The Loop january 2014

LOOPThe

Keeping you in the loop

January 2014

Meet the paper boys!

January 2014 Word on the street

Welcome

Contents3 Word on the street

News from around the Group

4 Cover Story Hot off the press!

7 Behind the scenes So you think you know your patch?

8 Welfare Reform Benefit support and so much more

10 Coming soon Your channels. Your choice. Cementing relationships

11 Staff development opportunities Secondments

12 Learning and development Leading by example

14 More for staff Rewards and wellbeing

15 Spreading the word Showtime Media Moments

13 Hyde Heroes We’re all Heroes underneath

16 20 Questions Femi Odunaike, Income Manager

Do keep sending us your story ideas and feedback about your magazine to [email protected]

Produced by Communications

The Hyde Group 30 Park Street, London SE1 9EQ

[email protected]

020 3207 2520 © Hyde Housing Association

The first month of the New Year and there’s already plenty to share with you.

Here are just a few snippets...Hot off the press brings you

news about the work that the Procurement team did with key colleagues around the business last year which has led to new suppliers being appointed to deliver our print and distribution services. The New Year also brings with it a new look for our communication channels as you’ll see in Your channels. Your choice.

In Hyde Heroes you can read about the makeover that our staff recognition scheme has undergone and get your thinking caps on about who you know that’s a Hero.

Rewards and wellbeing highlights just some of the many things we provide for our most valuable asset – you and Leading by example shows how we’ve been investing in the on-going development of our managers.

Welfare Reform focuses on our Benefits Support officers and the part that they’re playing to support our residents.

There’s news too about our Hyde on Demand Programme and in So you think you know your patch? find out about a new tool coming soon, which will help us to learn more about our residents’ needs in each housing patch.

So, why not grab a brew and get stuck in?

Cover Pic: Simon Davies, Head of Procurement (left) and Raphael O’Selle, Brand Coordinator

The Loop The Hyde Group staff magazine 32 The Loop The Hyde Group staff magazine

6 Spotlight on The Hyde on Demand Programme

Apprenticeship updateWe’ve had a fantastic number of applications for our internal apprenticeships. In early February, the successful applicants will be taking up their roles. Look out for news over the coming months about how they’re getting on.

Following a formal six-week consultation with residents, on Monday 9 December 2013, 101 homes on the Isle of Wight transferred from Hyde to Spectrum Housing Group and 179 homes in Portsmouth, Eastleigh, Fareham and Southampton transferred from Spectrum to Hyde.

Hyde already manages over 3000 homes in Hampshire whilst Spectrum owns and manages around 4000 homes on the Isle of Wight; so the swap will provide residents on both sides with a more responsive and local service.

In the Your Shout 2012 staff survey you told us your views about working at Hyde. Have you taken your chance to let us know whether your views have been heard? If not, you’ve got until Friday 6 February to let us know – simply click on the link to the mini survey in the email that was sent to all staff.

Whether you need information on where to access the internet, support to build your IT confidence or training to learn new digital skills, we can help.

Get in touch with Dominic on 0208 2977572 or

[email protected] or pop into your local Hyde office

Hyde’s Digital Inclusion programme ‘Have you Switched On?’ which supports residents to get online, continues to grow.

Six of our local community centres are now equipped as digi-hubs, and residents are being encouraged to go along to launch events in February to find out more. Full details are available online on Hydewide for staff and in the January issue of HydeLife for residents. For more information about the ‘Switched On‘ projects in your area, speak to your local Regeneration Coordinator. Residents can also find out more by calling 0800 030 4424 or emailing

[email protected] you’re interested in volunteering as a Digital

Champion to help residents get online then call Sophie McKechnie, Digital Inclusion Project Manager on ext 6247 (0208 853 6247) or drop her an email at [email protected] *If you’re viewing The Loop as an ezine click here

The big switch on

Have you been heard?Stock swap

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6

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12

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7 8

13

15

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Congratulations to Carla Franklin (Resident Services Team Leader, Stockwell) who is the proud recipient of the very first MORE cash reward for identifying development potential at various locations around Hyde’s Stockwell properties.

