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Sustainability
Sustainability remains at the heart of our culture, our business heritage and our everyday activities. The services we offer add real long term value to the communities we support; our end-to-end capabilities, from the early stages of design and development through to ongoing maintenance, help balance the needs of customers, communities, our employees and suppliers alike.
Our vision is:
‘To lead the social and affordable housing sector in creating and supporting sustainable homes, which meet the long term needs of those who live in, manage and own them.’
Dedication to Health and Safety
Our approach to health and safety is uncompromising and championed through all levels within the organisation. Our team of safety specialists deliver a comprehensive approach to training from a new employee’s first day, through tailored development in line with an individual’s job, to director level responsibilities.
We remain dedicated to the health and safety of our people and those who come into contact with our activities, whether customers, suppliers or members of the public. To reinforce our effectiveness and to drive best practice across the organisation we operate bespoke safety and environmental inspection and reward schemes, reviewing the results and recommendations on a monthly basis. Our commitment to health and safety has played an important part in ensuring that we deliver safety performance which ranks alongside the best in our industry. Please see pages 8 and 9 of the Sustainability Review for more detail.
Creating the Right Working Environment
Our ongoing success is reliant on our ability to attract and retain the best people and to inspire them to do their best work. We recognise that creating the right working environment is essential, one where individuals are respected and have ample opportunity to achieve their full potential.
Our induction programme provides all new employees with the opportunity to explore and discuss our corporate values to ensure that they are confident about what behaviours are appropriate in a business that has a ‘human touch’, is ‘relationship focused’, ‘entrepreneurial and direct’, ‘visible’ and ‘determined to preserve our environment’. The programme, supported by ongoing training, also provides staff with a good understanding of the policies and processes underpinning our ethical business philosophies.
Our Code of Ethics requires that employees must not act in a manner which could bring Inspace into disrepute. When dealing with each other, with customers, with suppliers and with other third parties, employees must conduct business honestly and in good faith, maintaining trust and confidence. The Code of Ethics and our Whistleblower Policy are complementary and equally promoted to all employees in order to reinforce the way we expect to do business.
We utilise a variety of techniques to constantly measure how successfully employee experience reflects our culture: through normal day-to-day communication; through staff turnover and absence rates; through employee and team briefing events; and as part of our annual empowerment survey of all employees. The survey is confidential and provides invaluable information to support our retention and motivation initiatives. The survey findings also form the basis of our divisional planning process and progress is reviewed quarterly as well as annually at our ‘People Asset Review’ presented to the board. We recognise that, even with our best endeavours, employees will leave our business and through a confidential exit interview process, conducted by an independent third party, we gain an invaluable insight towards their decision to leave. Exit interview surveys enable us to keep our plans fresh and relevant to any issues that may arise. Please see pages 6, 7, 12 and 13 of the Sustainability Review for more detail.
Supporting Transferring Employees
We recognise that joining the business through the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) can be a potentially unsettling time for new employees and we take these responsibilities very seriously. We have a proven track record in the effective and sensitive management of TUPE and in our ability to retain and motivate the personnel in the transition to our business culture. Our success is grounded in sound management practice and an unstinting commitment to effective communication and consultation with the workforce and their Trade Union representatives. We have built strong partnering relationships with Trade Union colleagues and have successfully implemented a number of joint improvement initiatives in 2006. Please see pages 6 and 7 of the Sustainability Review for more detail.
Investment in Learning and Development
Our commitment to employee development remains a key priority. We actively encourage our people, by providing both practical and financial assistance, to pursue professional qualifications in their chosen career or in support of a new career direction. We have successfully completed a pilot scheme allowing experienced, but as yet unqualified technicians and engineers, to gain their NVQ or C&G trade qualifications, either in their specialist field or in broader maintenance operations.
We also recognise that empowering our people to do their best work is heavily reliant on strong leadership and effective management practice. The Inspace Management Centre (“IMC”), formally launched in 2007, supports our cultural values by reinforcing the behaviours essential to our success. The IMC provides a portfolio of learning and development interventions from trainee management through to director level appointments. Our senior management programme is also expected to be accredited at diploma level by the Chartered Management Institute. One of the IMC cornerstone programmes, ‘Foundations of Management’, implemented in 2006, affords newly promoted managers the opportunity to develop their communication, influencing and change management skills and equips them to realise their full potential in motivating and engaging their teams. Please see the Sustainability Review for more detail.
The retention of our best people is directly linked to our ‘promote from within’ ethos, evident at all levels within our business. We also actively encourage and reward personal recommendations from existing employees, through our ‘Refer-a-Friend’ scheme to attract new talent into the business. Loyalty of service is equally encouraged.
Of course, we do much more besides. It is no coincidence that Sir Michael Latham, so actively involved in developing the partnering ethos within our business, is also widely respected in his capacity as chairman of the Construction Industry Training Board. Please see pages 12 and 13 of the Sustainability Review for more detail.
