News roundup - February/March 2020

February/March 2020

News Roundup C om i n g s o on !

As you’ll know, some exciting changes are happening shortly to the way we let our properties across the Tees Valley.

These changes have come about because our customers told us they want to be able to apply for a home in a more user-friendly and consistent way.

So, we’ve listened to what they have to say and created a new and exciting digital experience called My Thirteen.

Coming in spring, we’ll be launching My Thirteen at www.mythirteen.co.uk, alongside a new Lettings Policy and the Tees Valley Lettings Partnership’s (TVLP) new digital platform called Tees Valley Home Finder.

My Thirteen will allow us to: •

Deliver a great customer service by offering an improved property search, where it’s easier to view and apply for homes and gives customers control of how and when they choose to contact us

• Make things quicker and easier, including tenancy sign ups and the way we manage paperwork • Give customers the ability to manage their homes all in one place, including repairs, rent statements and more.

To find out more, take a look at the recent My Thirteen update on Channel.

In a nutshell, it means our customers and future customers will be able to do a range of things to manage their homes, all in one place with access via multiple channels.

What’s inside this issue • A message from Ian Wardle • STAR survey results are in

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• Behind the scenes with the schedulers • Apprentices continue to mark milestones

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A message from CEO Ian Wardle Dear colleague, I wanted to take some time to update you about some planned management changes at Thirteen and why they’re happening, following discussions with our board and senior team.

As a business we’ve solidly delivered a number of planned phases over the last four years, from dealing with issues we had to fix, to making improvements, to embedding those changes and improvements, to last year’s phase of stabilising and pushing performance.

get a real return on our investment with the lowest pull on our resources, such as increasing digitisation to boost customer satisfaction and in turn make efficiencies.

We’re a complex organisation with a lot going on and we need to be clear on what we should stop, where we should continue and where we should really push on as a business.

To do this, we need to ensure we have the capacity, resilience and focus to deliver into the future and that’s why we’re making some changes to the leadership team and ensuring the right services are in the right place, where they deliver the most effectively.

We’ve made great progress and that’s thanks to you. What we do is simple - people need homes, want them in good repair and some people need a bit of extra support – and All the current executive directors are staying with us, your commitment to making a difference for our customers although what they do will be changing – and I’ve also is continuing to help deliver – and deliver well. created two new roles.

Now we’ve taken some time to reflect, look at our future direction and make sure we’re fit to face the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Where we are now We’ve really taken time to future-proof the business, including consolidating the landlords and care and support arm and introducing our new operating model.

Leadership team changes Heather will become Executive Director – Business Change and Improvement

Heather Ashton, our current Executive Director of Resources, will be We’re financially strong and our operational performance focusing on Service and satisfaction are also improving so we’re now really Improvement. This will well placed to deliver more improvements for tenants and involve further streamlining customers over the coming years. of our operations with However we’ve had 11 years of austerity and we know there colleagues across Thirteen are lots of things we can’t fix, such as deprivation in our to make improvements to the way we work. Heather will neighbourhoods and meeting the gap in public services work on improving services for customers and operational left by funding cuts. decision-making to find efficiencies and drive down costs What we can do though, is provide services with the needs and further deliver value for money. of the customer at the heart - and do this exceptionally This team will harness ideation, insight, horizon scanning, well. With that in mind, we need to change ourselves as a policy development, programme and project planning, business – because we can’t deliver by demanding change intelligence and data to support service improvement to from others. meet customers and colleagues needs. Heather will move forward our digital road map to streamline, automate our What’s next processes and use demand management techniques.

Our strategic plan largely isn’t changing but we need to The team will continue to harness our talent through understand what really makes a difference and where we formal succession planning, workforce planning and

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organisational development, as well as leading on our colleague wellbeing programme. Through various media types, Heather will lead on promoting and protecting Thirteen’s reputation and policy interests.

Russell will become Executive Director – Assets Russell Thompson, our Executive Director of Property Services, will be focusing on property compliance, asset optimisation, investment planning and delivery.

Chris will become Executive Director – Business Growth Chris Smith, our current Executive Director of Service Delivery and Development, will focus on business growth. This will include leading on strategic partnerships with Homes England, local authorities, health organisations, universities, the community and voluntary sector.