Using her knowledge of the Stockwell ‘patch’ Carla was able to see the possibility of building new homes in various locations on Hyde owned land including a large unused back-garden, a garage mews, a car park and some open space.

Keep your eyes peeled for news about two further awards that are due to be made shortly.

Click on the MORE banner on Hydewide for details about how you can help us to find more possible development opportunities.

More, more, more.

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4 The Loop The Hyde Group staff magazine The Loop The Hyde Group staff magazine 5

Cover Story

Getting the best out of our Print suppliers Hyde currently spends just over £700,000 a year on print and distribution of magazines, leaflets and statements. In the second half of last year, the central Procurement team with the help of Print Champions from across the business reviewed the print and distribution services we had in place and looked at what was needed going forwards.

So what did the Champions find?The team discovered that across Hyde staff were using many different suppliers which meant that the quality of service being provided was variable and it also meant that Hyde was missing out on potential large discounts that would have been possible had we been using one supplier.

What did the Champions do next?The team then worked together to identify what print and distribution services would be required to meet the needs of all parts of the business going forwards, so that suppliers could then bid for the work. They took into account our increasing use of digital media to understand what our print requirements will be going forwards. The most impressive supplier by far was FDM, and they were awarded a three year contract, which started in January 2014.

Hot off the press!What was the result?We now have a contract in place with one supplier which means:

l There will be consistency in the quality of service for all print and distribution jobs

l Great Value for Money – substantial savings will be made. We estimate that this change will lead to a total saving for Hyde of £700,000 over the next three years. This money will be available to use for other purposes such as contributing towards Development costs or providing more support services for our residents.

l We’ve now got a much better view of all of Hyde’s print and distribution requirements across the whole organisation organisation

l What’s more, we’re working towards an online ordering system which will make it easier for you in the future

New Year, new process (As of January 2014)

Raphael O’Selle, Brand Coordinator and David Boardman, Communications Director will co-ordinate print and distribution requirements for all areas of the business going forwards to make sure that we:

l Achieve value for money

l Consider digital options and other ways to communicate effectively with staff and residents in place of printed leaflets and flyers

l Use a coordinated approach to communications for both staff and residents

Meet the champions

Simon Davies Procurement Team

Matthew Vant Procurement Team

Raphael O’Selle, Brand Coordinator and Business/Contract Owner

Adrian Bealing ICT

Annie Hammond Resident Engagement

Lindsey Reeves Income Team

Sarah Chatfield Home Ownership Team (HOT)

For supplies of letter heads and compliment slips please email [email protected]

For all other printing requirements or for questions about this new contract please contact Raphael O’Selle on 8789 (0203 207 2789) or drop him an email at [email protected]

FAST FACTSEach year...

Quarterly Rent Statements are printed and distributed to over 45,000 residents

Over 100,000 paper copies of the Group wide magazine, HydeLife, are sent out to our residents

500 paper copies of each issue of The Loop magazine are provided for staff who prefer to read it in this format rather than view it online.

The Loop The Hyde Group staff magazine 7

Spotlight on... Behind the scenes

“Most of us like to think we know about our housing stock, but in reality, being asked a specific question might lead to some head scratching.

For example, would you know the answer to either of these?

“How many families with children live in New Cross?”

“How many tenants in Bermondsey are not working?”

“Up until recently, answers to these questions would have been hard to find, but not anymore...

“Know Your Patch is a tool that takes all the data we currently hold on our residents and distils it down to our smallest admin unit – the Housing officer patch. It provides a wealth of data about residents and properties on each patch from the number of three beds to the percentage of households who have accessed Hyde Plus or Resident Engagement services.

“As we analyse all this data we’ll be able to fine tune the way we offer services locally.

“For instance, if we know that there’s a high percentage of internet use in an area, we may decide to ask for estate inspection feedback to be emailed to us.

“Or, if there are a high percentage of elderly residents the Tenancy Sustainment officers (TSOs) might decide to work closely with the local authority to promote ‘keep warm, keep well’ initiatives.

