Customer groups
Our customers are involved in every area of South Yorkshire Housing Association; they sit on the Board of Directors, co-produce our services, scrutinise the work we do and tell us when we’re getting it right, and more importantly, when we’re getting it wrong.
There are also plenty of informal ways to get involved, from litter picks and street clean-up events, to forming a tenant group and applying for a grant to improve your neighbourhood. There’s bound to be something that suits you, so get in touch if you would like to do something positive for your community.
Alternatively, read on to discover how you can get involved with our Customer Improvement Panel or Challenge Group.
Join our Customer
Improvement Panel
Once a month a group of tenants and customers come together to give us their opinion, insight and approval on all sorts of issues.
These include how we apply rent increases, the repairs we provide, inspecting empty properties, looking at how we communicate on different topics and shaping the annual report for customers.
The panel is open to all of our customers, and usually meets on the last Thursday of the month at our head office on Rockingham Street. Lunch and refreshments are always provided, and we also cover travel expenses.
Join the Challenge Group
A group of tenants and customers meets regularly to conduct investigations into every area of the organisation, they are called the Challenge Group. They are our ‘critical friends’, giving us valuable insights, offering recommendations and creating action plans that we use to make all the work we do as good as it can be.
All members of the Challenge Group are volunteers who receive the training they need to give them the confidence, skills and knowledge to help make a real difference.
Below are some reports from recent Challenge Group exercises:
- Anti-social behaviour
- Compensation
- Estate services
- Welfare reform
- Hard to let adverts
- Tenancy agreement
- Fire Risk Assessment
Who can join?
As a tenant or customer you will already have valuable experience of our services. No one knows our services like you do. The group is open for you to join, it doesn’t matter what background you have – your experience can help change our services for the better. We’re especially looking for someone who has:
- The ability to identify positive and negative aspects of service delivery
- A willingness to talk about solutions and contribute ideas
- An enjoyment of working with others in a team to achieve goals and respect for other team members
- An objective, honest and open approach
What will I get in return?
We’ve made sure that we reward our tenants who join the Challenge Group. In return for your time we’ll give you all the training you need to be confident in your role. You’ll learn new skills which can help you in not only your personal life, but in your professional life too – a role like this looks great on your CV!
For every exercise you complete you’ll receive £50 (as well as any expenses), and to help you keep in touch with the rest of the group we’ll give you your own laptop or tablet and contribute to the cost of your internet at home.
Lots of our tenants find the social aspect of the group rewarding and have made some good friendships. You also get the satisfaction of knowing that you’re making a real difference to the future of our services.
To find out more about the Customer Improvement Panel or the Challenge Group, contact James Smith on 0114 2900 200 or email j.smith@syha.co.uk