Chris will identify and develop bids and secure new business ventures, contracts, partnerships and commissioned/contracted services and work with partners to create housing and service solutions for their housing, support and care needs.

This team will also lead on the physical shaping of neighbourhoods and optimisation of our services and products around our existing homes, new homes and neighbourhoods including community development/social regeneration.

Craig will become Managing Director Thirteen Developments

Russell will lead our new environmental management programme, focusing on decarbonisation, sustainability and climate change adaptation. The team will also lead our facilities management.

I’ve also created two new Leadership Team executive level roles to provide more capacity and focus, which will be released for recruitment in the next week or so.

These will be: Executive Director – Customer Services This role will focus on customer experience, including neighbourhood operations, repairs and support services, ensuring these services meet customers’ housing and support needs and going beyond to really delight our customers.

Chief Financial Officer This role will manage the financial affairs of Thirteen, lead on governance and act as Company Secretary.

Existing Service Directors

Craig Taylor, our Managing Director of Thirteen Homes, will bring together our three teams of the Affordable Homes Delivery Team, Thirteen Homes and Gus Robinson Developments into one Development Team. They will support the delivery of new affordable homes, shared ownership, market sale, and independent living schemes.

Our existing service directors, who report to the Leadership Team, are not affected other than some possible changes to their responsibilities.

They will provide construction services for other organisations and will operate through our brands of Thirteen, Thirteen Homes and Gus Robinson Developments. Steve Bell, MD of Gus Robinson Developments, will oversee all construction within Thirteen Group and for Gus Robinson Developments.

Service directors and managers have already been talked through the changes in more detail and they have my presentation, so feel free to speak to them – but also please don’t hesitate to contact me directly with any questions.

It’s still very much business as usual and there will be no interruption to any of our important frontline services for customers and neighbourhoods across our operating area.

It’s vital that we have your involvement in making improvements for customers and the business, so we’ll be keeping you up to date and asking for your thoughts along the way.

Best wishes, Ian Wardle Group Chief Executive

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STAR survey - the results are in!

As you’ll remember, late last year we did lots of Some results indicate we’re pretty well on par with the promotion around the great work you all do to ensure previous year. customers are at the heart of everything we do and say they are happy we listen to making sure they receive the best service from us. their views and act upon them Through initiatives such as Mission: Possible, Customer (2018: 75%) Service Week and the Brick Awards we recognised of our customers say they are some great examples of how day in and day out you’re happy with the quality of their home delivering a great customer experience providing (2018: 91%) products and services that give our customers and us reasons to be proud. of our customers say their home We’re continuing to hear some fantastic examples of the provides value for money great work you all do, and we’re pleased to let you know (2018: 92%) that our STAR survey results reflect this.

However, just 75% of customers say they are happy their The STAR survey (Survey of Tenants and Residents) service charge provides value for money compared with gives our customers the chance to tell us what they 88% in 2018. That’s a significant drop so we’ll be looking think about the quality of our homes, repairs and into the reasons why. maintenance, how well we listen and how well we look after the neighbourhoods they live in.

We know there is still more we can do, and we look forward to building on these results next year!

For the latest STAR survey, over 1,300 contacts were made by telephone, email and web with customers. Now If you have any questions or would like more the results are in, they mostly confirm that customers information, please contact Michael Cook in the believe we’re continuing to improve on a performance performance and service improvement team. which is already rated high.

75% 88% 91%

89% 87% 84%

say they are happy with the service we provide (2018: 87%) say they are happy with their neighbourhood (2018: 86%) say they are happy with repairs to their home (2018: 82%)

Customer Engagement team shortlisted for national award Congratulations and good luck to our Customer Engagement team who’ve been shortlisted in a national award for their innovative Customer Involvement Framework by Tpas, England’s leading tenant engagement experts.

We’re delighted we’ve been shortlisted at this year’s Tpas Awards 2020, for ‘Outstanding Tenant Engagement – Over 10,000 homes’ which recognises the fantastic work we do with our involved customers.

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The Tpas Award for Outstanding Tenant Engagement looks for examples of using insight and data from tenants to improve services, of empowering tenants and communities to co-design/co-provide services and for projects or strategies that ensure that the tenant voice is genuinely heard, listened to and acted upon at all levels of the organisation.