“The Local Services (Continuous

*Local Services CIG membership

Robert Cooper (Chair), Resident Engagement Strategy Specialist; Tom Gardiner, Hyde Plus Regional Manager, East; Karen Birch, Policy and Compliance Adviser; Lawrence Kerr Resident Services Manager, Islington; Olushola Alao, Resident Services Team Leader, Kent.

So you think you know your patch?

Improvement Group) CIG*, of which I’m a member has been looking at how this resource can be best used in our regions. We’ve recruited a group of Housing officers who have had access to an early version of the tool (You might have met them at the staff conference) and are currently trying out some initiatives on their own patches to see what works. You’ll hear more from them in March when they’ve finished their pilot.

“We also want to open up the tool to everyone in the business, whether you’re a Housing Manager or an ASB officer or anything in-between so that you can use the tool to inform the way you work. We want you to use the tool when it becomes available in mid- February and let us know what you think of it. This will help us to roll out the best ways of using the data in the future.

Tom GardinerComing Soon...Resident Self-ServiceIn the next few months, residents will be able to log in and access their rent statements, as well as checking on the progress of repairs that they’ve reported.

Smarter WorkingThis project aims to provide staff and residents with intuitive systems alongside processes that make system transactions seamless.

In order to achieve this, our current working practices will need to be reviewed and ways to streamline our processes identified.

Staff will also need to be provided with the types of hardware and

software that they take for granted in their daily lives, which will enable them to access and update resident data whilst on the go. This part of the project has already started – back in May 2013 a pilot took place in which12 staff were provided with lightweight laptops and remote access to systems. Their feedback was positive and since then similar devices have been issued to all surveyors in Property Services.

However, whilst laptops can help to some extent, other more mobile devices such as tablets would be easier to use and of greater benefit when staff are on the move. With this in mind, a procurement exercise is currently underway to source appropriate hardware and software and this summer, a small group of front-line staff will be testing out the selected kit to make sure that it does what it needs to.

The Hyde on Demand programmeHyde on Demand is a programme that will bring increased benefits for staff and residents by harnessing available digital technology. This will be achieved through a range of different projects. Some of these, such as Smarter Working will create more technological options for both staff and residents. Others, such as the Data Quality and Digital Inclusion projects will support us in reaching our aim of transferring 20% of customer

contacts to digital methods within the next three years. The ICT improvement programme; OHOV3 systems changes and development of Resident

Self-Service, with the necessary changes being made to our

internal and external websites to make this possible, also

fall within the Hyde on Demand programme.

To find out more about Hyde on Demand, visit the pages of Hydewide or contact David Morrissey, Director of Core Operations by sending him an email at

[email protected] or calling him on ext 8854 (0203 207 2554).

David Morrissey Director of Core Operations

Welfare Reform


Benefit support and so much more

The results achieved so far by Diana and her team of five Benefits Support Officers are amazing. In eight months the team has successfully secured £155,000 of additional benefits on behalf of Hyde residents, many of whom have been affected by the Welfare Reform changes (over £100,000 of the total achieved has been in Discretionary Housing Payments to help those responding to the challenges of the extra room supplement, otherwise known as the ‘bedroom tax’). The target for the team by the end of the current financial year is to achieve an additional income of £312,000 in welfare benefit income.

Diana said: “Supporting residents to claim the benefits that they’re fully entitled to is what our team is all about. It’s really good to be able to help different residents with a variety of benefit issues and difficulties. By the time we get involved, the resident can feel that they don’t have any choice and it’s especially rewarding when you can get a positive outcome for someone when they least expect it.”

Catherine Ayling, Benefits Support officer, Kent Catherine’s sterling effort has already delivered an incredible £52,000 of additional benefit into the Hyde account this year. Working closely with residents, or their representatives in the case of those who are vulnerable, she’s been able to make sure that individual tenants are getting the right benefit payments and not getting into arrears.

