You Talked, We Listened!
We are always pleased to hear what you think about Beechdale Community Housing and ideas you may have to help us improve our services to everyone. Here are some examples of the changes we have made to the way we work as a result of the feedback we have received from our customers.
Following recent checks by our tenant auditors on our new repairs service they recommended that Morrison, our new repairs contractor introduce a corporate greeting when answering the phone and suggested that they adapt BCHA’s greeting. This has been adopted by Morrison.
Appointment Handling (March 2010)
Following a complaint about an appointment being missed when a staff member was off work, we reinforced our procedures around appointment handling. We introduced a process map to ensure that staff calendars are checked for appointments when a member of staff is unexpectedly absent from work. Arrangements will be made to meet an alternative member of staff or the appointment will be rearranged.
We have worked with a group of our tenants to look at our Anti Social Behaviour service to see if it can be improved. The group felt improved joint working with the Residents, BCHA and the Police was needed. It was agreed to re-introduce Police Surgeries at BCHA Office. Residents can come in to discuss confidentially issues that they are experiencing. They can talk to the Local Police, Anti-Social Behaviour Unit or a BCHA Tenancy Officer. The surgeries take place every fortnight on Thursday's. Please contact Yvonne Miller on 01922 748408 for more information.
Complaints procedure change (November 2009)
We have worked with a group of our tenants to look at our system for dealing with complaints to see if it could be improved. It was agreed that a Tenant Complaints Panel should be introduced at stage 2 of the complaints procedure. The Panel will work with the Chief Executive to decide the resolution and response to the complaint. The complainant may also be given the opportunity to fully put forward their issue to the Chief Executive and the Panel. We deal with complaints in four stages:
· Stage 1: The complaint will be investigated and a written reply will be given within 10 working days.
· Stage 2: If the complainant is dissatisfied with the response, the Chief Executive together with the Tenant Complaints Panel will review the investigation undertaken at stage 1 and a full reply will be sent within 21 working days.
· Stage 3: If the complainant is still dissatisfied it will be reported to the BCHA Management Board which will consider the matter.
· Stage 4: If the complainant is still unhappy the complaint can be taken to the Housing Ombudsman Service. The Ombudsman is independent and offers all Housing Association tenants a fair and effective way of resolving complaints against Associations.
Name Badges for all staff (November 2009)
Our Tenant Auditors highlighted that they were not always able to identify the name of the member of staff that they were dealing with in reception. This could lead to some confusion for customers who would not know who had dealt with their enquiry. As a result all permanent and temporary staff now wear name badges at all times.
Improved induction training plan for new staff (September 2009)
After receiving a number of complaints about our procedures for processing new applicants and the bidding processes for empty properties we decided to change the way we trained new staff. We revised our induction training plan to ensure that new staff are fully trained on our procedures before handling any aspect of our service. Our two new Trainee Customer Service Officers were the first to go through this new training plan and it has proved to be very successful as they felt more confident when they started to deliver the service to our customers.
Improved Telephone Procedures (September 2009)
Our Tenant Auditors reported that calls were not always being answered promptly and we also received a complaint regarding the way we were answering calls. In September 2009 all staff received customer service training and as a result we have improved our system for answering calls. All staff use a corporate greeting when answering the telephone, which includes giving their full name. Procedures are also in place to ensure that calls are answered as quickly as possible. Early indications from our Tenant Auditors show that that the calls are being answered promptly and the corporate greeting is consistently used.
Improvement to new Tenant Induction Process (July 2009)
Our Tenant Auditors highlighted a problem with the induction process for new tenants. It showed that when the Estate Management Assistant was absent new tenants were not always shown how to use the boiler when they moved in. As a result of this we have tightened our processes and our contractors carry out the induction when the Estate Management Assistant is absent.
Introduction of Duty Officers (June 2009)
The feedback from the STATUS survey we carried out in July 2008 highlighted that customers felt that they were not always able to have their enquiries dealt with promptly when they visited our office. We have now introduced a duty officer who will handle enquiries that cannot be resolved immediately by the staff in reception. The duty officer is in operation every day except Wednesday and Saturday and the member of staff on duty each day is advertised in reception. We have also worked to improve our queue management in reception trying to ensure that tenants are not kept waiting longer than necessary.