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Manchester on 27 March.

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Corporate hosts providing a warm welcome at Thirteen Three corporate hosts have settled into their new roles at Thirteen, providing everyone with a great customer experience at Hudson Quay.

Diane Crosby, Caroline Langthorne and Dominic Knight make up the trio, who are the warm welcoming face of Thirteen’s support centre. They have years of customer service experience between them, from working with a range of customers across the business.

The team have a wealth of knowledge, and they’ve really got to grips with their new front of house role, always being on hand to help and signpost to other services. neighbourhoods, IDT and the people team, ensuring there’s always someone around to help.

The friendly team are available to meet and greet guests, helping to get them registered in on the new system, which generates an email to let the staff member know that their guest has arrived, helping colleagues with the kiosk and wayfinding, ensuring that incoming post is available for staff members to collect from the post room, sending out external mail, ordering stationery and creating ID badges, to name just some of their daily tasks, while generally keep the building running smoothly.

The team is led by commercial property lead Fiona McCulloch. She said: “It’s a new challenge for all of the team, who work really well together, and for Dom, this has given him a career opportunity as he works towards his level 3 facilities management supervisor course.

“The team have been finding their feet in their new role over the last month and they’re doing great. It’s very demanding at times, so if we all work together and help They can be found at the service desk, from Monday to out, we can ensure everyone in the building has a really Friday, between 8am and 6pm, surrounded by experts from good experience.”

Staff members recognised at long service celebration

A long service celebration was held for Thirteen’s dedicated staff members, who were recognised for either 20, 30 or 40 years’ service.

The celebration hosted by the leadership team, recognised colleagues from across the organisation who have, in the last year marked this amazing milestone in their career.

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They shared the occasion with family members and colleagues, including those they’d worked with for many years and others who are just starting out in their career.

We can’t wait for the next celebration!

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Behind the scenes with the scheduling team The valued work of Thirteen’s scheduling team has been recognised, as they have continued to arrange thousands of appointments for customers over the last year.

The dedicated team of over 20 work planners are available from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, arranging appointments for voids, maintenance and essential testing for all of Thirteen’s properties, and more.

Last year saw 145,465 repairs scheduled, 10,465 jobs for void properties scheduled, 42,056 gas servicing appointments scheduled with 10,087 of these due to rescheduling appointments when unfortunately, customers weren’t at home for their appointment as planned.

That’s not all, the team helped to arrange over 360 police visits, matching the right trade operative to meet the police to arrange jobs, such as lock changes and nearly 500 appointments were made with trades, due to evictions.

While team members are allocated to specific trade groups, and over 30 trade operatives assigned to each scheduler, they are always on hand to help each other out.

Planning team leader Leanne Sawdon said: “It’s like a constant game of Tetris, fitting all of the appointments in, while taking phone calls and helping to answer questions from colleagues across the organisation.

“Sometimes the job can be bigger than expected and follow up appointments need to be scheduled as soon as possible. There might be a plan in place, but the plan can

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change within an instant and they have to react instantly.

“It can be a race against time getting a job rescheduled.

They’re always keeping an eye on the jobs, checking in with the operatives, trying to squeeze in emergency jobs, making sure the school run appointments are running on time, ensuring compliance is kept at 100%.

“When a customer moves out of a property, they arrange to get every trade in place to get the property turned around for the next customer, within the allocated timescale. Everything from the trades, to the clean and clearance team.

“It can be challenging meeting everyone’s needs, juggling a number of priorities, but they always meet expectations and everything they set out to achieve, with the customer experience their absolute priority.

“They also make sure that operatives have time cleared in their schedules to attend important training, toolbox talks and team time.

“It’s a great team. We’ve got some new members, but a lot have been here for many years. Their experience is invaluable. There’s a huge skillset behind it. They need a certain level of technical knowledge to ensure everything runs to plan.”

Director of investment and maintenance Dave Ripley said: “The team are a highly valued part of investment and maintenance. Everything they do is very much appreciated by us all. We really couldn’t do it without them. I’m looking forward to seeing how we can keep on developing, so we can continue to deliver a great customer experience.”

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Community project to improve the environment in Middlesbrough launched during National Tree Week

Thirteen marked National Tree Week, with the launch of another community project, which is set to improve the environment on a Middlesbrough estate.