Catherine recalls a recent case when one particular vulnerable resident faced losing his home because his local authority decided there was not enough evidence that he lived in his home and stopped his Housing Benefit. Catherine’s tenacity proved this was not the case. She said: “This was a really reserved young man with mental health issues who didn’t socialise and hardly spoke to anyone except his immediate family. I had to liaise through his mother, who was at her wits end. He was very close to eviction but we finally proved he lived in the property and he was able to keep his home. We secured over £7,000 in housing payments clearing his arrears and setting things back on track. We even managed to get around £700 refund in Council Tax benefit!”

Carol Birch, Benefits Support officer, Chichester and Southampton Carol Birch recently helped a single man in his 50s who, following a serious stoke found himself having to adjust to a new, less independent, way of life. This was further complicated when the DWP* medical assessors declared him fit for work even though he clearly wasn’t. Carol supported him to appeal and get the decision successfully overturned, securing his benefit and allowing him to concentrate on continuing to rebuild his life.

As well as liaising with relevant Hyde colleagues, including Housing Options officers and Hyde Plus to help support residents to pay their rent and maintain their tenancies, BSos work with local authorities and other local partners. Carol regularly

meets with Chichester and Southampton councils about both general initiatives and specific cases and colleague Jacquie Carr works with officers from the London

Borough of Lewisham. Sinead Lunney (Greenwich) and Mark O’Donoghue (Islington) are the newest members of the team who are already making inroads in connecting with residents, providing support and helping them to manage their individual circumstances.

Diana Wade in discussion with a Somali interpreter who supported a resident information event

Diana Wade, Hyde’s Lead Benefits Support officer, has been at the forefront of Hyde’s work in response to the challenges of Welfare Reform; it’s impact on residents and on Hyde. An original member of the Welfare Reform Project team, Diana has played a major role in developing our strategies and helping to deliver these, from supporting individual residents, to offering advice at events and providing training and help to staff negotiating the often complicated benefits ‘maze’.


Coming soon Staff development opportunities

SecondmentsHave you ever looked at other people’s jobs and thought “Wow, I’d love to do that!” or “I

wonder if I could do that?” If the answer’s “Yes”, then a secondment might be just the thing for you. Natalie Nye is certainly

a fan of them. So, here in Natalie’s own words is her experience of

secondments.

Fast FactsOver the last year, 63 staff have been on secondments in the following parts of the business:7% in Business Development

2% in Strategy & BIU

3% in HR

14% in Finance

74% in Housing Services

Secondments at a glanceHow long are they for? They vary in length, depending on what is needed for each particular secondment

What are the benefits?They provide you with an excellent opportunity to gain experience in a different role. You’ll learn some new skills as well as being able to use your own skills for a different type of work.

Where can I find the opportunities?All vacancies including secondments are advertised on Hydewide in the Jobs section

If I want to apply, do I need to discuss it with anyone?Yes you do. You need to speak to your line manager in the first instance.

my six months as a Resident Services Team Leader within the Greenwich & Bexley teams. The secondment went well and at the end of the six months the post was advertised again as a permanent role. The experience gained during my secondment gave me the confidence to apply for the permanent role and I was able to use the valuable experiences gained on secondment in my competency based interview and during my assessment centre.

“As a result of securing the new role I was offered the opportunity to attend the Hyde Leadership course which I’ve now successfully completed. The course gave me the opportunity to meet other team leaders and managers in similar roles. We were able to share difficult situations and discuss matters of concern with each other. This has given me greater confidence in my decision making.

“I think secondments are all about new experiences. They’re a great way to try out a role that you may not be sure about. If you’re not 100% sure whether a

Natalie Nye

role is for you, or you’re feeling nervous about applying, give it a go. You never know, it might take you in a direction you’d never even thought about before.”

“I joined Hyde as a Receptionist in January 1998 when Hollingsworth House/London Regional Office was opened. I worked in this role for three years, before applying for a six month secondment opportunity as a Lettings officer. At the end of this, I returned to my post as a Receptionist where I was able to put the knowledge that I’d gained during my secondment to good use whilst looking for fresh challenges.

