In July, Inside Housing published an article entitled Housing Officers Under Pressure. It outlines trends where colleagues are feeling under pressure leading to increased staff turnover in organisations cross the UK. Whilst in the main it refers to Housing Officers, I think it reflects many areas across businesses like Coastline Housing where colleagues have lots of contact with customers.
We can see that service provision has become more complex because of changes to interest rates, variance in property prices, and the increasing cost of materials, as just a few examples. Whilst some colleagues interact less with customers in our homes, there is no doubt in my mind that in many roles the work we do is becoming more complicated. A small proportion of those cases take up a lot of everyone’s time - activities ranging from safeguarding or difficulty gaining access to a customer’s home to complete a repair, through to developing and selling homes, and managing our finances.
Around the same time as the Inside Housing article, The Institute of Customer Service (ICS) released its July satisfaction index, the results of which results presented a sobering, yet probably not unexpected picture. It shows average customer satisfaction in the UK has fallen compared to last year to and to its lowest level since 2015. The overall index has declined by 1.8 points, every sector having lower customer satisfaction than a year ago, with the biggest downturn in utilities and transport.
The impact of a poor customer experience appears to have got worse, with customers reporting that they are more likely to experience a negative reaction when they report a problem and wait longer for their problem to be resolved. I am sure we can all relate to this when trying to make a doctor’s appointment, attempting to resolve an issue with a utilities bill, or just want to speak to an actual person on the other end of the phone to be able to resolve a more complex problem. The ICS report said the consequences of organisations failing to understand and respond to a customer’s personal situation are especially apparent for people who are experiencing financial wellbeing challenges.
So why does this matter? Well customer service is at the heart of a successful economy and society. The ICS figures state that in the UK we are a service nation: 60% of employees work in customer-facing roles and 80% of our GDP is generated from services. In sectors like manufacturing and construction, service is key to revenue growth and reputation. In public services and the third sector, the quality of the customer experience is central to well-being and social cohesion.
A key message that came from the Inside Housing article was the importance of investment in training and support for colleagues, as without it people can become overwhelmed and then look to move out of the sector. At Coastline, it is reassuring that we make a significant investment in training and support to ensure our colleagues have the skills to be effective. I was recently surprised to see how many colleagues have qualifications in their areas of work. We have also received great feedback from those who have attended our internal Insights Discovery coaching. It is designed to help people understand their style, strengths and what they bring to Coastline, building on our values and highlighting how we can communicate and support each other better.
It is pleasing to see that levels of staff turnover at Coastline are lower than at some organisations shown in the Inside Housing article, especially in our services and central teams, which I believe is due to that ongoing training and support.
A few weeks ago, I met with colleagues from other housing providers, and a common topic was that all are experiencing the same types of complexities and challenges. We shared our personal experiences that had quite a profound impact on us. So whilst working in housing feels a little taxing it makes all the difference to be able to share experiences and provide support for each other.
By sharing experiences and continuing to provide the right training and development, we aim to retain our skilled and experienced colleagues. In turn, that will help keep customer service satisfaction high and control any pressure felt across the business. By being part of the PlaceShapers group, the National Housing Federation and the Chartered Institute of Housing and working in Partnership with Cornwall Council and Legal and General Affordable Homes to name just a few, there are numerous opportunities to consider best practice in supporting our communities and progressing to deliver our ambition to solve the Cornwall Housing Crisis.