Strength in Diversity
We are passionate about embedding our culture and values; enabling the right environment to flourish will ensure our ability to recruit and retain people based on merit, irrespective of background, without prejudice and with a total commitment to respect for the individual.
As members of the ‘SummitSkills Diversity and Careers Interest Group’ we are working to actively promote our sector and the career opportunities available; through a joint initiative, “Breaking the Mould”, with Joint Training Limited (formed in 1990 by the Electrical Contractors’ Association and Amicus), we conducted an independent cultural assessment and took positive action to promote our business, which resulted in us successfully recruiting more women into our trainee programme in 2006. Our apprentice and management trainee programmes present an important opportunity to broaden our candidate base. In particular, we have made good progress in recruiting graduates from a non-cognate background and aim to attract at least 25% female candidates in our annual intake. See pages 3, 12 and 13 of the Sustainability Review.
During 2006, employees attended diversity awareness workshops which helped to reinforce our ‘Dignity at Work’ policy and provided a forum for lively discussion and a real insight to colleagues’ differing perspectives. The workshop continues to feature within our learning and development programme.
We recognise that in any diverse business our employees’ needs are wide-ranging and, in addition to our internal support systems, we offer assistance to our employees and their families alike, through access to a free confidential helpline and additional support where required through our outsourced occupational health provider.
Economic Support for the Local Community
We aim to bring economic as well as social benefit to the communities we support. For example, our Social Housing division has successfully organised a number of local initiatives designed to encourage skills and interest in our business sector from a broader and more diverse community, including:
- trade trial days on estates undergoing regeneration
- our partnership with builders’ merchants where, subject to forecast volumes, they open local branches alongside our own, offering new employment opportunities
Our ability to support the local community is often seen by our customers as a key performance indicator. Our flexible business models actively encourage the provision of local employment opportunities through our recruitment campaigns. This is equally true of our approach to our sub contractor workforce; for example, 40% of the workforce was engaged locally at our Peartree Project, Welwyn Garden City and we always aim to achieve at least 20% local employment at our branches and construction sites.
We also register all our sites with the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) and have worked hard to introduce a ‘Higher Code of Practice’ based on their guidance. We issued a Community Handbook including this code to all our construction colleagues in 2007 and this has contributed to us now scoring over 80% across all sites when independently assessed by CCS.
We were recently awarded three bronze and one gold award at the CCS Awards 2008, for the continued exemplary performance of Inspace construction sites.
Please see pages 6, 7, 14 and 15 of the Sustainability Review.
Our Customer Experience
An essential part of our success continues to be our ability to maintain an effective partnering relationship with our customers. We measure satisfaction through a series of customer satisfaction reviews and telephone surveys from the start of contracts through to completion and after care service.
Our systems and processes are tailored to the needs of our customers’ business ambitions and measured in line with agreed Key Performance Indicators. Our approach adheres to recognised business standards with all business activities either working towards or already formally certified to ISO 9000:2000 and ISO 14001. We also issue an annual questionnaire to our customers, asking them for feedback on our performance in respect of innovation, sustainability and community activities; the results of this exercise continue to inform our research and development of innovative and sustainable approaches to business.
Our suppliers have a key role to play in the delivery of a quality service and, wherever appropriate, we operate the same partnering philosophy with our supply chain relationships. Again, tailored to the needs of the customer and our service provision, our approach includes: Partnering Charters supported by supplier relationship managers. All suppliers are required to have appropriate Health and Safety accreditation as well as demonstrate an approach to business that is in line with our cultural values. In 2008 we will be engaging with key suppliers and contractors in order to promote more sustainable procurement practices throughout our procurement network. See pages 8, 9 and 20 of the Sustainability Review.
Community Relationships
We pride ourselves on our ability to build effective relationships within the communities where we work. Providing an effective and main point of contact for our tenants and residents has been invaluable in helping us to understand their needs and concerns and therefore deliver any necessary improvements. Our social housing division has dedicated Tenant Liaison Officers and other community professionals, often residents themselves recruited for their vital local knowledge. See pages 18 and 19 of the Sustainability Review.
In August 2006 we were proud to be awarded accreditation by the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS), established specifically to advise local tenant groups and coordinate best practice in tenant involvement in repairs and improvements to homes. The award is for a three year period from August 2006 to July 2009.
Our services are geared to embrace the needs of diverse communities, for example, supporting disability needs. Whilst the best initiatives are often simple, they can make a huge difference to everyday lives:
- our ‘Back Where it Goes’ service ensures that where tenants are visually disabled, belongings are replaced exactly in their original positions after work has been completed
- our ‘Language Line’ doorstep service offers tenants whose first language is not English the opportunity to use mobile telephones and a call centre interpreter as the conduit between the technician and resident
- our organised resident association day trips minimise the impact of any building disruption
- our school visits programme makes children aware of the dangers associated with building sites
To create sustainable communities where residents can feel safe and secure and take pride in their environment, we have proactively involved our tenants and residents in defining and realising the improvements they would wish to see. Successes we have collectively achieved so far include:
- provision or improvement of community facilities including community centres and play spaces
- improvement of external lighting, windows and doors to enhance security
- improvement of external hard and soft landscaping to create a better ‘place’ to live with kerb-side appeal
- provision of cycle paths
- sponsorship of a number of local sport teams
See pages 14, 15, 18 and 19 of the Sustainability Review.
