….challenges, but Welfare Reform and co-regulation also present social landlords with an opportunity to achieve impeccable processes.
Welfare Reform has been tough for landlords and tenants alike. Housing associations have been dealing with customers’ increased levels of anxiety and stress as tenants have got to grips with their changing circumstances. With emotions running high, compliance with the HCA’s consumer standards in particular – which enable tenants to hold landlords to account effectively – has become ever more important.
Perhaps you are coping with rising numbers of people wishing to move, increasing arrears, or greater demand for debt advice. Perhaps you are grappling with ‘Tenant Involvement and Empowerment’, ‘Home’, ‘Tenancy’, and ‘Neighbourhood and Community’ consumer standards. Whatever the specific challenge of the moment is, ensuring that your processes are in tip-top condition will enable you to deliver excellent products and services to your customers, and make life that much easier for everyone.
An excellent organisation defines and continuously improves its system of processes so that it can meet its customers’ needs. Robust process management involves careful configuration of all key processes to ensure that they link seamlessly together and that all interrelationships and dependencies are neatly aligned. In addition to management and operational processes, it’s also important to consider ‘supporting’ processes: people, finance, technology, information, facilities and equipment, and health, safety, and the environment. The list may seem considerable but, as Philip Crosby – the management theorist – said , “All work is a process”, so everything really is relevant.
And just as all work is a process, so too all processes should be measured in terms of their performance as this will ensure they are adding value to your organisation and helping it to achieve its strategic ambitions. All processes should also be consistently delivered to required standards to maximise the value add. Last but by no means least, all processes should be continuously improved.
If you’re committed to designing and delivering products and services which meet your customers’ needs – and the HCA’s consumer standards – but you’re feeling a little overwhelmed, Investors in Excellence are here to assist. We’re experts in process management and improvement and, with our powerful lean service review toolkit, we’ll help you achieve ‘green belt’ status and process efficiency that endures.
Contact the team here or call now on +44 (0)121 746 3150 and speak to one of our experts.