Working with members of the local residents’ group and the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust, the project will see communal land off Raintree Close in Thorntree brought back to life, now that four fruit trees and two nut trees have been planted, providing food and an improved environment over the coming years.

The trees, which require limited maintenance will begin to bear fruit in the next year and form an attractive orchard that residents can enjoy.

Thirteen’s environmental specialist John Woods said: “It was great to be joined by Councillor Janet Thompson, Tees Valley Wildlife Trust and residents to plant the trees.

“We’ve worked closely with the residents, to find out how we could improve the area. This project is all about giving something back to them.

“The community here really takes care of their estate and that is great to see. Any produce from the trees will be shared among residents living on the estate.

“This is one of many community projects that we’re working on to improve the environment for our customers.”

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Investment work at Billingham high-rise complete

Investment work to benefit customers living in a Billingham high-rise is complete.

New windows have been fitted to over 130 homes at Prior and Melsonby Court and the buildings have a fresh new look, now that the painting, carried out by Mitie, has completed the project.

As an extra fire safety measure, we committed to installing a sprinkler system into the blocks, with the work being carried out by Omnizone.

Site agent Sam White said: “Visibly, the work really improves the external appearance of the homes and the new windows will make them feel much warmer and improve their energy efficiency.”

The top four flats at Prior Court have also been renovated as part of the project. Sam continued: “It’s been a real team effort across the whole organisation. It’s also been great to see how all of Thirteen’s apprentices have benefitted from working with the teams, giving them the skills, which will help them as they progress in their careers.”

Electrical auditor Richard Bruin added: “This has been a fantastic opportunity for some of our third-year electrical apprentices. The work they have done was completed to a really high standard and we know that they are on the right path to becoming professional and competent electricians.”

This project is a great example of partnership working, not only with external contractors, but with all teams across the organisation.

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Community fund turns spotlight on Teesside poems

Secret life

From Thirteen to crime mystery, governance and compliance co-ordinator Lisa Matthews has recently launched her first novel at a book launch in Guisborough.

Thirteen’s community fund has helped the empowering voice of poems about poverty on Teesside to be heard.

The digital storytelling project, run by Thrive Teesside, was funded by us through our community fund and ran for six months.

Over the course of the programme, members of the community were ‘given a voice’ to tell their story and relate their direct experiences of poverty by writing articles, poems, quotes and creating visuals artworks. The results of the project have now been collated into a fantastic book.

Our community fund is open to groups and organisations working within the footprint of its areas. This includes community groups, local and national charities, residents’ associations, voluntary organisations, public sector bodies, local authorities and Thirteen service teams.

Groups can apply for grants up to £1,500 and will need to demonstrate that they have match funding in place in the form of either cash, materials or volunteer time. By supporting and promoting joint working the fund aims to enhance local communities.

Jane Hobbs, Thirteen’s senior compliance business partner, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that we’ve been able to support such a fantastic project. The digital storytelling initiative has been a fabulous showcase of both the talents and lived experiences of many of our customers.

“The fund is designed to support our communities to be the best they can be, creating fantastic, close-knit areas, where people choose to live.”

If you know of any groups that may benefit could you let them know this funding is available or pass their details to the customer involvement team. You’ll find more details here www.thirteengroup.co.uk/page/ community-fund

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‘Death by Curiosity’ is a light-hearted crime mystery.

The plot features Armitage Black, a Police typist who gets herself involved in a series of bizarre murders orchestrated by Elodia Knight. Armitage sets about trying to work out why Knight wants people to believe that she is a witch and how she’s doing things that can’t be explained, and as a result, she becomes a target of Knight herself.

Lisa, who wrote her first real story when she was ten year’s old and has been scribbling away ever since, said: “This is the first full book that I’ve written; I wrote the first draft of it when I was twenty and revised it when I was twenty-three – but this is the first time I’ve actually rewritten it, and I’m much happier with it now. In total, it’s took me nine years to write.

“I’ve wanted to write a book for as long as I can remember; I was always a proper bookworm as a kid, and even back then, I always wanted to see my own name on the front cover of a book. I’ve always had a huge imagination, and I can’t really imagine not writing.

