2022 was a pivotal year for Leadership and Development. Across the housing industry, senior leaders were faced with an onslaught of challenges, including sustainability targets, staffing issues and the knock-on effects to tenants and employees from the cost-of-living crisis.
Our Winter Senior Leaders Network met in December, with a diverse industry pool taking part, including from Asset Management, HR, Housing Management, Development, Finance and Policy. The network is an oasis for sector leaders to come together, discuss challenges, pose creative ideas and find collective solutions to some of the biggest issues facing our industry.
Throughout the discussions, there was an acute awareness that how we support our employees and service users, both at work and beyond, will be crucial in how we meet targets and find solutions to the most common problems being faced regionally and nationally.
Changing Workplace Dynamics and the Cultural Evolution
Our December event focused on the Employee Value Proposition and the importance of having a fit-for-purpose attraction, retainment and development offer, to counter the effects of the Great Migration and other current organisational challenges. A big issue right now is supply and demand around candidate attraction. Across the sector we have a high demand for a smaller pool of specialist skilled candidates, which is also driving a bigger disparity between salary scales between peers.
The progressive work environment is also creating a reversal of the traditional employer/employee relationship dynamic. Whereas before employers had the upper hand, employees are now more in the driving seat and are, by necessity, demanding a different set of benefits which go beyond simple remuneration. Flexibility, hybrid work opportunities and a strong company culture focused on employee wellbeing are all now top priorities for those looking to either change their jobs or stay where they are.
The EVP is no longer an ‘added bonus’, but a ‘must-have’ for organisations to successfully adapt to the new workplace evolution taking place, which has sped up to quantum levels since the beginning of the pandemic. Effective leadership will be key to meeting these challenges, and good communication between C–Suite and HR Managers must be nurtured, in order to take full advantage of these transforming workplace opportunities.
Throughout the year we have been conducting surveys from our networking sessions on the most important topics our senior leaders have been discussing, and will be publishing a paper on the findings, as well as some innovative solutions that are working to address the current challenges. More details on this in the next edition!
Leadership Development Opportunities
Our hugely successful flagship CIH accredited Leading for Tomorrow programme launches with our class of 2023 in March, and there’s still time to jump onboard! Closing date for applications is Monday 27th February, so if you are a management or senior level leader and would like to take part, or you are an organisation who’d like to nominate up to three team members for the programmes, please get in touch, or apply via our website.
Our Learning to Lead programme, aimed at those who are at the beginning of their leadership journey, or have not yet started but would like to learn valuable skills and techniques, will be launching later on in the year, so look out for details in the next edition, or register your interest by contacting Dan Short on 07730 126 444/daniel@greenacre-consult.com.