goals? We will use the drive, commitment, passion, expertise of our employees across the business to develop projects, actions and milestones to help us achieve the ambitions we have set out in this plan. We will report progress to the Board on a six-monthly basis.

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Call: 0300 1311 999 Email: hello@believehousing.co.uk Visit: www.believehousing.co.uk

believehousing

@believehousing

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