Making the best use of our resources, adopting efficient working practices and being innovative – without compromising on the quality of the services we deliver.
Our priority this year: Having a fully integrated ICT system throughout ccha.
An improved housing management system
One of the key objectives in updating our new Cx housing management system was to improve our interaction with residents. We wanted to be able to set high standards that were consistent throughout the organisation. We have achieved this through the new Customer Relationship Management module, which was launched this year.
The module has standardised the way we communicate with residents and has allowed staff to respond based on the communication preferences of our residents, for example, some residents prefer contact by email while others have asked for letters in large print.
The technology has also allowed us to integrate our communications with online postal services. This meant that, despite the lockdown, we could continue to respond to residents by letter without the need to travel to the office.
This year we went live with phase two of our housing management system upgrade and delivered two new modules that managed our annual rent review and service charge processes. The modules automated a number of administrative tasks and allowed staff to focus on providing a far more efficient and accurate service to our residents.
Able to adapt to the changes
Remote working and effective IT systems have been crucial to our business over the last year.
We had to adapt to the situation very quickly and make changes to the way we deliver core services while supporting and equipping our staff.
The new business environment proved challenging for many organisations, but we were fortunate to have already invested in our infrastructure and business continuity plans.
Delivering better services for less
Replacing several IT systems has been a challenge and there has been a lot of change. With all our systems now live, it is important that we now manage these changes and ensure that all the anticipated benefits come to fruition. Over the next year we plan to review our customer journey to ensure that the system is driving these processes and improving our interaction with residents.
We will also be focusing on our back-office processes such as our allocations and lettings to assess whether technology could provide more efficient and cost-effective ways of completing these tasks. We are also electronically scanning all our paper files so that information is secure and accessible when needed.
Delivering value for money will be an important priority in the year ahead. With considerable investment in new systems, we will be looking to increase the number of services we provide online. This will allow residents to interact instantly with our digital services, achieving higher levels of service at lower costs.