Saffron Housing Trust is proud of the 4,700 homes it manages and proud of its service to tenants. So when an Audit Commission report highlighted room for improvement in the charitable trust’s approach to diversity – including those with hearing difficulties – Saffron soon identified the need for staff training.

 

The Trust is aware of 319 hearing-impaired tenants, of which 39 are deaf. A further 36 of them have speech difficulties. This made them feel isolated and meant staff struggled to communicate effectively with them. Saffron wanted to ensure everyone, however they communicated, felt the service they received was personal and individual.

 

Saffron teamed up with Wymondham Learning Initiative (WLI), a voluntary community based adult learning charity, unique in South Norfolk. The two organisations had worked together since 2006, in an annual outreach programme for the Trust’s tenants. WLI’s unique position as a charitable learning provider with strong local contacts and an established relationship with the Trust, meant Saffron considered it could provide tailored learning solutions for staff as well as tenants.

 

WLI met with Saffron staff over a ‘lunch and learn’ drop-in session to find out what staff wanted in the learning programme. A quarter of Saffron’s staff completed a questionnaire and 43 attended the session. It emerged that front-line staff wanted British Sign Language (BSL) training to improve their ability to communicate with tenants. Others requested IT skills, yoga – and ‘dress to impress’ skills to make a good impression with colleagues and tenants. Training would be open to all 174 Trust staff and designed to be hands-on, fun and interactive, with workbooks, role-plays and group work. It would be tailored to suit specific Saffron staff of different abilities in mixed groups.

 

Caring for tenants is a full-time job and many BSL learners had a challenge to find the time to commit, due to the ongoing needs of the business. However enthusiasm was so great that staff decided to give up their lunchtimes, with two-hour sessions meaning they were not away from their jobs at critical times. They even came in on their holidays, as they didn’t want to miss any learning.

 

As the partners hoped, delivery went perfectly, with significant success in BSL training. Ten of 12 learners passed BSL Level One part one, with learners enjoying the experience so much they moved on to take parts two and three. The lunchtime sessions meant little loss of output for the business. 

 

The costs proved to be excellent value in responding to the findings of the audit report, with a greater appreciation of the needs of tenants with hearing impairment and related disabilities. Tenant perception of such care has improved, as has the morale and practical ability of the staff. “I used my sign language in reception for the first time,” says one learner. “It was a great feeling and made me realise how beneficial the course is.”

 

The partnership has now developed the training programme further, including dyslexia awareness training and a bespoke Saffron Mystery Shopper project providing certified training for tenant mystery shoppers – some with hearing and mobility impairments. The trust has now earned Investors in People Bronze accreditation.

 

Stuart Tinkler, HR Manager said:

“We were already really pleased at how the training programme has helped us to deliver a more inclusive service to our tenants and customers, but now that a panel of expert judges believed the training was worthy of such a prestigious National Training Award it has made it even more of an achievement.  The rigorous judging process confirmed to us that the training we delivered was very special and of an exceptionally high standard”