Our Commitment to Sustainability
Sustainability is now at the forefront of both public opinion and Government policy; public sector procurement will increasingly, and quite rightly, require demonstration of relevant credentials.
Our dedicated and growing Innovation, Sustainability and Community team, with Group director level sponsorship, is supported by our Sustainability Steering Group (SSG). The SSG meets on a regular basis to review and measure progress towards annually agreed objectives and targets and it ensures that our products and services are developed with sustainability in mind.
Using a unique scoring system, we have monitored the uptake of more sustainable and innovative approaches across our ‘regeneration and new homes’ work. The business has made year-on-year improvements, particularly in 2006 influenced by the introduction of our ‘Sustainability Toolkit’; additional services and approaches covering the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability. In 2007 we didn’t hit our predicted target of 290 as some major schemes which would have scored heavily were delayed, which meant our actual score was a shade less than 270.
Totals shown represent the average score per dwelling across all units contracted in that year; scores are based upon the allocation of points per component/service from our Best Practice and Innovation Checklist. We have been measuring our performance in this way since 1999 and have demonstrated significant annual increases in implementation every year since then. In 2006 our performance took a big leap forward with the introduction of our ‘Sustainability Toolkit’ of additional services and approaches covering the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability. Working with our clients we delivered more innovative and sustainable housing than ever before.
This means that in 2008 our overall score against our checklist is likely to be much higher as these schemes are delivered. The trend will continue to rise owing to our adoption of more sustainable techniques, methods and practices on our sites. For the future we are looking to develop this checklist approach to fit with our maintenance and stock reinvestment services and a cornerstone of this approach is our growing expertise in EcoHomes XB. EcoHomes XB is the equivalent of the new build EcoHomes for existing buildings.
Our expertise in the delivery of EcoHomes allows us to incorporate environmentally friendly approaches on the majority of our projects. Recent examples range from high performance insulation, to water saving taps and solar water heating, through to bat and bird boxes to encourage wildlife. Our Broughton Atterbury development in Milton Keynes was one of the first to be developed in line with the Sustainable Communities Plan, achieving an EcoHomes ‘Excellent’ rating. So far, we have completed over 250 Homes to an EcoHomes ‘Excellent’ standard, placing us as one of the market leaders.
Following on from our track record of involvement in various Department of Trade and Industry sponsored GlobalWatch missions to North America, Japan and Europe, in 2007 we visited the exemplar sustainable development at Hammarby Sjöstad, Sweden.
Environmental Commitment
A core principle of our ISO 14001 certification is continual environmental improvement. Our business objectives and targets continually embrace the fundamental principles set out in the standard.
By utilising modern methods of construction we aim to significantly reduce waste from our Social Housing regeneration and new homes activities particularly in relation to four principal materials: brickwork, blockwork, insulation and plasterboard. For the latter, we have a collection and recycling scheme which means that zero plasterboard waste goes to landfill from our new-build housing projects; in 2007 we recovered and recycled nearly 500 tonnes of plasterboard. Individual waste management strategies are developed to meet the needs of each project to promote reduction, recycling and re-use of waste and we have insisted on the preparation of site waste management plans since 2000. See pages 16 and 17 of the Sustainability Review.
Our Social Housing maintenance and stock reinvestment services have recently introduced a number of initiatives to reduce waste. For example, at Colchester, in partnership with the British Heart Foundation and Remploy, it recycled and reconditioned any white goods and where goods cannot be re-used or recycled, Remploy coordinates their disposal to Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive standards. These models have the potential to be replicated across all parts of the business. Please see page 20 of our Sustainability Review for more detail of our target on waste.
Environmental Research
In November 2006, along with Imperial College, London, we were responsible for co-promoting a DTI mission to Northern Europe to research approaches to low energy housing and use of renewable energy. This research continues to inform our approaches to cost effective and replicable service delivery and to the development of the low/zero carbon homes of the future.
In partnership with the University of East Anglia, a carbon audit was undertaken across a number of our offices. We are already using these findings to implement measures to reduce emissions, working to a long term goal of carbon neutral branches. The study extended to an analysis of our vehicle fleet and has led to a reappraisal of our vehicle policies across the Group including the evaluation of alternative fuel options. In 2008 we will complete a carbon footprint of all of Inspace’s activities and we have committed to publish the results along with our targets for reduction. Please see our strategic intent on page 20 of the Sustainability Review.
Sustainability Review
The new edition of our Sustainability Review “More Than Just Homes” is now available.
Best Place to Work
