If all you see are problems you will always exist in a permanent state of crisis.
John Wade, our Strategy Director at Bromford, ( a self confessed proud member of the tofu eating wokerati), was recently interviewed as the expert witness at the New Local Innovation Exchange event.
We’d recommend you read the full report, but here are some highlights:
“We only ever met our customers if there was a problem””
John talked about our shift to a neighbourhood coaching model who build relationships with their customers and connect knowledge about community assets.
At the core of the new approach has been a shift from a reactive, deficits-based relationship with residents, to one that acknowledges customers as citizens with agency and aspirations.
This involves:
Building strengths-based relationships with all residents
Getting to know the community assets in the neighbourhood, such as places of worship, youth groups, footballs clubs and health centres
Encouraging reciprocal connections between residents, neighbours and community assets
Ensuring residents retain agency and remain in control, rather than doing things for or to them.
““We ripped up traditional job descriptions…neighbourhood
coaches work in a totally agile way that works for their
patch and their customers.””
John talked about how we have driven a culture shift internally, re-skilling existing members of staff to reflect the organisation’s new strategic goals and hiring new employees with diverse professional backgrounds in the police, social work, education, and the private sector. While technical knowledge has remained vital, the move to a coaching model has meant those in frontline roles need different skills; relationship building and problem-solving have taken precedence over top down management.
““Organisational learning is hard and takes a long
time. It involves going against the grain of behaviour
and practices that are deeply engrained in housing
associations and other organisations””
Culture change is never instant nor permanent – persistence and tenacity have proven essential. Bromford has taken a continuous approach to organisational learning to ensure the organisation doesn’t slip back into old habits, particularly following periods of turnover when new staff join who haven’t been on the same journey as the rest of the organisation.
““Senior leaders need to see it and feel it for themselves in
order to believe it.””
Making the neighbourhood coaching model a success hasn’t been the responsibility of one person or team. Bromford has set out to develop buy-in around a vision for change across the whole organisation. All staff are expected to understand and support the new way of working to ensure residents receive consistent services and messages. Achieving a joined-up approach hasn’t happened overnight, with silos continuing to manifest between teams, but concerted efforts are being made to include everyone on the journey and improve crossorganisation collaboration.
““We try not to see people through the lens of being broken
and needing to be saved by ‘housing heroes’.””
The new model comes at an increased financial cost but has already led to significant improvements in the experience of residents and staff. Bromford has reported much fewer evictions, lower rent arrears, and less antisocial behaviour. Some of the biggest improvements are harder to quantify – supportive, meaningful strengths-based relationships are now the norm, supported by proactive services which meet the needs and aspirations of residents, and empowered residents who feel listened to rather than judged.