Success, Satisfaction and Scrutiny:
the Resident Engagement Toolkit
Get buy-in from board,
senior staff and residents
Case study two:
The foundation for successful involvement is an
organisational culture which welcomes resident
insight and challenge. That’s why getting buy-in
from board and senior staff is absolutely crucial
- they’re the ones capable of enacting culture
change. Strategies for convincing them should
focus on the links to corporate goals identified
above, recognising that the ‘carrot’ of financial
savings and satisfaction rather than the ‘stick’ of
regulatory compliance may be more compelling.
Working as ‘One Team’
At AmicusHorizon involving residents
is all about delivering excellence and
efficiency. It means we can tailor services
to residents’ preferences. We neither
over- nor under-serve our customers.
So while residents may lack directly relevant
professional expertise, they have a huge
amount to offer. To fulfil this potential we
recognised it was important to create
a sense of parity and equal-footing
between residents, staff and board.
And don’t forget the residents. Involve them
in discussions from the very beginning.
Why? One, because it’ll set a precedent
to show their contributions will be valued.
And two, it’ll help hugely in designing your
resident involvement ‘offer’ (see page 10).
We’ve done this by introducing the
concept of ‘One Team’. It’s to show
board, staff and residents are all working
together towards the same goals. We
also offer meaningful opportunities for
residents to influence our strategy.
Make it everyone’s job
If involvement is to be genuinely effective it
needs to be embedded in your culture. It should
be something all staff are responsible for rather
than “the prerogative of specific employees or
a particular section of an organisation” (Tenant
Services Authority, 2010). Senior staff must:
Practical steps we’ve taken include:
zz Allocating board members to resident
Area Panels to ‘flatten’ our Resident
Governance Structure (see page 24),
providing a useful reality-check for board
members and helping panels escalate
issues when needed
zz Requiring board, staff and residents to
undertake joint training
zz Introducing a single code of conduct
zz Presenting the Strategic Executive Team’s
roadshow to all parties to explain the
shared aim of being the best performing
large landlord in the UK
zz Having four resident members on our
board and involving residents in board
recruitment
zz Including residents on interview panels for
all customer-facing and senior staff roles
zz Organising joint away days with our
Resid ents’ Council and board.
i. Clarify the reasons for engaging
residents more and the realities
of the new way of working
Staff may feel their professional expertise
is being undermined if increased weight
is attached to residents’ perspectives.
Senior staff should communicate the
virtues of a more balanced approach.
Resident input will help staff and board
make better-informed decisions, which in
turn will help achieve corporate goals…
7