“And it doesn’t stop here! I have a whole series planned for Armitage; the first four books are handwritten at home, and I’ve already started typing up / editing the second book. Armitage was originally inspired by Sherlock Holmes – but for her to find her way into the case, I drew on my own previous job as a Police typist, where I’d transcribe interviews with suspects and statements from victims and witnesses but as I wrote the first draft, she took on a totally different character than I meant for her to, and she became very much her own (fictional) person.”

‘Death by Curiosity’ is available now on Amazon.

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Cleaning team go mobile to improve the customer experience

Improvements have been introduced to Thirteen’s cleaning service to benefit its valued customers.

customers with the highest standard of cleaning in all communal areas within Thirteen’s properties.

The team has carefully looked at the way that they were providing the service, and to make it even better, they’ve created new teams and roles to provide a much improved and efficient service.

“The team now has a modern look and they are easy to recognise in their new uniforms. They’re always on hand to help our customers and point them in the right direction of other services that they might need to access too.

The dedicated cleaning staff are now in three new teams: • Mobile cleaners • Corporate cleaners • Extra care cleaners This new and improved way of working will see Thirteen’s mobile cleaning team working within Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool and across the Tees Valley, from Monday to Saturday, any time between 7am and 7.30pm.

Senior FM manager (building support services) Dawn Smithson said: “The friendly team is providing our

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“This is a big change for the team, but it will bring many positive benefits to our customers. We’re using new technology which will help us to run the service and make it even better for our customers.

“It’s always lovely to see our customers and as the team won’t always in the same place at the same time, with the new flexible schedule, it means that we’ll get to see even more of them.”

If you have any questions about the service please contact dawn.smithson@thirteengroup.co.uk or susan.bradshaw@thirteengroup.co.uk

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New team providing extra support to the community in Hemlington

A new and exclusive service is providing some extra support to a community living in Hemlington.

building relationships and offering support to help make the community an even better place to live.

Thirteen’s team of community engagement initiative champions are finding out what really matters to customers living on the Dodford estate.

“They’ll be working closely with youth projects to help get more customers involved in the great work that’s going on.

The team will be actively working on the estate, where they’ll be on hand for customers, so they can talk to the team about any issues they want to report and improvements they want to help make.

“This is a really exciting new role and we’re proud to be able to offer customers on this estate a dedicated new service. The team has really been enjoying getting out to meet customers and learning more about the area.

Customers were invited to events where they’ll be able to meet the team at Dodford Community Centre.

“I’m looking forward to working with the team and seeing how this can really benefit our customers.”

The team led by Michael Jenney, FM services manager (building support operations), are working on a flexible schedule, seven days a week between 3pm and 11pm, so they can meet the customers’ needs.

You can contact the team at BSS-community. engagement@thirteengroup.co.uk

Michael said: “We want our customers to get involved and take pride in their area. This positive approach will see the team working closely with neighbourhoods,

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For more information about the service contact Michael Jenney, FM Services Manager (Building Support Operations) Michael.Jenney@thirteengroup.co.uk

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Big changes to Thirteen’s building support services set to improve the customer experience The safety of our customers is a priority at Thirteen, that’s why our dedicated building support team are there to do everything they can to keep our customers’ homes safe and secure.

Some improvements have been made to the teams to make the service even better for customers, with work starting on a brand-new, state-of-the-art control room at Hudson Quay.

But until then, while the work is being carried out, the control room service will continue to be delivered from Welton House, while a smooth transition of the service takes place, with a team of nine dedicated control room co-ordinators and support staff taking up their new roles.

These staff members operate the control room service 24/7, 365 days of the year, providing customers with CCTV monitoring service and secure door entry systems, along with much more to keep customers safe and secure if they live in one of Thirteen’s high-rise properties.

“This is a really exciting time for us all and we’re looking forward to seeing these improvements help us deliver a great service for our customers.”

The team set the tasks for the team of building support operatives, such as fire alarm activations and building patrols.

The contact details for the teams have changed.

Tom Cook, FM services manager (CCTV control room) said: “Many of us will have known the service as that provided by the concierge team, but we’ve brought teams together and made some real improvements which will benefit customers and staff members.

“We’re using new technology which has taken us away from a paper-based system to being fully online. We can plan work much more efficiently and keep in contact with our teams easier.

