Goodbye Housing, Hello Further Education (again)

So next week I finally leave my current job and, on 29 February, take up the role of HR Director at Trafford College. It's been a long, long exit and in this blog I'm going to take the opportunity to summarise my feelings at leaving the housing sector after 12 years and starting again in the Further Education sector.

I do feel sad to be leaving the housing sector in general. After 12 years in one sector, it gets into your blood in a way. I feel I've been able to make some great contributions to housing, at GGHT mainly but also working with and for organisations like CIH, HDN and the NHF.

It's not a total goodbye as I hope to carry on some of my work with the CIH in particular, working with their Education teams to help to train a new generation of housing professionals. But that's not a substantial time demand and more often than not is remote working, so my main day to day contact with housing professionals and housing organisations will certainly cease.

It has been a very long exit since it was agreed back in August I would leave my current role early in 2016.  I didn't think this would mean leaving housing per se, so that's the bit that has taken me by surprise, but that's what happens sometimes and I've got a good place to go to.

I often compare working relationships to personal relationships, and I will blog in more detail about the parallels between employee engagement and falling out of love with someone. But I don't think I have fallen out of love with the sector itself.

Housing is facing many issues which I wanted to be part of tackling, however I’m not sure how I can now.  The summer budget last year had a devastating impact, financially, across the sector – its resulted in many organisations facing severe financial difficulties and challenges, and many having to let talented staff go (often out of the sector entirely).  The new mergers code is a contentious topic but one which will increasingly become a reality facing many housing organisations, and as conglomerations of housing organisations develop and the sector thins out, there will be significant challenges faced at Board and Executive level to maintain strong and effective governance and leadership, especially with the scrutiny they now face through the In Depth Assessment process from the regulator.  And the issues raised by the Homes for Britain campaign haven’t gone away, even if the government has a different solution in mind – the country has a gap between the supply of and demand for social housing.  And I’ve only listed a handful of big issues here, there are lots more.

These are all issues that I’d been looking forward to helping to tackle, and each has its own implications for HR, leadership and employee engagement.

In my time working in housing I’ve helped to tackle lots of similar issues.  I’ve played a leading role in Stock Transfers, housing inspections, restructures, changes to terms and conditions, head office moves, and group structures – and probably more besides.  There’s always been something happening – and to be honest that’s why I’ve so enjoyed working in housing, and why I’ll miss it.  The people are so friendly, so committed and so enthusiastic – the organisations are, for the most part, welcoming, flexible, sociable and productive places to be.

I thought I’d stay in housing for just 3 years, in line with my career plan as it was all those years ago.  And here I am leaving after 12 years, having had a great time for 90% of the intervening time and, up until last year, not ever imagining working in a different sector again.

So Goodbye, Housing.  Thanks for everything.

And hello again to Further Education.

I say hello again because I worked, full time, in the FE sector from 2001-2004 and part time (one evening a week) from 2004 – 2010, so I go back a long way with the sector, but this will be my first time back full time in the sector for 12 years and my first time in the sector in a senior HR role.  But I enjoyed working in FE previously and will do again.

I’m looking forward to it.  I know I’m going to a great place, and will be working with a great and talented team.  Many of the things that attracted me to working in housing appear to be present in my new organisation in terms of its culture and people.

Now, FE has its own range of issues and challenges, some of which I’m only just beginning to learn about but which are already racing around my mind as I think about the implications for me in an HRD role.  FE is currently subject to a round of Area Reviews, and funding changes, as the government decides what role the sector needs to play in tackling the skills challenges that the UK faces, and how FE needs to be organised at a local level.  FE has challenges in attracting a high number of talented individuals to work there, and in developing a culture of strong leadership and performance.  Within the Greater Manchester area, there is obviously the impending arrival of DevoManc and all the changes that will bring.

So I’m clear that I’m leaping out of the frying pan and very much into the fire.

I can see how I can get involved in tackling these issues and I’m very much looking forward to doing so.

The next few years promise to be very interesting for FE, and for me.

I’m ready…I think.

I’ll keep you posted how I get on.

Till next time…

Gary

PS in other news, wedding planning getting serious now – menu choices made, colour schemes being chosen, wedding dress shopping taking place (minus me obviously)!

Don't hate the player, hate the game

I came across gamification as a concept fairly recently, and have been giving it a lot of thought. This post will explore my interest and hopefully generate some discussion, even if privately, about its potential use in both housing and HR. 

