EVENT REPORT 2015
Excellent day, wonderful venue, fabulous staff
My first conference, a great experience
Good format
I enjoyed every bit of it, excellent!
I thought I was going to be bored today, but far from it. Very informative, well done.
WELCOME
We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended the Customer Unconference in September. It was a fantastic opportunity for customers to set the agenda and take a lead role at the conference. We are sure you will agree the conference was a huge success and everyone had a really good, informative and involving day. You watched performances, listened to inspiring guest speakers, set the agenda for the day, led the conversation, provided us with valuable feedback and had a first look at this year’s customer annual report video. A very busy day in anyone’s book.
This report will give you some of the headline information following the unconference and information about what will happen next. One of the things that customers say to us at these kind of events is that nothing ever seems to be done with the information. This report is the first step in keeping you up-to-date about what happens now with the information you supplied to us at the Unconference. We asked customers before leaving to provide some quick feedback about the event. This was followed up with a more in depth survey. We are currently collating the responses. Feedback from the day was overwhelmingly positive and shows what a success the event was.
VALUE FOR MONEY The budget for this year’s unconference was £5,000, based on the cost of previous events. As part of our commitment to value for money, this year we managed to save over £2,495.50 by sourcing more affordable prizes and utilising existing resources. Our guest speaker, Jean Templeton, CEO of St. Basils also agreed to take part in the event for free. Our guest speaker, Jean Templeton, CEO of St. Basils very kindly gave up her time to take part in this year’s unconference, we would like to say a big thank you to Jean, and the inspirational young people she brought along from the Youth Reference Group.
THE AGENDA This year’s event was different in one very big way. You set the agenda and you shaped the unconference. Customers were invited to suggest topics they wanted to discuss at the unconference. We had a lot of suggestions and the Customer Engagement team put these suggestions into theme groups, creating an agenda for the day. Topics chosen were: n n n n n n
Grounds maintenance and service charges Welfare reform Digital inclusion Repairs and maintenance Jobs, skills and training Engagement.
ATTENDANCE ANALYSIS
We had a lot of interest in this year’s Customer Unconference, with 67 customers registering to attend and a number more making enquiries. In total we had 66 people in attendance for the event.
67 customers registered
39 customers attended
27 staff attended
66
people attended in total
94
Total possible attendance:
ATTENDANCE BY ORGANISATION Registered Attended
27 12
Registered Attended
15 7
Registered Attended
15 10
Care and Support
Registered Attended
67
UNKNOWN Registered Attended
10
Registered Attended
00
Registered Attended
11
Registered Attended
20
TABLE DISCUSSIONS Following the agenda setting activity we had two sessions. Each session was made up of three topics to discuss and customers were asked to move between all three topics to ensure they had an input in as much of them as possible. Here are some of the main points from the discussions:
1
Repairs, maintenance, services charges and grounds maintenance: This was a very popular subject area and a number of customers raised concerns and complaints which have now been passed on to our Assets team. Customers wanted a more detailed service charge breakdown and more information about what is an emergency repair and what isn’t. They also wanted to be kept informed throughout the repairs process. Another suggestion was to train customers so that they are able to complete repairs themselves. What happens next: The Customer Engagement team and the Assets team will work together to ensure that the repairs raised will be resolved. They will also explore how the suggestions made regarding services can be implemented - feedback on this will be provided in the New Year.
2 3
Welfare reform looked at what would help customers, ideas included: n Cooking and budgeting workshops n Training to keep energy bills down n Incentives and credit unions n Increased joint working. There is a plan in place at the moment to support customers affected by the changes to the benefits system. We are looking at how possible it is to put in place suggestions made and will feedback to you in the New Year. Jobs, skills and training Customers wanted training opportunities to gain qualifications such as NVQs. The criteria for accessing training should be widened as training seems to be primarily for young people. Funding should be provided for customers to get to job interviews and work. What happens next: This feedback is now with our Learning and Development manager who will look at what is available for customers to access. The Customer Engagement team also has a yearly programme for training. Contact them for details.
4
Digital inclusion focused on three key areas to getting people online: Access: Customers said that there needs to be WiFi access 24/7 to allow people the chance to get online at schemes. One suggestion was having an internet cafĂŠ facility and to look at purchasing refurbished computers Skills: We were told that there needs to be some simple training in language that everyone can understand. There were suggestions of having digital champions which could be customers and staff who help people get online. Motivation: The Government is pushing the Digital by Default agenda. Other motivation to get online is to stay connected with friends and family, job searching, researching and gathering information and as a way of making friends. What happens next: Some schemes are currently being fitted with Wi-Fi access as part of a pilot project. As part of Get Online Week care and support schemes will be consulted regarding access to the internet. We are a UK online centre, which means our customers can access free online training about using computers and the internet; contact the Customer Engagement team for more information.
5
Engagement Customers wanted there to be better communication regarding engagement activities, more staff engagement at the front line and local resident meetings. They also wanted the opportunity to talk to other housing associations and residents and ask customers to bring a friend to help recruitment. All the information provided will now be looked at, acted on where we can and put in to action plans. We will keep you posted as to what happens with the information that was provided. For a full list of feedback contact the Customer Engagement team. What happens next: A recruitment programme is being drawn up and the Customer Engagement Strategy is due for review. The feedback we received at the conference will be used in both. You can contact the Customer Engagement team for more details, and more information will be available in the New Year.
CUSTOMER ANNUAL REPORT CUSTOMER
PORT
ANNUAL RE
At this year’s unconference, we launched the new customer annual report, a short film created by customers for customers, in partnership with Slinky Productions. The film takes a look at the work of the Accord Group and its customers, highlighting some very important work. Customers were asked to provide feedback. The film was was generally well received. Feedback included: n n n n n n n
The length of the film was just right The film shows that we are a family It was better than last year It was interesting and informative It needed to include a bit more about Fry It spent too much time on the factory It should include examples of complaints being resolved.
All feedback gathered is extremely important to ensuring we make an even better annual report next year.
178 Birmingham Road, West Bromwich, West Midlands, B70 6QG Telephone: 0300 111 7000 Email: customerfirst@accordgroup.org.uk Visit: accordgroup.org.uk Tweet: @theaccordgroup Like: facebook.com/accordgroup Watch: youtube.com/theaccordgroup