Almost three quarters (73%) of applicants to the National Tenant Council (NTC), which will be an important part of the National Tenant’s Voice, believe that the NTC will have a significant impact on social housing over the next few years. The survey, which questioned over 250 applicants, also revealed that the majority of tenants who had applied to sit on the Council had primarily done so in order to drive policy changes nationally (77%). The nationwide campaign to find 26 social housing tenants to sit on the 50-strong NTC attracted over 1200 applicants. The recruitment is being led by Hays Social Housing in association with Communities and Local Government (CLG), and an advisory tenant-majority project group.
Perhaps even more positive feedback was the 85% who believed that the NTC would encourage other tenants to stand up and speak out on the issues that affected them. As one tenant said: “There is strength in numbers.” Tenants acknowledged that there was a lot of work to be done, particularly when it came to gaining credibility for the Council. Many respondents, while positive about the potential impact of the NTC, remained realistic and said that in order to be effective it had to be valued by all government parties and tenants. One respondent said: “With the prospect of a general election ahead and the country in the midst of a recession, the NTC must ensure it is a voice that speaks with authority and is heard.”
Respondents cited anti-social behaviour, affordable homes, waiting list times and social housing conditions on the top of their agenda should they make it to the final 26. They also acknowledged that the NTC wasn’t without its challenges; one being that only 4% of those who applied across England were aged 18-30. Applicants largely believed this was due to a lack of confidence in this age-group, coupled with added responsibilities they may have: “Many young adults are raising families, working full time or gaining qualifications, this is not a priority to them” one respondent said. Those setting up the National Tenant Council are already talking to young peoples' organisations about ways to ensure the voices of this age group are heard.
Matt Lewis, Director of Hays Social Housing, comments: “We received a high level of applications from all over England and those short-listed are tenants who have proven they can present their views and will make a strong contribution to the Council. The chosen applicants will be the ones who are confident in taking on the challenges ahead and really want to make a difference.”
For further information on Hays Social Housing please visit www.hays.com/socialhousing
Monday, 23 November 2009
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Applications for National Tenants' Council reach over 1200
Applications to sit on the newly formed National Tenant Council reached over 1200 before closing. The nationwide campaign is being run by Hays Social Housing in association with Communities and Local Government (CLG), and an advisory tenant-majority project group. 26 tenants are being recruited to sit on the newly formed National Tenant Council, which will be an important part of the National Tenant Voice (NTV). For the past eight weeks, Hays Social Housing, together with the NTV project group, has actively engaged with social housing landlords and tenants organisations across the country, using social networking sites, poster and advertising campaigns and social housing newsletters to encourage tenants to apply for one of the coveted positions.
Of those that have applied 78% are aged 45 years and over, 16% are 31 - 45 and 4% are aged 18 – 30. 57% of the total applications were male. Those that are in the chosen 26 will sit on the council with 24 members nominated by existing tenants' organisations, putting forward their views on the major issues that affect tenants.
Matt Lewis, Business Director at Hays Social Housing, comments: “We are incredibly pleased with the high level of applications we have received from all over England. Interviews will now be given to 450 applicants, where we will assess how well they interact and present their views. 52 will then go through face-to-face interviews in November in order to find the final 26. Although the numbers of younger applicants are considerably lower, we are going to do our best to ensure that they have a voice as well.”
Richard Crossley, responsible for coordinating the setting up of the NTV, says: "The response shows the appetite amongst tenants to be actively involved in the decisions that affect them. The National Tenant Council will be an important part of the National Tenant Voice structure. But as the NTV develops it will also seek to give every tenant an opportunity to input, in a variety of different ways. "
For more information on Hays Social Care please visit: www.hays.com/socialcare
Of those that have applied 78% are aged 45 years and over, 16% are 31 - 45 and 4% are aged 18 – 30. 57% of the total applications were male. Those that are in the chosen 26 will sit on the council with 24 members nominated by existing tenants' organisations, putting forward their views on the major issues that affect tenants.
Matt Lewis, Business Director at Hays Social Housing, comments: “We are incredibly pleased with the high level of applications we have received from all over England. Interviews will now be given to 450 applicants, where we will assess how well they interact and present their views. 52 will then go through face-to-face interviews in November in order to find the final 26. Although the numbers of younger applicants are considerably lower, we are going to do our best to ensure that they have a voice as well.”
