National Housing Maintenance Forum
Setting the standards for repairs and maintenance
Customer focus - the best way to do well in a Short Notice Inspection
Increasingly, all of us expect a high level of service wherever we go, and so should our tenants.
Social housing has been slow to take up this challenge. The Audit Commission has helped to drive up standards and now some organisations have achieved three star ratings. The result of this drive has been that organisations are striving to improve to reach this level of excellence. The inspection reports highlight that to reach three stars, organisations must put their residents at the heart of their business, service and the company. It is apparent as soon as the reception area of a three star organisation how important their residents are to them. The whole organisation is geared around this ethos, rather than the archaic imperative of delivering services to suit staff and organisational drivers.
How will the shift to short notice inspections change what is expected? Although star ratings will no longer be given, the Audit Commission still clearly set out their opinion of an organisation’s strengths and weaknesses. The key difference is that organisations will not have the comfort and breathing space offered by the lead-in time of a full inspection to get policies and procedures in place. Just doing nothing and hoping that a short notice inspection is not coming is hardly a sensible strategic approach.
Put residents first, put them at the heart of your business and do it now! Every single department in your company is there to provide services to your residents. Quite often it appears to be the other way around. Staff with this attitude need to wise up or find another job.
To prepare for an inspection, critically look at your organisation. Put yourself in your resident’s minds and imagine what you would think of the service that your organisation provides. Is it designed to give residents a good service or is it simply the easiest way for the company to manage the properties? Do you give real choice to residents and do you listen to them?
Choice
Explain the likely cost of the choices to residents; what will be their own responsibility and what will be covered by the organisation. A landlord needs easily accessible information to show residents that what you are doing is cost effective and offers value for money.
Evaluating your service by benchmarking is the obvious answer. Benchmarking allows your organisation to show what you are doing well, but more importantly to look critically at your service and target the areas that need improvement, vital in any Short Notice Inspection review. The most comprehensive product available for evaluating your repairs and maintenance service is Checkmate, produced by M3.
Good customer service is not hard, you just have to be convinced it’s what you want to provide. The pride that you are working for one of the best companies in the country and making a difference to the lives of so many, is all the motivation you need.
Author of this article
Chris Blackbeard
Senior Consultant for M3 Consultancy
This article first appeared in the 2010 bulletin publication.
Read the original publication here
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