“Six months later I saw an opportunity being advertised for a Housing officer role in the Greenwich and Bexley team. I applied and was successful in getting the role. I feel my secondment as a Lettings officer helped me to secure this new role as I’d worked closely with the Housing officers and it gave me a real insight into what they did. It also gave me the confidence to apply for the role.

“I stayed in my Housing officer role for 10 years. Then, a year ago I decided to apply for a second secondment. Once again, I was successful and started

Your channels. Your choice.

February is Group Business Development month and the team will be taking to the road to meet colleagues, build relationships and help facilitate smarter working between members of the Directorate and the rest of the Group. All staff are welcome to pop in to any of the lunches being hosted around the business by David Gannicott, Group Business Development Director.

To find the one that suits you best, check out venues, dates and times in the panel opposite.

To find out more about Group Business Development, visit their recently updated pages on Hydewide.

Cementing Relationships

For more information on your channels of choice and to see the 2014 schedule for each of them, check out the Communications pages on Hydewide or contact the Communications team.

Southampton 13 February 1pm – 2pm

Hove 19 February 1pm – 2pm

Lewisham 25 February 12pm – 1pm and 1pm – 2pm

Northside 12 March 1– 2pm

Chichester 13 March 12pm – 1pm and 1pm – 2pm

Kings Hill 21 March 1pm – 2pm

Park Street 4 April 1pm – 2pm

In the Your Shout staff survey you said:

Your Shout!2012

l We need to focus on consistency of messaging

l The amount of communications staff receive should be reduced

We did:

l We’ve streamlined the channels of communication to six main ones which staff can use to share and find out information.

The Loop Based on Comms Champs’ feedback, five issues of the staff magazine will continue to be produced during a year. However, more staff will be encouraged to become e-zine readers so that the money saved on printing and distribution can be put to good use.

Core Brief This will continue to be issued each month to share the top ten key business messages. A new email newsletter format has been created for this and it will be available in the first week of the month from now on.

Briefing Managers’ BulletinsAny updates for managers will now be sent out in one combined email newsletter format on a Thursday, when required.

Hyde LocalThis new email newsletter is available for EMT Directors to use to communicate with staff in their part of the business, but all Hyde Locals will be available on Hydewide so that all staff can view them.

HydewideArticles that appear in all email newsletters will be stored on the relevant Hydewide pages, which will help staff locate information that they need.

If a message needs to be communicated in between the schedule, it can be shared on the relevant Directorate’s pages on Hydewide.

Steve’s RoundupAlthough the schedule and frequency will remain the same for these, the format has had a makeover.

Leading by example

12 The Loop The Hyde Group staff magazine

Learning and Development Hyde Heroes


Housing ServicesBased around the key competencies that Hyde expects of its managers, including Leadership and Performance Management, this 12 month programme was specifically designed for Hyde.

18 months on and we’ve just finished the five programmes for Housing Services (having concluded three last year for Core Operations).

The end of each of the five programmes was celebrated in true ‘Hyde’ character – with managers giving Shakespearian and Hyde ‘Blair’ Witch themed presentations to their senior teams about what they’d gained from the programme, how it had helped cement their working relationships; their own personal development and how they’d been putting their learning into practise as they’d led their teams through the challenges that they had known they’d face post go live.

So what next for Housing Services?Following the success of the first eight programmes, we have committed to running a further three programmes during 2014. The first two began in January and the third one will start in September. These will extend the programme to managers in Property Services and managers in other parts of Housing Services who have joined the business since the programmes ran in their areas.

Central ServicesThree specially designed programmes have been run to support Business Partners and those who work strategically in business partnering roles, as well as providing two Leadership and Management Development Programmes for managers.

Continuing CommitmentThe development of targeted bespoke programmes demonstrates Hyde’s continuing commitment to the development of its people, whilst at the same time ensuring that development opportunities offered are inextricably linked to people’s performance objectives, the priorities for the business and Value for Money (VfM).

The second part of our major change programme, One Hyde One Vision (OHOV), went live on 4 May 2012 and alongside it, we launched a comprehensive training programme including Hyde’s Leadership and Management Development Programme.

