About Irvine Housing Association

As an organisation, Irvine Housing Association believes employee development is extremely important. Some of the training they do, whether in-house or off-site is compulsory, but staff are encouraged to participate in any other training that they feel may benefit them or support them in the role that they are doing. All requests for training are fully considered. A new learning and development matrix has been implemented to record and highlight all training requirements for each post within the association. In addition to general training, the association supports staff that wish to undertake college courses. Several of their housing and customer services staff are currently working towards their level 4 diploma in housing. One staff member is studying towards a master’s degree and another towards a marketing diploma. The association supports these staff by paying the full cost of the course, time-off to attend and also time-off to study and take exams. Some of the other courses undertaken by staff include NEBOSH, EPC assessing and talent management assessment. Staff also have the opportunity to attend appropriate conferences which include finance, CIPD, CIH housing, repairs and maintenance. Again, all costs, whether it is a day conference or overnight stay that is required is met by the association. Irvine Housing Association over the last couple of years has participated in the North Ayrshire housing careers trainee programme. New trainees undergo an extensive training programme and spend time in each department. Recently one of their trainees was successful in being appointed to a permanent full time customer services officer.

Irvine Housing Association has maintained the bronze healthy working lives award and has just recently achieved the silver award. This has involved staff members and the HWL working group identifying which areas of health they would like to receive more information on. Information sessions were then arranged to which all staff were invited. Examples of these were alcohol awareness; they sourced time clock, beer goggles etc. and this showed what sensible alcohol measures were and the time taken for alcohol to leave your system. They promoted stress management and provided staff with a link to the "steps to deal with stress" guide. They also printed off information which was displayed and available to staff. They also held a 'glitter bug' session for staff which highlighted the importance of washing hands properly. Irvine Housing Association genuinely cares about the wellbeing of their staff and actively promotes a healthy lifestyle. They have policies and procedures in place, such as supporting staff attendance. A presentation was given to managers on supporting employee absence and subsequent training was provided to staff. All the activities we do are promoted through emails, notice boards, and word-of-mouth. The Association offers private health care and also a health benefits cash plan which is run by Simply Health. The plan is paid for by the association and there is no cost to staff. This plan encourages staff to have regular check-ups at the dentist, optician, podiatric etc. and all costs are reimbursed to staff.

Irvine Housing Association listens to their employees. They hold breakfast briefings which offer the opportunity for two-way, open and honest discussions. The role of their staff representatives is also key within the organisation. Meetings are held on a quarterly basis and a wide variety of topics are discussed and debated at these meetings. The agenda for these meetings are team driven. Any issues raised by staff are included in the agenda, irrelevant if it is a minor or major issue. The meetings are also carried out in an informal manner. Following a staff rep’s meeting, an email is issued to staff giving a brief account of what was discussed at the meeting. The finalised minutes of the meeting, however, are also uploaded onto their intranet so that all staff can access them. Their team away days are also open and informal and are normally held at least twice a year. The days are held off-site and again the agenda for these events are team driven. These events give staff quality time to get to know each other, particularly if there are new staff in a team. The events are motivational and focussed. They allow Irvine Housing Association to obtain feedback from their staff, look at priorities and ultimately be open and honest with staff.