We'd like to share our news with you
There's always something interesting happening at Muir, whether it's in our neighbourhoods, in our own teams, or in the wider world of social housing. Browse through the articles to get an idea of the type of things we do here and the issues that affect our work.
Staff at Muir Group Housing Association are celebrating after it was given top marks for its business performance.
The association, which is based in Chester, has been awarded the gold accreditation by Investors In People.
To achieve gold, the highest level of accreditation, Muir Group Housing Association had to meet almost 130 more criteria than normally required for the Investors in People Standard.
Being rated gold means Muir Group Housing Association is now in the top one percent of recognised Investors In People organisations.
“I am extremely proud that we have received this prestigious award which would not have been possible without the hard work of all our staff,” said Chief Executive John Bellis.
“The gold award is good news for staff and customers who can rest assured that Muir Group is a strong, successful business that has the right strategies in place to ensure a bright future.”
The IIP gold award comes just two months after Muir Group Housing Association was named as the winner of the Best for Innovation in Engagement Practice at the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies Awards.
Muir Group Housing Association also placed 23rd in the Sunday Times top 100 public sector and third sector organisations across the country and also gained two star status, ‘outstanding’ in the prestigious Best Companies survey.
A WOMAN who started her job on a temporary contract is now celebrating 25 years service with Muir Group Housing Association.
When Elaine Roscoe first started working for Muir in 1986 Margaret Thatcher was still Prime Minister and Amazulu and Sinitta were topping the charts.
Twenty five years later they are all long gone but Elaine is still working for the Chester-based association, although she has now moved from a temp in the finance department to the Head of HR.
“There are such good opportunities to grow my career that I just never left,” said Elaine.
“I have a great team, everyone is so supportive. Every day is a challenge and I’m learning something new.”
Elaine, 55, from Chester, worked in the finance department at the Ford Motor Company before moving to Muir Group Housing Association where she worked in a similar role for several years.
After starting a family, the mother-of-two returned switched to a part-time HR role and over 18 years has worked her way up to the head of the department.
With Muir Group Housing Association’s support, Elaine has also earned a Masters in Human Resource Management as well a qualification from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
“When I joined the association there was no IT department and I came on board to help computerise the accounting and housing management systems,” said Elaine.
“Over the years I have seen the staff grow from around 30 to 180, we didn’t have any supported housing projects when I started – we now have six projects and manage 4,700 properties across the country.
“Our IT systems and procedures have grown more sophisticated but the company has still retained its personal and friendly atmosphere, which is a big part in why we regularly make it into the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies list and why I have stayed so long.”
Elaine is now responsible for developing HR strategy, ensuring working processes are continually improved, proposing new ideas that would benefit staff while remaining hands-on in terms of recruitment and training.
In recognition of her 25 years service Elaine was given a necklace and champagne from Muir Group Housing Association and she celebrated by having a special lunch with her colleagues.
John Bellis, Chief Executive of Muir Group Housing Association, said: “Elaine’s loyalty and dedication to her job over the years is really commendable and I am proud that we have staff who feel so passionate about what they do working for us.”
10th August 2010
Degree success
Whilst juggling their normal day job and home life priorities, Jenny McCracken - Community Housing Officer and Jo Black - Former Tenant Debt Officer, have both successfully achieved degrees in Housing Studies.
Jo said:
"I found that doing the housing course has really improved my confidence and awareness of my own role within my organisation. The course has made me look at my own ways of working and identify what I can do differently."
"I've really grown from my experiences and I've also learnt a lot about evaluation and problem-solving. Also, when I tackled the subject of Financial Inclusion for my dissertation, it really helped me to gain a real insight into how residents feel about the way they live and what barriers they have to overcome."
"It gave me ideas that I could bring to the association to help our residents become more financially included and also provided me with information about what other organisations do. It was great to make valuable friends during the course - who also work in housing. I got to find out what roles they do, how they progress their careers and I was able to share both good practice ideas and comforting words when exams were looming and course work had to be handed in."
"I feel that Muir has supported me extremely well in my ambitions. Not only did they allow me the day release and give me extra study leave when exams were coming up -they also paid for the fees! If it hadn't been for that, I probably would never had done the course and achieved my goals!"
Jenny said:
"It has always been my aspiration to study for a degree and I really value the opportunity Muir gave me. The course was very varied, giving me a taste of various aspects of housing - such as housing management, maintenance, finance, housing development, policy development, mentoring, project management and research."
"Often the assignments were based around the type of practical tasks which you could expect to undertake within a housing role such as development proposals, evaluating case studies or critically analysing existing policies."
"This approach enabled me to develop the knowledge and skills needed to work within a number of different departments and the course also incorporated the Chartered Institute of Housing requirements, allowing me to gain my professional membership."
"My increased knowledge and skills have really benefited me both professionally and personally - most noticeably through my increased confidence in my ability."
