Your Own Place

supporting people moving to independence to prevent homelessness

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How to invest in your team

PhDs, annoying memes and much more has been written about this.

Since first managing a team over ten years ago the world has changed, I have changed and employee expectations have changed.

Without the team we don’t exist and we don’t have an impact. So I guess it’s right that it should be the one thing that causes me most anxiety and cause for concern.

I think these things work best. I’m not saying that I’ve got them right or do them as much as I’d like to. Do as I say and not as I do….

1. Be available – which means listening (not interrupting and no devices).

2. Treating people as independent sentient individuals who believe their truth as much as you believe yours.

3. Being open to being disagreed with and creating a culture when that’s not just ok, but encouraged.

4. Lead by example – admit your faults, model behaviours and language.

5. Be clear, fair, consistent and honest.

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King’s Lynn next week…

We’re definitely heading over to King’s Lynn next week to train new Volunteer Tenancy Mentors.

We have a fantastic and diverse group lined up. We are training employees from Foster Property Maintenance and Freebridge Housing as well as people with some existing volunteering experience with The Purfleet Trust.

What an amazing way to build a community of mentors for young people in the town and make a difference to their lives.

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What kind of person makes a great mentor?

We get asked this a lot. When we visit businesses, housing associations and local authorities to talk about putting their staff forward as employee volunteer mentors, it’s important to be clear.

An HR manager might naturally conclude that ‘front-line’ or customer-focused staff will benefit most from the skills development that comes from the two-day training.

They’re definitely going to benefit. With the social skills they’re going to get, the coaching skills, improved levels of empathy as well as listening skills and taking a solution-focussed approach, this is valuable for anyone working with the public.

But aren’t these great to have in the back office too? We all manage people day in day out and having employees that operate using these skills is useful to any part of the workplace.

And why would we want to narrow our field? People are amazing. People are your and our community greatest asset. We want mentors from every possible background to ensure that there is a mentor for every mentee. Because our mentees are wonderful and diverse too!