Richard Crossley, responsible for coordinating the setting up of the NTV, says: "The response shows the appetite amongst tenants to be actively involved in the decisions that affect them. The National Tenant Council will be an important part of the National Tenant Voice structure. But as the NTV develops it will also seek to give every tenant an opportunity to input, in a variety of different ways. "
For more information on Hays Social Care please visit: www.hays.com/socialcare
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Hays partners with Action for Children
Following a staff vote, Hays, the UK’s leading specialist recruitment company, has announced that its new corporate charity partner is Action For Children. Hays employees will spend the next year raising money in a number of ways, including various sporting challenges, the London marathon, raffles, dress-down days - in which consultants pay to dress casually, cake sales, quiz nights and other bespoke Hays fundraising events. Hays has agreed to match employees’ fundraising efforts by up to £40,000 at the end of the year.
Action for Children is one of the UK's largest children's charities working with over 156,000 children, young people and their families at around 420 projects across the UK. Previously known as NCH, Action for Children is committed to helping the most vulnerable children and young people break through injustice, deprivation and inequality so they can achieve their full potential.
Tim Cook, Managing Director at Hays, comments: “We are excited about working with Action for Children, raising lots of money for them and also putting in the time to help wherever we can. Staff in over 200 offices across the country have already showed a tremendous interest in the various activities and we even have a crew signed up for a Dragon Boat race. We look forward to working with friends, families, colleagues and the local communities to support such a worthwhile charity.”
Claire Tickell, Chief Executive at Action for Children, comments: “Action for Children is really pleased to be launching our partnership with Hays, not only for the staff fundraising element which will see vital funds raised for some of the most vulnerable children and young people, but also for their support around our Youth Employability programme where their advice will be invaluable to its future development.”
Action for Children is one of the UK's largest children's charities working with over 156,000 children, young people and their families at around 420 projects across the UK. Previously known as NCH, Action for Children is committed to helping the most vulnerable children and young people break through injustice, deprivation and inequality so they can achieve their full potential.
Tim Cook, Managing Director at Hays, comments: “We are excited about working with Action for Children, raising lots of money for them and also putting in the time to help wherever we can. Staff in over 200 offices across the country have already showed a tremendous interest in the various activities and we even have a crew signed up for a Dragon Boat race. We look forward to working with friends, families, colleagues and the local communities to support such a worthwhile charity.”
Claire Tickell, Chief Executive at Action for Children, comments: “Action for Children is really pleased to be launching our partnership with Hays, not only for the staff fundraising element which will see vital funds raised for some of the most vulnerable children and young people, but also for their support around our Youth Employability programme where their advice will be invaluable to its future development.”
Thursday, 29 October 2009
IT leaders are taking a different approach to the downturn
It is an opportune time for employers to consider both significantly changing the way their business operates and focus on strengthening their IT departments. Current market conditions and wider changes in technology are having a profound and long-term effect on the IT sector.
Before the recession began, employers were stressing the importance of leadership and the struggle to find strong leadership qualities among IT professionals. Focus for many businesses has continued to be on attracting and sourcing such talent, but it hasn’t been easy. Research by the UK’s leading recruitment company, Hays IT, recently revealed that leadership is still the hardest quality to find and yet the most highly sought after. In a recent forum, James Lloyd-Townshend, Managing Director at Hays IT, met with London-based IT directors, to discuss this and other key issues facing the IT sector. Amidst the wide spread effects of the recession there is an undercurrent of change; the take up and implementation of new technologies such as Virtualisation, Cloud Computing and Social Networking are changing the way IT professionals both work and recruit. As well as this, businesses are using the recession as an opportunity to assess the role of IT within their organisation, and ultimately the brief for their new hires.
Lloyd-Townshend believes that as a result of this IT specialists are still very much in demand: “Specialist IT skill sets are few and far between, even in a recession. At the more senior end, IT Directors with both technical and people skills are highly sought after, as larger organisations require strong leaders to see them through this period of change.” Cost cutting is not surprisingly the buzzword of the moment, but this doesn’t necessarily mean a halt in recruitment, according to Lloyd-Townshend: “Businesses are ultimately after professionals who can provide technical solutions in a structured and cost effective way and consequently this has led to sustained demand for architecture expertise. Enterprise architects in particular can still command excellent salaries and remuneration levels reflect the substantial cost savings that these individuals bring to a business.”
John Robinson, Group IT Director at Morse, agrees that driving cost efficiencies is imperative: "Reducing costs is high on many IT directors' agendas this year. We are implementing efficiencies through virtualisation and business optimisation. It has never been more crucial
to engage with the business and look beyond your own department. You must understand the financial figures, understand the business's strategy and align it to your own."