“It was a great networking opportunity with my peers, one of the best leadership courses I’ve ever been on, thank you Hyde.”

“I enjoyed the space to reflect outside of the workplace on what I could improve as a manager. Having the combined experience of 10 managers to tap into was invaluable and I have already made changes.”

“The Leadership Development Programme as a whole allowed me to step back, share ideas and discuss new ways of looking at issues. I was able to do some thinking instead of just doing.”

We’re all Heroes underneath

A Hyde Hero is passionate about their work, and lives and breathes our values. For example, it could be someone who’s been innovative in their approach or taken responsibility for seeing things through. They act with integrity and work closely with other team members or residents to get the right results. Hyde Heroes are always great ambassadors for Hyde.

So whichever part of the business you work in, if you know someone who has...

l done something that has made a lasting difference to the lives of our residents and/or team members

l carried out an exceptional act, going the extra mile for customers and/or team members

l put forward ideas which have brought about improvements in a service or in efficiency

l delivered value for money

l introduced an innovative solution

l helped build or improve relationships with our partners

...then be sure to nominate them. Evidence that they’re living our values everyday will be part of the criteria used to decide which of the nominations receive a Hyde Hero award, so make sure to include details of this in your nomination.

You can send in your nomination at any time either by clicking on the link on Hydewide or by completing one of the postcards available at all offices and sending it to Kim Wheeler, HR Administrator, 30 Park Street, London, SE1 9EQ.

Keep your eyes peeled for news of our next Hyde Hero who will be revealed in February.

Since the staff conference in October when Michael Cooper became the second Hyde Hero to become a Super Hero, Hyde Heroes has had a makeover and is now open again for nominations. Our new look Hyde Heroes continues to welcome nominations for people who’ve gone above and beyond to make a lasting difference to our residents, as well as encouraging staff to nominate colleagues who make a difference in their team or to Hyde.


Global Corporate Challenge (GCC)Date for the Pilot Group’s calendar

Since taking part in the GCC challenge, the pilot group members have been able to continue accessing GCC Nutrition, track their steps and post on the Community.

Now there’s a chance for them to take part in the last mini-challenge, GCC Energy, which starts on Monday 3 February.

The challenge aims to give them the energy to bounce out of bed, fully charged and ready to face each day head on!

The Loop The Hyde Group staff magazine 1514 The Loop The Hyde Group staff magazine

More for staff Spreading the word

Showtime

Don’t forget, if as part of your work you regularly talk to people outside The Hyde Group you should add their contact details to the ‘Stakeholder Management’ folder on the Global drive. The Research and Strategy Team is here to help. If you have any questions about stakeholder engagement please call Elena Scherbatykh on

ext 8771 (0203 207 2771).

In November, Richard Scholes, Director of ICT, spoke to more than 50 social housing colleagues at a National Housing Federation conference about the challenges of outsourcing IT support. These delegates now recognise Hyde as a leader in seeking new ways of working, reducing costs, and improving services for our staff and tenants.

In December, the Resident Engagement team held a very successful Christmas Social event to thank all involved residents for their work. They are important stakeholders, whose role includes scrutinising our services, helping us to recruit staff and contractors, and acting as advocates for Hyde. Their roles are entirely unpaid. This event helped to show this group of residents that we value their input and acts as one way to encourage them to continue to work with Hyde.

A senior director from the The Trussell Trust, a national food-bank network, visited Hyde to be presented with food and supplies worth over £2,000 that had been donated by staff plus a £5,000 cash donation from Hyde. The director thanked staff for their generosity. The resulting press story helped to demonstrate our commitment to battling poverty to our national and local partners.

Everything that we do externally creates an impression about Hyde. Showtime was introduced in the November issue of The Loop as a way to start sharing some of the varied ways that staff engage with people outside of Hyde and how this promotes Hyde in a positive way.

Here’s some of what’s been going on since then...

Media MomentsIt’s really important to make sure that the good work we’re doing continues to reach the media. Please play your part by sending your stories through to [email protected]

People outside of Hyde find out information about us and communicate with us through a range of different media. Here’s a flavour of how.

