Greater Manchester Housing Providers (GMHPs) recently joined forces to host careers events in their communities throughout March, aimed at encouraging their customers and other social housing residents to consider a career in the sector. The 20% movement aims for 20% of Greater Manchester Housing Providers’ workforce to be tenants by 2034.
The initiative is based not just on raising aspirations; but on the principle that the sector should better represent the communities that they serve, and that lived experience is an invaluable asset to be brought to the table. The events were hosted by the housing providers in community centres across Greater Manchester, in the heart of the communities that many of their customers live in. They involved representatives from a range of professions in the sector – serving to broaden horizons and share experiences.
The leading housing associations included: Jigsaw Homes Group; Southway Housing; Great Places Housing Group; Clarion; Onwards; Together Housing; ForHousing; Stockport Homes; Wythenshawe; One Manchester; First Choice Homes Oldham; and Beone Homes (whose event took place later, on 29 April). Each took a lead in organising the content and activity, with all events including opportunities to speak to employees about their roles – in the form of speed networking, drop-in sessions and advice stands. Attendees could get a sense of job opportunities in the fields of HR, caretaking and grounds maintenance, operational roles and apprenticeships, housing support and development.
In addition, some events included ‘day-in-the-life’ videos, interactive activities to get attendees thinking about the range of roles in housing; ‘workplace bingo’; and many also offered one-to-one support with CV-writing. This was bolstered by other partners in attendance such as Hays Recruitment, as well as Wythenshawe Community Connector Events, who ran a larger event attended by 200 residents alone.
435 tenants were engaged across the events. Roughly 30-50 attended each one, with at least fifteen job applications completed directly on the back of them – as well as many more talent pool sign-ups, referrals and course enrolments.
Alison Dean, CEO of Great Places and current Chair of the 20% Movement, commented: “This is an initiative I believe really strongly in. It’s important that our organisations reflect the communities we serve, and it’s great to see the commitment of several Greater Manchester Housing Providers to really put the wheels in motion for this over the past few months of planning, collaborating and delivering such successful events with fantastic turnouts. Many in our communities face a range of barriers to pursuing a career, and not just in our sector, and a lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes to tackle these – I’m confident we can achieve the 20% goal in the next decade.
