The senior management team, as part of a workshop to decide how best to lead in a systems thinking organisation, have agreed a set of principles which guide their daily practices and which they share with staff , for example they are put up on the wall and used to inform behaviours in meetings and in the work. These principles show how the values inform their work in practice and that senior managers, are clear about organisational purpose and communicate it, understand the work and remove obstacles so that they can deliver the right service at the right time, make decisions based on knowledge and learning, trust that people doing the work are the best placed to understand it, ask the right questions, are comfortable with challenge, manage the external environment pro actively, act based on measures and data, will not judge or blame and when things go wrong see this as an opportunity to learn, will not assume what matters to people, facilitate change by giving people direct experience, and opportunities to try things out and innovate Senior managers appreciate that frontline staff understand our customers best and therefore managers are there to help, support, mentor or deal with external issues. Managers trust and empower staff to get on with the job. Because they are still learning and growing the principles are also open to discussion, challenge and re-working if they think this helps us live our values better.

Coastal Housing's decision making process is bottom up which means on most occasions employees don't need to feedback ideas or suggestions as they are empowered to make decisions themselves / try new things, without the need to consult with managers first. However, there are a number ways thier employees can feedback ideas and suggestions to the wider organisation if they so wish. These are both formal and informal. Many ideas come from discussions between colleagues within the office. Employees are encouraged to get away from their desks and discuss ideas over a cup of tea in the kitchen. We have a number of social business platforms staff can use to present ideas and gain feedback from members of the whole organisation. Staff can share ideas and suggestions on the intranet and Yammer as well as comment on posts from others. Employees can setup cross-department working groups for specific initiatives/projects. This is extremely important as opinions are sought from each department and means ideas are not just confined to one area. Each department holds regular team meetings. Furthermore, individual staff members have a chance to feedback ideas and suggestions to their managers at their monthly one-to-one meetings. They also have a cross organisational communications group, made up of representatives from each department, which meet once a month to discuss ideas relating to communications within the organisation. This is a chance for all departments to feedback ideas and suggestions. Staff can also present ideas to the heads of service which are then presented to the management team.

Coastal Housing Group believe the key to wellbeing is to ensure employees enjoy their jobs, playing to their strengths, ensuring they are in the right job, provided with the resources and training to undertake their work, involved in projects across the organisation. Lean/systems thinking means that employees are empowered to make decisions, providing a rapid customer response without bureaucracy. When problems are encountered or employees need additional support, they have an absolute right to delegate upwards. Coastal Housing Group demonstrate that people come first by ensuring everyone feels valued and recognises that their efforts are appreciated by offering a positive, upbeat and comfortable working environment where the sound of lively chatter and laughter is welcomed, as they believe that informality induces creative, innovative behaviours. They offer competitive terms, including flexible working for all employees, encourage a healthy work life balance through discouragement of long-hours and actively promote a lively social life to help build good relationships. They provide a range of support: funding of various practitioners offering differing ways to combat stress; free annual health checks, BP, cholesterol and weight clinics; free yoga classes, rugby and football; a range of workplace fitness classes and complementary therapies; corporate gym membership, cycle-to-work scheme; car club, parking facilities; salary sacrifice initiatives and staff retail discounts. They enable staff to ‘give something back' through work – there's no better feeling than knowing you have just changed a life by giving them the home they want - as well as a whole range of fund raising events chosen by staff.