Customer Relationship Management and Business Support

I have been asked to provide a briefing note for a new starter. Below is a summary of information that will be given to the new starter so that they have a chance to gain some understanding of the organization and what we do and how we operate. ; An Introduction to the organization: At Accent we have been providing high quality social housing for rent and sale for over 40 years, and we remain firmly committed to providing our residents with the excellent homes and top quality services they have a right to expect.

We currently win and manage over 20,500 homes across the country, which over 34,000 residents call home. Our residents’ services are provided by five local contact centers, these are based in Bradford, Burley, Kimberley, Middlebrow’s and Petrography. We also administer award winning employment, training, vocational and business support projects which support our residents and their communities.

The purpose and goals of the organization:

• Making a Difference….
• Improving homes.
• Communities and lives and we achieve that by: Deliver excellent, locally agreed services Provide high quality homes to live in.

Support our residents to sustain their homes and communities Be an ambitious and successful business. Our values Our core values – respectful, creative and dependable – sum up exactly what we stand for. They are relevant to every market we work In. Wherever possible, everyone we work with (including our suppliers and contractors), has similar values.

Respectful

We want to become a trusted advocate of the individual and the community. ; We build our business around the customer, and motivate our people to get the right results for our customers and partners. In making decisions we always take onto account our customers’ views and put ourselves in their position. ; we welcome and encourage involvement in decision-making processes by our customers and partners. We will be ‘easy to do business with.

Creative

We want our people to be passionate and enthusiastic about their work and the vision we have set out, and we give clear direction to support this. ; We respect and value our people’s contributions to the success of the organization. We encourage and reward creative ideas that help to continually improve our services and bring In new business. We also take steps to help our people and customers life their potential. ; Above all, we aim to develop a culture that permits people to take risks and learn from their mistakes. We have built our business over 40 years and utilize our experience and heritage. We have a strong financial track record and our people are knowledgeable and professional in their work. We are aware of risk but not averse to risk.

We have developed highly effective mechanisms to manage risk that enable us to take advantage of opportunity without Jeopardizing our solidity. We are aware of our impact as a business on the environment and are working towards minimizing this impact. ;We are committed to quality and customer service excellence. We strive to be a dependable business partner and an organization our customers can trust and rely on. Services that we offer at Accent: Social Housing, Sheltered Accommodation, Supported Housing, Training, and vocational and business support projects. Our main customer group Our main customers are external people on a low income or who need extra support and are looking for somewhere to live.

PESTLE Analysis – (Please see appendix la below) Political Introduction of affordable rents and the impact of the welfare reforms The TTS abolished in 2012 and adjustments too new regulatory regime under the HOC The impact of the Localism Act in reforming social housing Economic Supported People funding no longer ring-fenced and being subjected to severe cuts but some Local Authorities.

Significant areas of local unemployment House price vulnerability of home ownership in charging economic conditions Social Ageing population Social and financial exclusion Competition with other providers Technological CIT Systems Communication ; access to services Welfare reform Legal Court Process Increase focus on tackling fraud and tenancy abuse Abolition of he TTS Environmental Fuel Poverty Green Agenda Local Authorities faced with deficient stock, failing neighborhoods may look to work in partnership Below I have given a more in-depth analysis of 4 of these external factors and I have highlighted their impact on the business activities within Accent and what we are as we face:- Direct Housing Payments Universal Credit ; Benefits cap Spare room subsidy (Bedroom Tax) Our Responses:- Ensure affected tenants are supported through access to welfare benefits advice – Extra Care ; Assist affected tenants to apply for discretionary payments ; Make revision for tenants affected by the spare room subsidy to downsize their home to mitigate the effect of the subsidy Ageing Population The issues that we face:- Changing needs of customer base Lack of suitable stock Opportunity to ensure service and stock Enhanced support needs The Responses:- Partnership with Burley Borough County Council to research future needs of local population ; Broaden access to aids and adaptations CIT Systems

