You may have noticed from our latest LinkedIn posts that members of the team have recently been out and about attending resident events for clients. I travelled to Manchester to visit Southway Housing Trust, to support at one of the organisation’s Fun and Feedback events.
Now more than ever, especially with the new consumer regulations coming into force and Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) allowing residents to have their say on landlords, it’s crucial that housing providers firmly prioritise resident relationships. Here are some tips on how we’ve found it works best to approach this.
Resident feedback
An organisation should never assume that it knows what its residents want or think. If a housing provider claims that it is resident-led, it should tailor its decisions and outputs based on the honest feedback of its tenants. Sounds obvious but gathering that honest feedback can often be a challenge.
A good way to do this is by creating a survey focusing on specific areas or services. For example, customer communications or maintenance and repairs. In-person events are a great opportunity to speak to residents and collate their thoughts and opinions about services that affect them.
Taking this approach gives residents a chance to share their thoughts without feeling overwhelmed with several topics – and enabling customers to share their answers anonymously will help too. You can then evaluate answers, identify any trends or common pain points and start to form a response or strategy to improve.
Establishing connections
Community events also give staff the chance to make an in-person connection with residents, breaking down barriers, humanising the organisation and ultimately improving trust.
If residents can see that team members, especially the senior leadership team, are prioritising attending community events, it demonstrates the organisation’s commitment to delivering on tenant-focused outcomes.
We know how important it is to have a simple conversation, without jargon or over complications, and there is no better way of doing that than face-to-face.
Aside from meeting members of your team, community days give residents the chance to meet their neighbours, which will enhance a sense of belonging and community with housing schemes. This is often intangible but will come through in how residents respond to TSM questions on their neighbourhood and the impact of their landlord on it.
Candid feedback
Often, residents provide more honest and candid feedback when speaking to a third-party, rather than an employee within an organisation.
At See Media, we understand the importance of genuine resident engagement. With our expertise in facilitating open dialogue and collecting insightful feedback that is actually useful to you, we act as an impartial voice that residents can trust.
We can also help translate feedback into actionable strategies, allowing you to stay ahead in meeting the new consumer regulations and maintaining positive relationships with your residents.
Email us at hello@see-media.co.uk to learn how we can support your resident engagement events and strategy.
Harriett Bolton is a Senior Account Executive at See Media
