We’re one of the Top 50

Best Companies to Work For in the UK 2012!

Coastal Housing was up against stiff competition for a coveted award, resulting in 32nd place in the not-for-profit sector with continued improvement in performance overall.

All employees were invited to participate in the survey anonymously and their answers revealed appreciation of Coastal’s commitment to looking after their wellbeing – ranked 10th against other organisations. Employees also felt they were getting a ‘fair deal’ in employment benefits – ranked 16th overall. 

One employee commented: “Coastal Housing Group is a fantastic company to work for. I feel it is one of the few organisations in the UK that actually cares about its employees. I can honestly say I enjoy coming to work every day!”

This positive statement shows that we continue to provide an environment and workplace where people want to work. Benefits include generous annual leave and flexible working arrangements with a strong focus on health and wellbeing – including annual health checks, holistic therapies, lunch time yoga and excellent opportunities for personal development.

This is welcome news in today’s tough economic climate despite the not-for-profit sector facing huge funding cuts.

Coastal staff are always looking for ways to improve services to tenants and we recognise that these dedicated staff are our greatest asset in delivering quality services.

We take a Lean approach to paperwork and internal processes and try to make sure that the people actually doing the work are able to make prompt decisions.

We are also in the process of forming an in-house maintenance team for tenants and at the same time create new job opportunities for the local community. These are in addition to recent recruitment of surveyors, IT and finance posts.

This employee comment on the survey sums everything up “Most of the people working for this organisation appear to genuinely enjoy working here and they support the ethos of the organisation. Each member of staff is trusted to make decisions on the ground. I think that this offers a better service to our tenants. The benefits offered to staff are second to none. I really feel as if what Coastal does makes a difference.”

Best Companies uses an accreditation scheme to recognise workplace performance and best practice. Following a Michelin star style system, it awards companies with one star for first class, two stars for outstanding and three stars for extraordinary performance. 

For a further year Coastal Housing was delighted to achieve: 

TWO STARS 

Recognising Coastal as an Outstanding Place to Work

Changing Places, Changing Faces

Cadwyn Housing Association CEO
Chris O'Meara (with her Tim Blanch mask!)

Tim Blanch, chief executive at Coastal Housing Group has changed places with Chris O’Meara chief executive of Cardiff based Cadwyn Housing Association – but only for one week!

Both Coastal and Cadwyn are part of the Integrate Development Group which actively encourages shared learning from the policies and procedures of its members.

Tim said: “It’s been a very useful experience. The staff at Cadwyn have been extremely friendly and open. It’s been great looking at some types of work that Coastal does not do, and at areas where we are starting up, with many useful lessons to learn. Some the of the most useful ides have been completely unexpected, just things that have come up in discussions.

It’s also been great to share the challenges, and to understand the different context in which they work compared to us. Day 5 in the big brother house. The other residents are still friendly and helpful, I have finally managed to work all the IT and to find where everything is in the kitchen. The sun has been shining all week, and I have had plenty of time to think.”

Staff at Cadwyn have presented Tim with a Chris “mask” for the week!

Chris said about her week at Coastal: “I’ve had a great week at Coastal and loved being in a different city. A lot of what Coastal and Cadwyn do is the same, but some is very different. I’ve been able to get more detail on a number of projects which I think could help us and picked up loads of new ideas. Staff have been friendly and welcoming and apart from the faces looking different, it feels like Cadwyn! The culture feels very similar.

From what Tim has said, he has felt the same about Cadwyn. We are all facing rapid change and seeing how others approach the future has got to be a worthwhile experience.

Caroline Belasco, Head of Human Resources at Coastal added: “Job swapping is certainly a worthwhile experience and something we will be exploring for other staff who are interested.”