I can't recall precisely where I came across the concept but immediately I liked gamification. I've dabbled in game playing myself as opposed to being a dedicated gamer, but I have an ultra competitive streak and a bit of an addictive personality so I can see how and why gamification appeals, it's just that I know I could get in over my head on some games and spend more time on them than I need to, so I'm wary. 

But my kids are addicted to things like Candy Crush, Angry Birds and Minecraft, and collaborate online with their friends on more involved games like Call of Duty, FIFA and so on. And even my mum is addicted to Candy Crush and any number of Facebook-hosted games you can mention. It's clear to me that gaming and gamification has wide ranging appeal. 

I've also got quite addicted to the Global Corporate Challenge (GCC) in recent years which combines my love of fitness and exercise with a gamification led approach. 

Indeed, the generations who will make up the majority of our future workforce have grown up with online gaming and the concepts of being rewarded for achievements in games whether solo or team based. 

But they are entering organisations, many of whom who are run by people who haven't heard of gamification much less want to embrace it. Even I'm a recent convert in the last 18 months or so. 

Gamification has huge potential benefits to organisations, so it surprised me in my initial research that most examples were based around learning and development. 

I think it has much wider potential than that. Although that's not to decry how good some of the training based gamification is. 

I've seen it myself in GGHT with the GCC. Building in gamification into an activity creates an element of competition, of teamwork and collaboration, of innovation and creativity, helps to embed organisational values and solve problems, engage the staff and build the organisational employer brand, and in this specific case too encourage physical and mental wellness (see About Me for why I'd like this).

So why wouldn't organisations want more of this?

I think it's because the generations who would most readily grasp the idea and implement it aren't sufficiently advanced enough up organisations in sufficient numbers to make a difference. 

Yet. 

But we are growing in number and in influence. 

So far in my research I've seen some good examples of gamification in learning and training. I have seen how some organisations have transformed their induction processes, and other elements of mandatory training like Health and Safety, to make them much more interactive and to engage their staff more.

But training and learning is, for me, only the tip of the iceberg.  Admittedly though I'd only researched its use in housing, but since then I've done more.  Here's a good list of the Top 25 examples of gamification in business.  I like most of these, particularly how the US Army has used gamification in recruitment.  Also notable is no.19 (Bluewolf) using it for employee engagement and brand development.  These though were in a minority - with most examples relating to customers or individual users, and not to employees.

This article discusses more on how organisations can use gamification for their employees, and is a useful read.  And its this that got me thinking of some wider possibilities.

I think organisations can use gamification in a few different ways:

• Reward and recognition.  If employees can collect trophies and points for doing things (see below) then we can translate these trophies and points into a cash or near cash value which employees can use.  Senior managers could award points and trophies to reward good work.
• Performance management.    A set amount of points could lead to a pay rise perhaps, and an individuals' score and trophy haul could be discussed in a performance management discussion and provide the base data for that discussion.
• Collaboration.   Organisations already use Yammer and other internal social networks, but attempts at collaboration on key projects or duties, or just getting involved with other staff by liking or commenting on things could generate points and trophies.  Organisations could link someone's Klout score (if they use it) to Yammer and use that to encourage sharing and collaboration.
• Delivery of services / job duties.  This does happen in some places, eg look at McDonalds where all their employees have those name badges with the different coloured stars.  I used to sneer at that, but look at the reputation McDonalds have as an employer and a developer of staff.  Its gamification in a pure form and an old one.  But it could be adapted.  What about in customer service or call centres, awarding points or trophies for dealing particularly well with a customer or a call.  Or in a sales role for hitting targets.  And hence the link then to reward and performance management.
• Recruitment - see US Army example, but think of how that can be translated into effective selection processes in any organisation - testing an individuals' creativity by asking them to build a Minecraft world, or their problem solving or resilience by tackling a tough Candy Crush level, or even insisting on a certain Klout score before being able to apply for a role.  Or testing their teamwork by getting them to play a multiplayer Fifa game.

These are all pipe dreams at the moment, I think, but I'm excited about the possibilities of seeing some of them come to fruition and I am convinced within 10 years we will see all of them.

How have you seen organisations use gamification?  Have you seen some of my examples being done?

What do you think the future holds for gamification?

Till next time...

Gary

PS In other news, wedding date now set for Friday 26 August 2016 in Paphos, Cyprus!