Staff and partner engagement

Induction and onboarding

Induction is a key part of our onboarding process. It’s how we welcome new staff to ccha, help them settle in and ensure they have the knowledge and support they need to perform their roles effectively. This year was part of our two-year project to review the induction process, making sure it’s still fit for purpose with our new hybrid way of working.

Our new colleagues were key in offering us critical feedback on what works and what doesn’t. They brought fresh perspectives and learning from other organisations where they’ve previously worked.

Customer service is a key priority for us, as it sits at the heart of everything we do. Our interview process already focuses on customer service and the ccha values, but to make sure candidates are the right fit, we’ve now introduced more customer-centred induction materials to support this.

Our teams created a customer service video to share with new starters which outlines who our residents are, how important they are and how everyone at ccha can play a part in customer service, regardless of their role.

We’ve introduced more site tours and visits so that no matter their role at ccha, all staff are connected to our purpose and can meet residents and see our properties.

Improving our culture

As part of our wider People Strategy, we’ve been working through a cultural improvement plan since 2022. To help us track progress, our colleagues have regularly completed ‘pulse’ surveys. These help us to gauge how colleagues feel about ccha as a place to work and about the changes we’re making. It’s critical that our people feel their voices are heard and they’re able to truly make a difference.

We continue to promote a positive culture at ccha. With our hybrid style of working, we make it a priority to bring the whole staff group together regularly. This allows everyone to be part of our direction and business plan and helps us stay focused on our mission and overall goals. We continue to work on consistency and cross team working across the organisation, with a particular focus on communication.

We’ve seen improvements in some areas, with a slight decline in goal 4.

Goal 1: ↑

Our staff embody and demonstrate ccha’s CARE values.

At ccha, we’re one team that collaborate well together, respecting the diversity of everyone’s skills and contribution.

We’re pleased to see this improving and will ensure that ccha values and specific equality, diversity and inclusion actions are embedded into our new People Strategy to drive further positive change.

Goal 2: ↑

ccha has a trusting and empowering work environment.

I feel safe to raise difficult issues and questions, without fear of the consequences.

We’re pleased to see a positive cultural growth in this area and will continue to work on psychological safety at work to positively influence this even further.

Goal 3: ↑

ccha’s purpose and direction is an active part of communications.

I have opportunities to influence and challenge the strategy and direction of the organisation.

We’re pleased to be maintaining a positive response. As we’re a relatively small team of around 70 colleagues at ccha, we continue to work with a ‘one team’ culture to create cohesion and consistency across the organisation.

Goal 4: ↓

Our staff support optimum organisational performance by learning and growing together.

As an organisation we take the time to learn from our mistakes and from each other.

This is a known area of improvement for us. The pressures on the housing sector together with the changes going on in our business and the increasing pace of work for an organisation of our size have all contributed to this. However, we’re striving to create a learning culture and space where we continually use experiences to grow and create positive change.

Change

We’ve had a lot of change this year to meet the growing needs of the organisation. We’ve benefited from lots of new skills from those who’ve joined us and have been taking their feedback and seeing how we can improve.

To bring our new repairs model to life, we needed to bring in more resources. We’ve:

Introduced two new Repairs Officer roles on a temporary basis to support with the changes.
Brought in a contact centre, adding two new Customer Service Advisor roles.
Brought in one temporary staff member to support with the IT developments across the organisation.

Our teams have been in the office more to support with the initial changes of these new processes.