New contact details • Control room BSS-control.room@thirteengroup.co.uk This mailbox is monitored by the control room coordinators and service support coordinators.

• Building support operatives BSS-buildingsupport.operatives@thirteengroup.co.uk This mailbox is monitored by the building support operatives and service support coordinators.

If you have any questions about the control room service please contact Tom Cook, FM services “We worked closely with involved customers, who have manager (CCTV control room) really helped us to shape the service.

Thomas.Cook@thirteengroup.co.uk or for more “We’ve also been out talking to customers about the information about the building support operatives service they receive from us, keeping them informed of any please contact Michael Jenney, FM Services Manager changes and helping them understand how they benefit (Building Support Operations) from the service.

Michael.Jenney@thirteengroup.co.uk

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Apprentices continue to mark milestones in their career as they celebrate a successful year

A group of Thirteen apprentices are celebrating as they’ve reached another milestone in their career.

a rising star and Bianca has a full time job as a universal credit administrator.

Six apprentices who started their training in joinery and gas engineering two years ago, have successfully passed their level 2 qualification and will now progress onto their level 3.

Jo has started a specialist qualification for his role and is working towards level 3 paralegal, while Dominic has started his new role as corporate host and has also began a specialist level 3 qualification for his role in facilities management.

Working in partnership with Darlington College, the trade apprentices complete a professional qualification while they work alongside experienced trade operatives in repairs, gas and investment.

Three accounting apprentices Cameron Heathcock, Joan Coutlhard and George Pemberton are all progressing to AAT level 3. With Joan employed full time as credit control support and being named apprentice of year at the Brick Awards and George employed on a temporary contract as accounts payable administrator.

Ashleigh Grey has successfully completed the business admin level 3 apprenticeship and is now employed full time as tenancy support.

Seven apprentices have completed the business admin level 2 qualification and are now moving onto the next steps.

Rebecca Young, Shannon Lyden, Tommy McGuire, Bianca McDonald, Bethany Doherty, Jo Callaghan and Dominic Knight have all passed with flying colours and there’s been many more celebrations along the way.

Rebecca has a full time job as a contact advisor, Shannon as new homes delivery administrator, Tommy as a rent accounting administrator, also named apprentice of the year at the Brick Awards and the first apprentice to be

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Senior learning and organisational development advisor Cheryl Hodds said: “We’ve celebrated so many successes over the year with our apprentices and it’s fantastic to see them achieving so much so quickly. They all work so hard and it’s clear to see that they’re taking every opportunity to learn and that hard work really is paying off. I’m looking forward to celebrating the success of many more of our apprentices very soon.”

Training co-ordinator Ann-Louise Burton added: “The apprenticeship programme is a fantastic opportunity for people to build a career for themselves and gain practical experience across the organisation, that helps them on the way to future employment.

“I see the challenges faced by studying and working full time and it’s not easy, but with the right support and determination they’ve all demonstrated exactly what can be achieved and I’m very proud of them all.”

Congratulations to Thomas Ellis, Harrison Hopson, Jordan Morrison, Jed Rowe, Aaron Flounders, Ben Stainsby, Joan Coutlhard, George Pemberton, Cameron Heathcock, Ashleigh Grey, Rebecca Young, Shannon Lyden, Tommy McGuire, Bianca McDonald, Bethany Doherty, Jo Callaghan and Dominic Knight for their achievements.

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Hive survey results October 2019 – Hive Survey update What you told us confidentially is really important so we know how we are doing, and we can continue to make positive changes so Thirteen is an even better place to work.

To make it easier for everyone we made the survey available to all in a few different ways. Many of you completed it online whilst others chose to complete a paper-based survey. We also offered drop-in sessions for those who wanted to have a go online but needed a little help to do so.

So, now the scores are all in: We had a 56% completion rate with 875 colleagues filling in the survey.

The lowest scoring items were:

The highest scoring items were: I feel proud to work for Thirteen

8.4

The senior leaders (leadership team and service directors) are great role models for employees

6.9

I see myself happily working here in 12 months’ time

8.2

There is good teamwork and cooperation between different parts of the organisation

6.3

There was also space for colleagues to make comments and suggestions about the themes below: Wellbeing support Thirteen was generally seen as offering wellbeing support, but this was criticised as not being reflected in day to day actions.

