PEOPLE
Inclusive culture
PEOPLE
Inclusive culture
PEOPLE
Inclusive cultures
People
Inclusive culture
We’re proud of our diverse communities and are committed to celebrating our different cultures and beliefs.
In our Corporate Plan, we committed to:
Refresh our EDI Strategy and embed the action plan across the business
Create and embed a One Manchester ‘service style’ to improve our connection with customers
Over the next couple of pages, you can see what work we’ve done over the last year to achieve these commitments.
EDI Strategy and action plan
EDI plays a key role in supporting the delivery of our purpose, and we invested time and resource into making sure we deliver against our action plan in 2023/24.
Memberships
Fairer recruitment
We continued to adopt the the ‘Rooney rule’ to attract diverse talent and increase the number of females into male-dominated roles, and those from communities experiencing racial inequality, at senior levels. We have now formally introduced this as part of our Recruitment Policy. We’ve also introduced blind CVs into our recruitment process to avoid unconscious bias, and share all interview questions in advance to those applicants declaring a neurodiversity.
Equality Impact Assessment panel
In 2023/24, we formally created an Equality Impact Assessment panel and incorporated this into our governance structure. The panel is made up of colleagues from a wide range of backgrounds, both professionally and personally, allowing us to assess policies and strategies from a variety of angles to make sure we don’t discriminate against groups of individuals. The group was trained by an external provider and continues to provide valuable insight to the business when it comes to embedding EDI into how we are run.
Mentoring
In 2023/24, we participated in five mentoring programmes: DICE, Inspiring Inclusion, Gap, BOOST, and Housing Diversity Network. These programmes are designed to inspire and empower people to be the best they can be in their roles, both now and in the future.
Events and initiatives
In 2023/24 we participated in a variety of EDI initiatives and events, either by hosting our own events or taking part in ones run by our partners: from Black History Month and Manchester Pride to Disability Awareness Week.
These initiatives gave our colleagues the chance to immerse themselves in other people’s cultures, learn something new, and share their own life experiences. You can find out more by following us on social media.
EDI Strategy
We carried out lots of positive action and developments in this area last year. However, we decided to move the creation of our new EDI Strategy and action plan into 2024/25 as we recognised we still had actions to deliver from our existing strategy. We also had reviews conducted by Housing Diversity Network and Inclusive Employers which we wanted to use to inform our new strategy to make sure it includes current best practice. We’re looking forward to working with our customers to develop this.
Service style – how we connect with customers
overall customer satisfaction
(target achieved)
feel the landlord treats tenants fairly and with respect (against a target of 75%)
At One Manchester, we’ve been redefining our culture around inclusivity, respect, empathy, and listening. After co-creating our HEART values in 2021/22 with customers and colleagues, we’re embedding these values across the organisation. Our goal is to ensure that every interaction reflects these principles.
We’re expanding our Service Style project, set to roll out in 2024/25. This involves reviewing how each service aligns with our values and making improvements in communication and customer engagement. We’ll consult customers and work with external trainers to ensure consistent service delivery across the organisation.
CASE STUDY:
A new phone system improving first call resolution
We made some changes to our phone system in 2023/24, to help you reach the right colleague with the right information more easily.
calls answered
(target 95%)
first point of contact resolution
(target 85%)
How we’ll keep improving: In April 2024, we launched our improvement plan for the call centre. This is helping us to understand demand, and better match resources.