Our Director of Operations talks about 'Keeping up with COVID'
Our Director of Operations, Annemarie Roberts, has written an article for Housing Digital, about how our organisation reacted and adapted to COVID-19.
This is what Annemarie had to say....
How has your way of operating changed?
For Golding Homes, COVID-19 represents one half of a double whammy in 2020. Golding was already on a path of improvements following a regulatory judgment earlier in 2020, so we had to find a way to continue with our improvement plans despite the pandemic. I think it is fair to say that most business continuity plans just did not foresee an event like this.
Looking back now, the lockdown has provided many opportunities for Golding Homes. My most positive reflections so far are of how we have been able to support and reconnect colleagues with customers and our agility and resilience as an organisation.
How has the way in which you interact with tenants and customers changed?
COVID-19 has been a catalyst for re-connecting the traditional frontline and back-office colleagues to our customers. We started reaching out immediately to our most vulnerable customers, calling them to offer valuable support and find out how they were doing. These calls were so well received that we extended our efforts, contacting over 6,500 customers in total.
We also worked closely with our main local authority, Maidstone Borough Council, and seconded five colleagues to help cover their Community Hub phoneline.
The most powerful response we have had following our welfare calls was a customer who told us she wasn’t aware of the pandemic; all she knew was that she wasn’t able to book a slot for her usual food delivery. We have not only been able to help her get food packages delivered, we have also been able to assist with her mental health challenges (she hasn’t left her home in over three years) by signposting to local organisations who can provide support.
... to read the full article visit Housing Digital - Keeping up with COVID: Golding Homes.