Social mediaHashtag- HydeOn Twitter (@hydehousing) We now have close to 5000 followers. We’re seeing a rise in the number of residents using twitter to communicate with us and comment on other tweets.

Facebook Friendly From October to December we shared eight stories and they were seen by almost 1870 people. The most popular story was about our Apprenticeship scheme, with 517 people reading about it.

Local press

Alton HeraldThe official opening of one of our developments that has provided ten affordable homes in the village of Binsted in Hampshire was covered. These homes offer local people a chance to stay close to other family members and friends.

Trade press

Inside HousingA three page piece appeared about the great work being done at the Money House in Greenwich to equip young people with financial skills.

Housing TechnologyNews was shared that ten housing providers, including Hyde have signed up as Founder partners of a new Digital Champions Network for Housing.

If you have any queries about any of this information, please contact the HR team by emailing [email protected]

HealthshieldLevel one of the new Hyde Group tailored Healthcare Cash Plan from Healthshield is provided for all of you regardless of the benefits you chose when the iFlex window was open. For full details of what this level of cover provides, please refer to iFlex or the membership pack that you should have recently received.

Details of the extras that are covered for those of you who chose higher levels of cover when the iFlex window was open can also be found through iFlex.

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) This is now also provided to staff through Healthshield. This professional telephone service which provides telephone counselling, support and guidance on a whole range of lifestyle, health, medical and legal problems for you and your family is available 24/7 Simply call 0800107 9042 and quote scheme reference number 72953.

If the telephone counsellor thinks you would benefit from face-to-face counselling, they will arrange the first of up to six sessions for you. Please note any face-to-face counselling is only available to you and not to family members.

Best DoctorsBest Doctors is the trusted resource for expert medical information and advice that will give you reassurance about your diagnosis and treatment options and can help you to find the answers you are looking for about your medical condition. This is all based on the most advanced and up to date medical knowledge, and importantly, is available from the comfort of your own home.

For further information on this strictly confidential service please visit http://canadalife.askbestdoctors.com

To use the service you can either call 0800 085 6605 (24hrs) and quote our scheme name: Hyde Housing, or, you can register at

http://canadalife.askbestdoctors.com

Reward GatewayYou have so far spent over £1million through Hyde Reward Gateway taking advantage of the great deals and savings available to you at over 3000 retailers. If you’re not one of those who already reaps the benefits of using Reward Gateway why not take a look now?

All you need to do is visit Reward Gateway’s employee discount site and register. You can do this either by logging on at

www.hyderewards.co.uk or going through iFlex on the HR Hub. Make sure that you have your employee number to hand as you’ll need this information to register.

An impressive 69% of you logged into iFlex whilst the window was open at the end of last year to choose your preferred benefit package.

The three most popular benefits were:

l Buying or selling some annual leave out of your 2014 entitlement

l Making changes to pension contributions

l Adding a partner or increasing your level of cover with the new Health cash plan

Other popular benefits included:

l Purchasing a tastecard

l Amending levels of life insurance cover

l Signing up to a reduced fee annual gym membership

Even though the annual flex window is now closed, don’t forget thatyou can still log in anytime to view your total reward statement andlocate all benefit information.

Employee Assistance Programme

(including 24-hour helpline)

There when you need it

You and your family can use our professional telephone

service, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This service provides counselling, support and guidance

on a whole range of lifestyle, health, medical and

legal problems. You can get advice and counselling

from specialist teams of counsellors, lawyers and

medicalstaff.

If you want to speak to a family-care counsellor, lawyer

or medical advisor, please call 0800 1079042 and quote

the scheme reference number which can be found on

your membership plan.

Ifthetelephonecounsellorthinksyouwouldbenefitfrom

face-to-face counselling,they will arrange the first

of up to six sessions for you. These sessions will take

place close to your home or place of work. The cost of

these sessions will automatically be covered by your plan.

Face-to-face counselling can be provided only to you. It

is not available to your family.

For more information on Health Shield, and the

levels of cover available for you and your family,

visit www.healthshield.co.uk or call 01270 588555.

