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Move closer: engaging residents
GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT & REGENERATION
Bruce Moore
Chief executive, Housing 21
Move closer – the one-hit wonder from Phyllis Nelson that topped the UK charts in 1985 – reflects my advice about how best to engage with residents. These comments were written before self-isolation and social distancing became mandatory, but if you are remote and apart from your customers you will not be as effective in appreciating what they think and feel.
Frontline staff who have regular conversations and contact with residents have a better understanding of their preferences and perspectives than senior managers, who, in turn, are likely to be better positioned to understand them than external regulators or policy makers. I always remind myself of the saying “when professionals say they know best, remember residents know better”.
Wisdom of crowds
I am also an advocate for using ‘the wisdom of crowds’ and recognising the value of hearing from as many people as possible to capture and consider the full spectrum of opinions, and not just the judgement of a select group of ‘expert’ advocates.
Because of these principles – as well as Housing 21’s particularly dispersed geography and specific service model, and commitment to maintaining a strong local staff presence – we have moved away from the approach of appointing national or regional forums or committees of resident representatives.
The residents who are willing and motivated to sit on these groups are almost inevitably special people, but consequently, they are also unrepresentative. They are generally more active, aware, articulate, altruistic and ambitious than is typical and, by having board and senior executive attention bestowed upon them, there is a risk that they will become even less ordinary .
“When professionals say they know best, remember residents know better”
Renewing our engagement structure
So instead, Housing 21 has strengthened our commitment to engage with and enable all residents at each of our 500-plus locations to have a say and play an active role in exercising local choice and control.
Our attention is firmly on working with the many and not just the few. We are also listening and responding on a continual and ongoing basis, not just episodically at pre-scheduled meetings.
Residents can have their say and decide on the specification, costs, operation and delivery of their services – the things that matter to them most. If a contractor isn’t performing, they can change them. They can decide how, when and by whom local facilities can be used. Residents are thus able to collectively control and agree all the shared decisions that need to be made.
There are, however, some things (such as health and safety, capital investment and compliance with legal requirements) on which we will not compromise and therefore don’t allow these matters to be left to local choice, so on these issues we are clear that we are explaining and listening rather than asking. We still have: a resident board member; a resident reference panel; improvement groups; a complaints forum; hold national, regional and local resident engagement events; and conduct surveys. But we are not interested in having these mechanisms just for show or to elicit approval for our actions – they are there to make a difference. The biggest difference comes when we are close to our residents and they are making choices about things that matter to them and have real consequences. So, my advice is move closer, show residents the respect they deserve and make engagement intimate (but hopefully not a one-hit wonder).