The issues that we face:

• Systems require modernization Lack of CRM capability Lack of customer profile information

The Responses:

• Purchase and implement a fit for purpose Housing Management System in refreshed interactive website offering access to services ; profiling exercise to populate CRM Court Process

The issues that we face:

•  Length of time cases are at court Reluctance to grants decree Counter claims

The Responses:

• Make use of Local agents (Solicitors)
• Improve arrears recovery process
• Carry out customer
• Update processes to ensure potential for counter claim is reduced

Organization chart – Please see appendix

In a business as large and diverse as Accent Group, there are many different Jobs. Its structure is complex, so to help individuals within the business understand their roles and responsibilities; Accent has a set of Business Principles that demonstrate its commitment to operating ethically and responsibly.

Below I have outlined 4 different functions within the structure of Accents organization.

1. Marketing – by understanding customer needs, the marketing function can inform the overall business strategy and ensure that the Accent image and brand reflect its mission statement.
2. Procurement – is the acquisition of goods and/or services at the best possible price. Within Accent this function secures cost effective repair contracts and establishes long term partners to ensure business continuity.
3. Finance – to manage the flow of money across the business. Finance managers produce financial and management accounts not only to ensure legal compliance but also to contribute to the strategic decision-making process by forecasting financial performance. Budgets enable Operations to have the resources to carry out processes.
4. Human Resources (HRS) – This includes planning and forecasting staff requirements and managing recruitment and selection. The HRS team ensures that managers apply HRS policies and procedures consistently across the business. The development of staff is a key priority within the Accent business. Without the right people, Operations may not be able to achieve targets.

Following way:

1. Finance works alongside HRS to make sure that staffing/recruitment are at the right level for the business and at the same time delivering this within the budget.
2. Marketing works alongside Finance to make sure the company is working with the same brand image, promoting the company and delivering this within the budget. HRS works alongside Marketing to make sure Job description, Job adverts get full coverage and that the brand image is filtered through into the advertisements. Culture of Accent The Culture of Accents organization is a Regulated Organization (Task Culture). Accent is a private, non-profit making organization that provide low-cost “social housing” for people in need of a home. Any trading surplus is used to maintain existing housing and to help finance new homes. Although independent they are regulated by the Housing Cooperation and commonly receive public funding. Ways in which the culture can affect Accents operations if funding is reduced or taken away this will have an effect on the operations also how we are externally regulated. Read also when delivering a briefing volume and rate are classified

Below is a description of several ways HRS activities support Accent and helps meet its goals and business objectives

1. Recruitment and Selection. The HRS function offers technical assistance, such as writing Job descriptions, classifying workers into proper departments and assigning a fair rate of pay. HRS department also screens applicant pools and only recommend qualified candidates for interviews. Without HRS support, managers would have to perform all staffing activities and manage their employees’ performance for reaching goals.
2. Employee Development. The HRS function provides staff with adequate opportunities for learning, including workers are placed on a path to making a bigger contribution to the organization.
3. Performance Management. The HRS function offers data that management can use to make decisions about employees. For example, management can review the latest results of an employee survey and decide what changes to implement in the workplace in response to employee concerns. Without such a decision-science approach to the working notations for employees, management will miss an important chance to improve how talent is managed. Happy workers help an organization achieve its goals. Below are 3 ways in which HRS professionals support line managers within Accent To streamline the hiring process and improve the selection of qualified applicants. Ensure that we have the right people in the right place and in the right time.

Recruiters also examine processes for filling vacancies such as communication with line managers, assessing the accuracy and usefulness of Job descriptions and whether pre-employment assessments are really helpful in identifying solid antedates. Assist screening, interviewing, conducting reference check and to the eventual placement of candidates within various positions within the group. Assist with the communication of employment offers and remuneration structures to new employees. Create and maintain database of candidates/ applicants with potential. Arrange and conduct employee induction which including office access and company information.