believe Housing

Repairs and maintenance operational review

Our Client
Believe Housing are one of the largest housing associations in the northeast of England. Dedicated to prioritising the needs of their tenants and involving them in the process of enhancing their housing services, homes, and communities.
In the summer of 2023, believe Housing launched their “Simple Done Right” programme as part of their “Moving Forward” transformation strategy. With the goal of enhancing customer service, streamlining internal processes, updating operational systems, and investing in staff development to reach their ambitious business goals and comply with upcoming government regulatory changes.

The Challenge
As a consequence of rising costs, regulatory changes and increased tenant expectations, believe Housing association needed to complete a transformation of their repairs and maintenance operation.
Working alongside believe Housing’s newly appointed transformation team, our continuous improvement experts conducted a comprehensive assessment of their repairs and maintenance operation. Identifying multiple opportunities for improvement to drive operational efficiency, strengthen the culture of the organisation, and implement strategic business changes. Through our collaboration, believe Housing were able to transform their repairs and maintenance operation, enhance their service delivery and align their operations with their long term goals.

RED Jam really understood our business challenges and what it was we needed from them as a partner. The repairs review we embarked on was extremely ambitious, due to the fast-paced internal environment we work in and coupled with the upcoming external
regulatory challenges.
Red jam worked with us to get the best possible outcomes within the agreed timescales, whilst at the same time being adaptable, friendly and professional. The training that RED Jam provided to the Transformation Team was excellent, equipping my team to deliver a first-class service as we roll out our improvement programme across the rest of business.

1. Company engagement

We had the privilege of collaborating with believe to support the unveiling of their new strategic plan at their yearly leadership event.

We facilitated an interactive session to over 100 believe team members and their supply chain partners focusing in on the theme of continuous improvement.

Through the use of gamification using LEGO, playing cards and many more activities we focused on key concepts including identifying waste in processes, standardisation, and effective problem-solving. Presenting them in a way that resonated with all attendees.

The responses from the session were overwhelmingly positive, playing a crucial role in the successful roll-out of believe’s strategic plan.

2. Team engagement

We fully immersed ourselves into the believe team from the start. We actively participated in engagement sessions with teams across the housing association and in particular the repairs leadership, understanding their operational roles and the challenges facing their teams ahead of the transformation activity commencing.

The next stage and one of the most important was speaking to the team members on the front line. This allowed us to gain insights into their experiences and what it meant to be a believe colleague. We followed this by reaching out to believe’s customers through their customers voices board to gather feedback on the tenant experience.

By involving both internal stakeholders and end users early on, we were able to build ‘buy-in’ for the project. This established a strong foundation of support for the changes introduced later in the project.

3. Process review

Reviewing the process at several levels was critical at this stage. At first we focused on the high level steps and teams involved across the repairs operation. All of which was underpinned by job shadowing activity with key stakeholders and front line teams. This allowed us to gain further insight on opportunities and challenges within their current processes.

Next we moved into a more detailed process review capturing and documenting all repairs and maintenance operations. We identified challenges; improvement opportunities and any discrepancies between how processes were supposed to be carried out and how they were actually being implemented in practice.

4. Improvement road map

Through this comprehensive process review, we were able to develop a detailed road-map for process improvement. Outlining specific actions, timelines, and teams responsible for implementing change. Changes that would address the pain points and capitalise on the opportunities for improvement.

Ultimately, our systematic approach to process review and improvement resulted in identifying significant cost savings, increased operational efficiency, and improved customer satisfaction.

By taking a holistic view of believe’s processes, we were able to make data-driven decisions and recommendations. These recommendations have the potential to drive significant quantifiable impacts on their operating costs.

5. Capability development

In addition to supporting believe to launch their strategic plan and conducting an operational process review, we also had the exciting opportunity to develop the capability of their newly established transformation team. By focusing on lean six sigma and DMAIC methodology, we were able to provide comprehensive training on key areas of continuous improvement.

As a result of our efforts, the team now possesses the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to further drive believe’s strategic plan into the next phase of improvement. Our goal was to empower believe to become self-sufficient on their improvement journey, and we are proud to have played a crucial role in their ongoing success. Through our partnership, believe has been able to make significant strides in their continuous improvement efforts and is well-positioned to achieve even greater success in the future.

By completing this operational review, not only have we provided believe with a robust improvement plan, aligned to their business targets and vision, but also allows them to continue to move forward to deliver a better service to their customers.