Limited collaboration A lack of teamwork between departments at Thirteen was exacerbated through barriers in communication.

SLT behaviour and visibility Mixed views of senior leaders revealed some are viewed as role models, whilst others can lack visibility and empathy.

Managers matter The majority of managers were seen as supportive and approachable, however there was an awareness that this was not consistent across Thirteen.

Proud work and great people Employees are proud of the work they do, intrinsically motivated by making a difference alongside great colleagues.

Excessive workload Despite the work being meaningful, the excessive demands are becoming too much for employees - leading to stress, anxiety and burnout.

So, over the next few weeks managers will discussing the results with you in your team meetings and asking you for suggestions to address what you have told us.

We also asked how likely you are to recommend Thirteen as a good place to work and we are really pleased to have got an eNPS score of 39 which is excellent. This is an increase by 23 from the 2018 survey.

If you would like to see each average score by question, please visit Channel.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your feedback and if you have any queries or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Kelly Gaston at kelly.gaston@thirteengroup.co.uk

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Starters and Leavers Say hello to....

New starters David Swann Anthony Riley Drew Merritt Rachel Anderson Daniel McAvoy Danny Hodgson Carolyne Dunbar Christopher Allison Cheryl Gibson Toni Smith Graeme Donald James Bates Kimberley Craig Carla Harman Christopher Moul Colin Jones John Rybak Jason Ferry Erin Hooker Linzie Bateman Ian Thornton Vanessa Proud Samuel Ward Michael Greener Dylan Redmond Gareth Petit Karen Young Alesha Rehamn Marian Coutts Tracy Wyke Leah Donachie Raymond Brown Samantha Grayson Zoe Pattison Rachael Livingstone Stacey Bell Joanne McKinstry Catherine Tshezi Garry Sudron Jo Beckwith Gillian Grazier Lesley Carney Terry Richardson

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Thirteen Group Board Member Thirteen Group Board Member Control Room Co-ordinator Control Room Co-ordinator Control Room Co-ordinator Control Room Co-ordinator Support Service Worker Support Service Co-ordinator Community Engagement & Initiative Champion Support Service Team Leader Estate Services Operative (Caretaking) Estate Services Operative (Caretaking) Building Compliance Support Support Service Co-ordinator Estate Services Operative (Caretaking) Estate Services Operative (Grounds Maintenance) Site Manager Assistive Technology Support YEI Recruitment Officer Neighbourhood Co-ordinator Mobile Cleaner Mobile Cleaner Mobile Cleaner Support Service Co-ordinator Mobile Cleaner Mobile Cleaner Mobile Cleaner Mobile Cleaner Neighbourhood Co-ordinator Mobile Cleaner Mobile Cleaner Mobile Cleaner Corporate Cleaner Mobile Cleaner Mobile Cleaner Mobile Cleaner Mobile Cleaner Mobile Cleaner Health & Safety Lead Volunteer & Peer Mentor Co-ordinator Mobile Cleaner Housing Support Co-ordinator Mobile Cleaner

11/03/2020 15:10

Say goodbye to....

Leavers Senior Business Systems Improvement Manager Denise Curtis-Haigh Senior HR Business Partner Paul Haigh Support Service Relief Worker Susan Totty Cleaner Henry Stamp Joiner Alison Rich Concierge Support James Walker Senior Payroll Advisor Michelle Ellerington Homeless Advice Co-ordinator Adelle Stevens Support Service Relief Worker Samantha Whitehead HR Business Partner Accommodation Support Lisa Brodley Financial Co-ordinator Estate Services Operative Norman Willis (Caretaking) Derek Iley Concierge Mark Gatenby Concierge Albert King Concierge John Meynell Concierge Andrea Thirlwell

Julie Hill

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Jacqueline Holden

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Diane Jacques

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Jennifer Jenkinson

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Alan Johnson

General Labourer

Kirsty McKay

HR Business Partner

Irene Johnson

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Teresa Kernan

Mandy Laffin

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner Neighbourhood Services Mobile Cleaner Neighbourhood Services Mobile Cleaner

