About Fortis Living

Their Senior Management Team have lead the way on their values development – they recognised the need to quickly give the new company it’s brand new identity. The start of this was identifying the Values that they could all ‘take the pledge’ to! Colleagues from across all areas of the business came together to develop their values and define how they can each play their part in living, breathing and delivering them – The Fortis Way. The Fortis Way is all about helping every employee to be the very best they can be. It’s about creating a positive, action-orientated culture that encourages everyone to take responsibility for the work they do, think innovatively, grow in their role and be better. The main element of the Fortis Way is a two day, companywide programme of Learning for everyone – it a true commitment and investment by the Senior Managers in the Fortis Way and in the development of every employee. Examples of how the Senior Team live the values are numerous including responding to engagement survey feedback on visibility, where they have done job shadowing and gone ‘back to the floor’ to really understand the operational element of the business – they are living the Responsible and Inspirational. Innovation comes in abundance -their “Road to Rio” programme will run from November up until the 2016 Olympics and will include adult Running Groups, BoxFit, Yoga, FootyFit and Zumba. For Fortis Living, it’s all about the vision – Better Homes, Better Lives.

Fortis Living have a strong believe in lifelong learning which support employee development in a variety of offering to suit differing learning styles and ability. These opportunities include:- Professional, Academic and Vocational courses from level 2 to level 7, this will either link to current role or career aspirations, supported financially and with time off as appropriate. Secondments to other departments and teams from 3 to 18 months, workshops and Seminars, Open Courses and networking group to support sharing of best practice. Training courses delivered in traditional style, from 2 hour bitesize course to 8 day programmes spread over a period time to embed the learning. They delivered 365 events last year using internal and external training at their offices. E- learning is used to provide Health and Safety updates and support in house training courses. Toolbox talks for short updates for operatives to give them training updates, coaching is encouraged and supported throughout the organisation, managers are given a bespoke series of training day to give them the skills to be able to support a coachee. 12 % of Fortis Living employees have gained promotion and they have examples of employees starting and undertaking an apprenticeship and progressing to supervisor level.

Their Communities Team run c120 community events a year, including sports, arts, fun, recreation, guided walks and coach trips to interesting destinations. They also run a structured volunteering programme called Step Up which engages with c50 volunteers a year aged 12 to adult; these volunteers work at Fortis’s events, help at community gardens and organise events in their own neighbourhoods. The team also supports a network of community gardens. In the first instance staff organise the meetings and oversee operations, but with time the gardeners are enabled to form constituted groups with bank accounts and supported by the Fortis Fund Raiser and Bid Writer to seek independent funding for their garden. One of their gardeners won a Community Cohesion Award last year as a result of her work in their Droitwich garden. In 2015 they delivered their second annual Communities Week during which colleagues tidied 28 gardens for elderly and unwell tenants, collected over half a tonne of food for local food banks, ran a sports camp for disadvantaged children, painted and repaired fencing in five neighbourhoods and ran a Pop-Up 50p Shop in a deprived neighbourhood and raised £780 for a local charity nominated by colleagues. The shop alone represented 160 colleague working hours. The Fortis Social Club Committee organises monthly charitable events like dress down days, a bake sale or themed day. The organisation corporately supports the CAB, the local children’s football league and lends out its Fund Raiser and Bid Writer to local charities and community groups.