Large social landlord of the year: Finalist

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1 Large social landlord of the year: Finalist Orbit Group: Leading the way in a changing world What evidence can you provide to show that your organisation is delivering high quality services and meeting the needs of different groups of residents? Orbit is an organisation transforming to meet the challenges of the future. Its relentless focus takes in both the services residents expect and those value added services that other organisations don t have the passion or capacity to deliver. This year, customer satisfaction with the overall service provided by Orbit Group is at an all-time high with 82.5% of customers stating that they are very or fairly satisfied with service delivery. The Survey of Tenants and Residents (STAR) for 2012, HouseMark s sector measuring tool, showed that Orbit has demonstrated an improvement year on year in six key areas: 82.5% satisfied with overall service delivery (79.5% in 2011) 85.1% satisfied with local neighbourhood (84.4% in 2011) 84% satisfied that rent provides value for money (80.1% in 2011) 69.8% satisfied that their views are taken into account (68% in 2011) 89.1% satisfied they are kept informed about things that affect them as residents (87.1% in 2011) 72.9% satisfied that queries are dealt with, within a reasonable timescale (70.6% in 2011). Other positive improvements have also been made with 65% of Orbit s customers having access to the internet, an increase of 23.5% from when this question was last asked in Orbit set up a dedicated focus group to work towards this figure, improving digital inclusion for its residents. Orbit is reaching upper quartile (as defined by HouseMark) in four areas: overall satisfaction; satisfaction with views being taken into account; satisfaction with local neighbourhood; and satisfaction with quality of home. All the figures above show clearly how Orbit is delivering to a high standard in the areas its residents expect, and in some areas doing it better than the majority of other similar organisations. The trends show Orbit s commitment to improving by listening to its residents needs and views. However, there is work being done within Orbit that adds to the above to make it truly the large social landlord of the year: Every year, Orbit commits 1 million to community investment via its Building Brighter Futures fund. This year, the organisation has additionally done a piece of work with LSE to further develop

2 community investment (details below) to improve its and the sector s model for the future Orbit is in its second year of the Brian Griffiths Award a 10,000 bursary residents can apply for to do something to improve their lives or communities In the past year Orbit has set up robust resident scrutiny panels, involving residents in reviewing and transforming services Orbit has invested in its people, establishing over 50 apprenticeships across the organisation and looking to its communities to fill posts Orbit is investing in sustainability, putting in place large CESP and Green Deal projects to benefit both its own residents and those living within the communities where it works Orbit has developed the 2020 programme, engaging staff, residents and community leaders in developing its future vision and business plans to 2020, taking into account what they need to fulfil their aspirations What is the specific project or achievement which sets your organisation apart from other good performing organisations? This year Orbit continued to deliver high quality landlord services to its residents and investment into its communities, but it also launched a major research project to plan for the future. In light of the economic crisis, leading to a potentially crippling impact on residents and communities, it is clear the housing sector needs to transform to remain relevant - Orbit took on the challenge of leading the way. The Orbit 2020 programme engaged residents, communities, stakeholders, staff and leading academic thinkers in finding out how it should operate and what needed to change. A key part of this was community engagement through the Bigger than Business research project (partnering with the London School of Economics), really setting Orbit apart from other organisations. Bigger Than Business looks at how the sector must change to provide a community investment model fitting our residents and communities needs into the future. The report interviewed 170 residents, community leaders and staff to determine how housing organisations should do this. Currently, many housing organisations have a fund or model for investing in the community, but it is often historic and piecemeal, meaning it doesn t provide the kind and scale of benefits relevant for today. No doubt, many cite a community investment activity as what sets them apart from others, but Orbit is original by delivering not just community investment in itself, but a new way for the whole sector to provide community investment for years to come. This is the innovative thinking the sector needs. Why is your approach innovative/ unique? The fact that no other housing organisation has done such a detailed research project into community investment, partnering with such a renowned academic institution as LSE, is in itself an innovation. However, inside this larger unique project were smaller, but equally innovative approaches. The