This focus on cost efficiency has fuelled demand for business intelligence consultants, whose remit is to prepare management information reports, keep senior stakeholders informed on all aspects of company performance and highlight areas where resources must be diverted to optimise financial outlay. Sharepoint experience is therefore increasingly in demand, and a Sharepoint Specialist working in London can typically expect a salary of around £40,000 - £50,000 or £350 - £550 per day. “Finding such effective cost-saving solutions, enabling faster data access across organisations and sharing information for the purpose of operational efficiency will all help organisations through the downturn and provide a solid platform for economic recovery,“ says Lloyd-Townshend.
Interestingly, many IT companies are already preparing for an upturn. Some of the larger organisations in particular are increasing expenditure on IT projects during this second half of the year. Lloyd-Townshend comments: “Initially we expect that senior interims will manage the majority of projects. We would then expect to see companies increasing their permanent headcount gradually as the market starts to pick up and confidence improves.
“Employers have been presented with a window of opportunity. The recession has resulted in a higher level of talent on the market and many businesses are taking advantage of this. Rather than asking what IT costs, there is a shift toward looking at what IT enables and what costs are therefore worthwhile,” says Lloyd-Townshend.
The forum which involved over twenty IT directors, surmised that that the pressure is on IT leaders to continue innovating and remain ‘lean and mean’ in this economic climate. “A new breed of IT leaders is emerging,” says Lloyd-Townshend, “they are forward-thinking and understand how to use technology as a business tool. These strengths will put them in good stead to power their business through these challenging times.”
For more information on Hays Information Technology please visit: www.hays.com/it
Before the recession began, employers were stressing the importance of leadership and the struggle to find strong leadership qualities among IT professionals. Focus for many businesses has continued to be on attracting and sourcing such talent, but it hasn’t been easy. Research by the UK’s leading recruitment company, Hays IT, recently revealed that leadership is still the hardest quality to find and yet the most highly sought after. In a recent forum, James Lloyd-Townshend, Managing Director at Hays IT, met with London-based IT directors, to discuss this and other key issues facing the IT sector. Amidst the wide spread effects of the recession there is an undercurrent of change; the take up and implementation of new technologies such as Virtualisation, Cloud Computing and Social Networking are changing the way IT professionals both work and recruit. As well as this, businesses are using the recession as an opportunity to assess the role of IT within their organisation, and ultimately the brief for their new hires.
Lloyd-Townshend believes that as a result of this IT specialists are still very much in demand: “Specialist IT skill sets are few and far between, even in a recession. At the more senior end, IT Directors with both technical and people skills are highly sought after, as larger organisations require strong leaders to see them through this period of change.” Cost cutting is not surprisingly the buzzword of the moment, but this doesn’t necessarily mean a halt in recruitment, according to Lloyd-Townshend: “Businesses are ultimately after professionals who can provide technical solutions in a structured and cost effective way and consequently this has led to sustained demand for architecture expertise. Enterprise architects in particular can still command excellent salaries and remuneration levels reflect the substantial cost savings that these individuals bring to a business.”
John Robinson, Group IT Director at Morse, agrees that driving cost efficiencies is imperative: "Reducing costs is high on many IT directors' agendas this year. We are implementing efficiencies through virtualisation and business optimisation. It has never been more crucial
to engage with the business and look beyond your own department. You must understand the financial figures, understand the business's strategy and align it to your own."
This focus on cost efficiency has fuelled demand for business intelligence consultants, whose remit is to prepare management information reports, keep senior stakeholders informed on all aspects of company performance and highlight areas where resources must be diverted to optimise financial outlay. Sharepoint experience is therefore increasingly in demand, and a Sharepoint Specialist working in London can typically expect a salary of around £40,000 - £50,000 or £350 - £550 per day. “Finding such effective cost-saving solutions, enabling faster data access across organisations and sharing information for the purpose of operational efficiency will all help organisations through the downturn and provide a solid platform for economic recovery,“ says Lloyd-Townshend.
Interestingly, many IT companies are already preparing for an upturn. Some of the larger organisations in particular are increasing expenditure on IT projects during this second half of the year. Lloyd-Townshend comments: “Initially we expect that senior interims will manage the majority of projects. We would then expect to see companies increasing their permanent headcount gradually as the market starts to pick up and confidence improves.
“Employers have been presented with a window of opportunity. The recession has resulted in a higher level of talent on the market and many businesses are taking advantage of this. Rather than asking what IT costs, there is a shift toward looking at what IT enables and what costs are therefore worthwhile,” says Lloyd-Townshend.
The forum which involved over twenty IT directors, surmised that that the pressure is on IT leaders to continue innovating and remain ‘lean and mean’ in this economic climate. “A new breed of IT leaders is emerging,” says Lloyd-Townshend, “they are forward-thinking and understand how to use technology as a business tool. These strengths will put them in good stead to power their business through these challenging times.”
For more information on Hays Information Technology please visit: www.hays.com/it
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