Health Shield Friendly Society Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

eapa4/march2013

Health Insurance Provider Awards

Health Insurance Company of the Year

Highly Commended 2011 and 2012

BEST

HEA

LTH CASH PLAN WINNER 2010

2010

www.healthshield.co.uk

(This service is provided on behalf of Health Shield by First Assist Services Ltd.)

Employee Assistance Programme (including 24-hour helpline) There when you need it

You and your family can use our professional telephone service, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This service provides counselling, support and guidance on a whole range of lifestyle, health, medical and legal problems. You can get advice and counselling from specialist teams of counsellors, lawyers and medicalstaff.

If you want to speak to a family-care counsellor, lawyer or medical advisor, please call 0800 1079042 and quote the scheme reference number which can be found on your membership plan.

Ifthetelephonecounsellorthinksyouwouldbenefitfrom face-to-face counselling, they will arrange the first of up to six sessions for you. These sessions will take place close to your home or place of work. The cost of these sessions will automatically be covered by your plan. Face-to-face counselling can be provided only to you. It is not available to your family.

For more information on Health Shield, and the levels of cover available for you and your family, visit www.healthshield.co.uk or call 01270 588555.

Health Shield Friendly Society Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. eapa4/march2013

Health Insurance Provider AwardsHealth Insurance Company of the Year

Highly Commended 2011 and 2012

BEST

HEA

LTH CASH PLAN WINNER 2010

2010

www.healthshield.co.uk

(This service is provided on behalf of Health Shield by First Assist Services Ltd.)

Rewards and Wellbeing

In January, Steve White spoke on developing affordable housing in London in the future at an event with senior housing figures. Guests included a Member of Parliament and senior representative from the Greater London Authority. They now see Hyde as a thought leader in the sector and are more likely to speak positively about us.

Income Manager Femi Odunaike gives us the lowdown on his appreciation of Barbados, Sea Bass and Barack Obama

16 The Loop The Hyde Group staff magazine

20 Questions

1 1. What’s your role in the business and what does it involve?

I’m the Income Manager and my role mainly involves maximising the rental income of The Hyde Group.

2 What’s the best thing about your role?

Being able to help our residents sustain their tenancies, as well as generating rental income for The Hyde Group.

16 What three words would your friends use to describe you? Cool, calm and collected.

10 What’s important to you

at work? Being able to make a difference.

12 If you could visit anywhere you wanted in the world in 24 hours where would you go? Barbados.

8 What’s the best advice you’ve been given? Having a good name is better than having riches.

5 If you won £1million what would you do with it? Make sure my kids get the best education money can buy and invest wisely so they’re financially secure for life.

14 What did your school report say about you? Gosh! It was so long ago I really can’t remember, but I’m pretty sure it was something positive.

9 Which month of the year were you born in? October.

20 Which person would you most like to meet? Barack Obama.

11 What three things do you

wish you’d known at 20? (1)Invest in bricks and mortar sooner, (2) Invest in bricks and mortar sooner, (3) Invest in bricks and mortar sooner.

17 If you could travel in time (forwards or backwards) where would you go? My kids’ graduation ceremonies.

4 If there was a film of your life story who would play you? Morgan Freeman.

19 What’s your favourite meal? Sea bass with escovitch sauce and coconut rice washed down with a nice chilled glass of Mighty Malt.

6 Which one item couldn’t you do without? My iPhone.

13 What’s your favourite film? There are too many to mention. It will have to be a film with any of these three in it – Robert De Niro, Al Pacino or Morgan Freeman.

3 If you could have any job

in the world (apart from with Hyde!), what would it be? A Corporate Lawyer.

18 What’s your favourite TV programme? As an aviation enthusiast, it has to be Air Crash Investigation.

15 What’s your favourite song?

‘Oh How I Love You’ by James ‘D-Train’ Williams although the most played song on my iPod at the moment is ‘How Many Drinks’ by Miguel.

7 Where’s your

favourite holiday

destination? The Caribbean.

Documents

The Loop january 2014