MORE THAN HALF of the participants in AmicusHorizon's Shooting Stars management talent scheme were promoted in 2012. They expanded their horizons with an external coach, an internal mentor, a personal development allowance of £1,000 and the chance to be involved in an organisation-wide strategic project. The mid-sized, Croydon-based social housing provider, which manages more than 28,000 homes in the southeast, achieved a 73% positive score for its training. Employees agree there are unlimited opportunities to learn and grow within this organisation (63%). They also benefit from e-learning, knowledge sharing and job-shadowing. Employees feel that their managers regularly express appreciation when they do a good job (78%). This could take the form of chocolates, flowers, recognition at a one-to-one or team meeting or a nomination for the annual Superstars awards. The workforce believes its managers are excellent role models (70%). Each senior manager has taken up the top team's challenge to become a “culture tsar” and “infect all staff with positivity”. In-house leadership courses cover listening skills, teach managers to treasure complaints as useful learning experiences, and all teams are encouraged to give feedback. There's a friendly atmosphere at AmicusHorizon. Employees say their colleagues are fun to work with (80%) and that working in their team gives them a buzz (71%). The organisation is looking to further enhance inter-team relationships. For example, the housing team improved its knowledge of the process for re-letting empty properties by shadowing the technical inspectors and can now deal with queries more effectively.
