My journey of discovery: Part III

We’re on a mission at Places for People to make it as easy as possible for our People to help our Customers. As Group Chief Operating Officer, a big part of my job is working with our front-line teams to find out how we can remove barriers and simplify processes to enable us all to have an effortless experience. 

So, to experience things at first-hand, my ‘partner-in-crime’ Dani Robertson and I have been spending time with our front-line teams. We’ve previously visited (and learned so much at) the incredible and award-winning Mill Bank Wellbeing Centre in Preston and we also spent a day with Colleagues in the Voids teams. These days are invaluable because they get us away from a desk, train or meeting room and into our Communities with our sleeves rolled up, talking and listening to our People.  

And so onto our next challenge – Landscapes! A couple of weeks ago Dani and I ditched our laptops once more, put on our heavy-duty trousers and headed off to meet Andrew Corcoran (Operations Director for the South) and Roger Shape (National Arboriculture Manager).  

Our Landscapes Colleagues are in our Communities every day, managing, maintaining, and improving the environment for our Customers. Their responsibilities can range from ground maintenance and lawn care, through to tree surgery and more. The roles are wide and varied, and we were looking forward to getting even just a small taste of what they do each day. 

We started our Landscapes day with a very constructive open and honest discussion with Andrew and Roger and then, in our steel-toe cap boots and high vis jackets to accompany the rest of our PPE, headed out with Joe, who would be our supervisor for the day, and teammate, Shane.  

Travelling to site with Joe and Shane, they filled me in on their roles as Landscape Operatives and I was delighted to hear they felt that a lot of positive progress had taken place over the last few months. It’s so important that our teams have the tools they need to get the job done, so I am pleased that that the new equipment that’s been provided has helped. But as always I was keen to fully understand what other issues and frustrations they faced, and how I could help in making their roles as effortless as possible. 

As we pulled up we were handed our duties. Dani and Andrew headed off with litter pickers and black bin bags, and I was given the important task of cutting the grass and trusted with a monster of a machine. After a very careful and detailed induction I was off, remaining under Joe’s watchful eye, which was probably just as well considering I accidently started to mow a lawn that did not belong to our Customers... oops! Thankfully the owner of the lawn didn’t mind so Joe quickly sent me off to do another patch of grass. 

Dani had completed her litter picking and now revisited the areas I had mowed with a smaller mower for a lower, cleaner cut, and Shane tended to the hard-to-reach areas with the strimmer. In no time at all, and lots of sweat (but luckily no tears) the area had been transformed. While all the machines were put away Andrew went around the paths with the blower to ensure that all the paths were left clean and tidy for our Customers. 

The time just flew and before we knew it we were back at the depot to meet some more members of the Landscape and Cleaning teams for a chat over a late lunch, which was the perfect way to finish our time as honorary Landscape operatives.  

 We learn so much though these experiences and always take lots of notes so I can share those learnings with my teammates in the Places for People Executive team. I’m happy to share some of the learning highlights: 

Overall, there’s a sense that we’re making real progress. There’s a lot more we need to do but making sure our teams are well-equipped has been a great starting point. I was really delighted that People are keen to keep learning new skills and progressing their careers, but we need to keep getting better at communication and making sure our People get to have dedicated time with their managers and teams, whether that’s on a more formal basis or informally. As we say in our People Promises, we have a very special role to play, and we never take it for granted, but we need to Enjoy Work. 

We talked a lot about the way our teams work together to help a Community thrive, and the behaviour in some Communities that is sometimes reflected in the level of maintenance, presentation and care taken. We’ve made some recent changes to make sure we’re putting ‘boots on the ground’ where they are needed, that will really boost our Neighbourhoods teams and help them focus their attention on the things that make a big difference. 

I’d like to say a huge thank you to Joe, Shane, Andrew, and Roger for having us along for the day. I was really impressed by, and am grateful for, the work you do. 

I’m enjoying these days out with the teams so much and finding them so valuable in understanding how we can all work together to create and support thriving Communities, that I’m going to keep them up. I come away from every visit Fired Up and already looking forward to my next visit, where I’ll be joining the Income and Recovery Team to learn more about them and how we can make more progress on our mission to make things Effortless for or People and Customers. 

Until next time, 

Scott 

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