Christine Manning

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Susan McPherson

Cleaner

Theresa McKinstry

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Margaret O’Keefe

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Bunyong Moran

Cleaner

Iris Pattison

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Julie Place

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Norma Ramsey

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Barbara Rawling

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Linzi Rushworth

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Lynne Sanderson

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Susan Welsh

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Sharon Magson

Anthony Rae

Concierge

Duncan McAuley Steven Richards Norma Allam

Support Service Team Leader Concierge Cleaning Assistant

Margaret Bartaby

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Jacqueline Borrowdale

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Carol Boyle

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Sharon Brown

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Roberta Burnside

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Margaret Welsh

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Janet Cameron

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Debra Wright

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Angela Clarke

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Samual Featherstone

Building Service Design Tech Apprentice

Kathryn Clarke

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

James Walker

Commercial Manager

Samantha Clarke

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Linda Keogh

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Kelly Atkinson

Contact Advisor

Janice Coverdale

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Martin Mathers

Bricklayer

Susan Digiorgio

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

David Halfacre

Samantha Duncan

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Marc Hollingsworth

Kathleen Fairhurst

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Senior Construction Delivery Manager Tenancy Enforcement Co-ordinator

Frank Blair

Assistive Technology Support

Margaret Fisher

Cleaner

Andrew Hill

Work Planner

Margaret Herring

Neighbourhood Services Cleaner

Michelle Wright

Director of Customer Experience

M0108583 Staff News Feb 2020.indd 16

11/03/2020 15:10

Team praised for a great IT equipment recycled customer experience to support school A customer living on a Middlesbrough estate has children in Africa praised Thirteen after they recently received some home improvements.

Pat Christon is one of hundreds of customers living in Park End who has benefitted from Thirteen’s investment plans this year.

After receiving a new modern combi boiler, UPVC windows, an electric fire and roof improvements, Pat can’t thank the team enough.

The team working on the estate until April are fitting hundreds of windows, around 500 boilers, carrying out full rewires and installing kitchens and bathrooms for customers, to improve the standard of their homes.

Pupils at Livingstonia Community Day Secondary Lead operative Mark Dunnakey said: “It has been fantastic School in Malawi are now able to learn ICT skills for the to hear that Pat has had such a great customer experience. first time thanks to a donation of IT equipment from Thirteen to charity, the Turing Trust.

“These improvements, which were completed in less The housing company donated 54 old PCs and laptops than a week, have really modernised Pat’s home. The modern combi boiler is a condensing boiler and the UPVC to the charity last year, which were shipped to the African windows, which have better thermal and acoustic qualities continent, enabling an additional 1,154 Malawian students to learn vital IT skills. will greatly improve the energy efficiency. The roof improvements have not only made a difference visually, but James Turing, founder and CEO of the Turing Trust said: “The support of organisations like Thirteen makes a huge they will ensure the home remains wind and watertight.” difference to the lives of young people. Just this one Pat, who has lived in her home for 45 years said: “I’m very donation means that students at Livingstonia Community happy with everything the team has done for me. My home Day Secondary School are now learning vital digital skills feels much warmer and it’s so peaceful and quiet. for the first time. We look forward to continuing to work with Thirteen so that old PCs, laptops, peripherals and “I’ve lived here for many years and take pride in my home. phones can be reused and put to good use through our This has made it much more cosy and I know I’ll be happy work in the UK and Africa.” here for many more years.”

In addition to offering educational opportunities to the youngsters, the Turing Trust also monitors the environmental impact of donating the computers rather than them ending up in landfill.

Thirteen’s donation offset 31 tonnes of CO2 emissions, which is the equivalent of planting 78 trees, or offsetting the annual carbon footprint of three people in the UK. Hassan Bahrani, Thirteen’s networks, infrastructure and mobile service implementation manager, said: “We’re delighted to be working with The Turing Trust and it was heart-warming to see images of the students using our old equipment to boost their education. Not only is recycling the equipment providing opportunities for young people who might not otherwise have access to digital skills, but it has positive environmental benefits too.”

To date, the charity has reused more than 4,200 PCs donated by a variety of organisations, enabling more than 41,000 students to gain a digital education.

All the data on Thirteen’s donated equipment was destroyed to The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) standards.

M0108583 Staff News Feb 2020.indd 1

11/03/2020 15:09