3 most important of these was the use of peer researchers, whereby six Orbit residents were trained to conduct research within their communities. The residents were trained by LSE during a residential stay and subsequent sessions. These residents then did around sixty interviews between them, talking to others in their community about what they wanted from Orbit as a landlord. This approach was very different from a standard landlord questionnaire or frontline staff engagement residents felt they could be more candid with their peers, resulting in honest responses to how Orbit operates and what it could do better a vital factor to the success of the project. Bigger Than Business was also unique because it wasn t a research project which solely benefitted the commissioning organisation and its own residents. The research was designed to be shared, providing the housing sector with three models for community investment, helping organisations improve their approach in a way that works for them no matter what stage they are currently at. The launch on 28 November 2012, welcomed a huge range of sector stakeholders, giving Orbit s findings freely, with the intention of improving communities for far more than just one organisation s residents. What evidence can you provide to demonstrate the positive impact of your initiative for the communities involved? Given the fact that Bigger Than Business was based on research within the community where Orbit works and that residents and community leaders were asked for their views, a hugely positive impact can already been seen through the level of engagement from Orbit within its communities. The very fact of asking for residents views and using them to influence business planning must provide positive impact through residents being aware of the worth of their input in the short-term and the changes in community investment influenced by this research in the long-term. The involvement of the peer researchers also created a positive impact on the community, by showing those and other residents that Orbit wants to learn from them, employing their skills and knowledge to gain a better picture of what communities need from Orbit as a landlord. Orbit really invested in the peer researchers throughout the process, an investment which benefitted communities at the time and will do in future. Since becoming peer researchers, the residents involved have become truly engaged. Those in Bexley are in the process of setting up a community group to seek views of those living within Orbit s properties to influence Orbit s and other community stakeholder s decisions. Those in the Midlands have joined the Community Investment Fund panel, which decides how Orbit should spend the relevant funds now and future. Those same residents will also start a peer research project around energy use within Orbit properties, to inform the organisation s sustainability strategy. When asked what they got out of becoming peer researchers, the residents cited benefits such as learning more about their communities, gaining confidence and learning more about Orbit all undoubtedly positive impacts. And they also cited benefits for the community itself from informal feedback

4 many residents told them that the research gave them chance to get things off their chest. A further positive impact is the recommendations coming out of the report. The report has drawn together all the research conducted, analysed it and then drawn up three models for community investment in the housing sector. These are the: Freeway Community Chest model, Invest to Save model and Triple Bottom Line model. The former is where many housing organisations currently are or are aiming to be, but the two latter models show new thinking. Invest to Save incorporates the Freeway Community Chest but additionally focuses on organisations investing in training and volunteering, and nurturing a more active community input. The Triple Bottom Line model goes even further, incorporating the other two models, but defines the landlord s role in their communities in terms of addressing social, economic and environmental issues as part of its core functions. The definition of these three models provides a new framework for the whole of the housing sector, to give longterm benefits to their communities. As such, this can only be seen as a positive impact for the communities involved in the research and others across the nation, whose landlords will go on to use the models Orbit has defined. Why should your organisation win this award? In the past couple of years the housing sector has changed dramatically in a way that means things will never be the same again, and also in a way that is likely to adversely affect our residents and communities. Rather than try to wait it out, Orbit took on the challenge of changing to meet the needs of our residents head on, undertaking its 2020 engagement programme to find out how. Such a brave step will not only provide the in-depth research for Orbit to change, but will be shared with the sector to provide impetus there too. The Bigger Than Business research mentioned here was a truly innovative piece of work, finding out how we should do community investment from those actually living within our communities, whether they be residents, frontline staff or community leaders. In the short time since its launch, the research has been picked up by others in the sector and by the sector press, and lauded as both innovative and as a useful tool in future planning, with recognition even coming from Government via Nick Hurd MP, Minister for Civil Society. The fact that Orbit is able to deliver such initiatives on top of delivering the top quartile performance mentioned at the top of this entry is the reason it should win this award. Orbit is a large social landlord demonstrating long-term thinking, not just for itself but for the whole sector, leading the way in a changing world

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