Recruiting for attitude
Muir Group has recently enhanced its recruitment and selection processes to recruit for 'attitude' and not necessarily for experience.
As a result a series of role play and written exercises have been developed that are linked to the organisation's competency framework, which will be used to assess candidates and will complement the interview process. The second phase has also just been completed - comprising three new sifting questions on the job application form. These questions identify an applicant's motivation for wanting to work for Muir Group and assess key behaviours that are linked to the competency framework.
Elaine Roscoe, Head of HR said "If prospective applicants see a job advertised but don't think they have the right experience, they shouldn't be put off by applying - they might just have the right attitude that we are looking for in our staff."
5th August 2010
Muir looks forward to a greener future
MUIR Group Housing Association is boosting its green credentials by creating a role dedicated to protecting the environment.
The association, which has properties in Chester, has appointed an Environmental Officer to look at ways to further reduce its impact on the environment.
Rebecca Graves - who was chosen from 140 hopefuls - starts in September and will also be looking at ways Muir's customers can go green.
"The creation of this role demonstrates Muir Group Housing's commitment to environment sustainability in every aspect of the organisation," said John Bellis, Chief Executive of Muir Group Housing.
"We welcome Rebecca and I am confident that, with the support of her colleagues, she will be successful in implementing our environmental action plan."
Rebecca is a member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment as well as the Chartered Institute of Waste Management.
She currently works with a company in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University looking at environmental management systems and promoting environmental sustainability with UK insurance companies.
Her work at Muir Group Housing will include looking at how the company can reduce its impact on the environment through decreasing residents' energy bills, reducing the amount of waste generated by staff and residents, introducing renewable energy like solar panels into homes and offices and ensuring houses are energy efficient through proper insulation.
Muir Group Housing is one of only a handful of associations of its size to create such a position.
The association's board has also set up an Environmental and Sustainability Group to create a corporate environmental policy and environmental action plan.
"This is a challenging and exciting opportunity for Muir Group Housing to develop our environmental responsibility in all that we do," said John Bellis.
Sunday Times puts Muir on top
MUIR Group Housing has been recognised amongst the country's business elite after featuring in the prestigious list of the nation's best employers.
The Chester-based housing association has featured in The Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies 2010 - making it one of the few housing organisations in the UK to be highlighted. Muir's position in the small companies list comes just weeks after the Association was awarded two-star 'outstanding' status in a survey by Best Companies. Elaine Roscoe and David Hull from Muir attended a celebration event in London where they were presented with the award by Jonathan Austin, founder and chief executive of Best Companies Ltd.
Muir Group achieves two-star status in the latest survey by Best Companies
Muir Group has achieved two-star status in the latest survey by Best Companies, which aims to acknowledge organisations with a forward-thinking approach to staff engagement and development.
John Bellis, chief executive of Muir Group Housing, said: “We know that our employees are an integral part of our success and we aim to provide them with the very best training and development opportunities, working environment and culture possible.
“Knowing they are happy and proud to be part of Muir Group Housing is a huge bonus. Despite a challenging year this award demonstrates that staff engagement is still extremely high on our agenda and underlines our position as one of the UK's leading employers.”
The major national accreditation surveyed employees in more than 1,000 organisations across the UK.
The confidential and voluntary survey asked employees to give their views on various aspects of their work, from leadership and management, to well-being and personal growth.
Using this information Best Companies marks the organisation on a star rating, where one star is first class, two stars is outstanding, and three stars is extraordinary.
Continually striving to improve employee engagement, the award shows Muir Group Housing is heading firmly in the right direction after being named ‘one to watch' in 2007 followed by one-star status last year.
John Bellis added: “I would like to thank all our staff for their commitment and enthusiasm for the work they do, which has been reflected in this important accreditation.
“Retaining a motivated and dedicated workforce that is focused on delivering the best possible service to our customers is essential to Muir Group Housing and we will continue working hard to ensure we are a great organisation to work for.”
It's fun to work at Muir Group
Muir Group staff enjoyed a day of fun and relaxation at Chester Racecourse in recognition of everyone working hard over the past year.
The philosophy is simple: People who have fun, get more done!
The morning session explored how to create a working environment to encourage enjoyment in employment.
After lunch, staff could choose from a range of fun activities. These included taking part in an ‘It's a Knock Out' competition or indoor sessions on Tai Chi and Salsa dancing were on offer together with relaxing therapy treatments including head and shoulder massages, manicures and health checks.
The day concluded with a raffle with loads of prizes including a flat screen TV and a balloon ride.
The Pink Goatee
Staff at Muir Group are often raising money for different charities. John Fletcher, one of our Sheltered Scheme Managers, went ‘pink' for the month of October by having his goatee beard dyed in order to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign. John raised over £300 in sponsorship.
