The HIP: The Housing Industry Podcast
The housing crisis looms large. The UK’s crying out for housing stock, and new builds can play a huge role in the recovery. Diversity and inclusion is finally getting the attention it deserves at a strategic level. Although there’s plenty of work still to do. And environmental concerns are taking centre stage, with time running out to reach ambitious targets in net zero carbon emissions. Suffice to say, the UK housing sector is going through a period of great change right now. With everything developing at such a pace, it can be hard to keep your finger on the pulse. That’s why we’ve launched The Housing Industry Podcast. Featuring lively conversations with key leaders in the housing sector, The Housing Industry Podcast will provide real value to anyone working in the UK housing market who cares about making a difference.
The HIP: The Housing Industry Podcast
Advancing EDI Within Housing with Lee Bloomfield
Is this year the year you start to prioritise EDI in your organisation? Chief Executive of Manningham Housing Association, Lee Bloomfield, joins us in this episode to take a deep dive into building bridges within communities and how the organisation has levelled up its EDI approaches.
We find out about Lee’s journey into housing that left him in charge of bringing Manningham Housing Association up to a compliant level again. He shares the steps they took to do so and to becoming the first housing association in the world to achieve the global Standard for Diversity and Inclusion in HR Management.
He speaks about the Building Bridges Bradford program, which was built to strengthen the bond between the association and the community it serves. Lee shares with us the benefits of this initiative and explains the steps they've taken to improve customer satisfaction.
We also speak about the pressing housing needs in Bradford and Manningham Housing Association's commitments to new housing. Lee sheds light on their efforts to make the recruitment process more inclusive, emphasising the importance of recruiting for potential and sharing insights on how organisations can prioritise EDI effectively.
In this episode, we cover -
- How Lee got into the housing sector.
- The actions Lee took to get Manningham Housing Association compliant.
- How working towards and achieving accreditations has benefited Manningham Housing Association.
- How digitisation has allowed the organisation to provide better customer service.
- The Building Bridges Bradford project.
- The state of housing requirements in Bradford today.
- How to make the recruitment process more inclusive.
- What steps can organisations that want to prioritise EDI take?