Eden Bailey is quality team manager, WM Housing Group
RISING STARS BLOG: Eden Bailey
In her task two blog for Rising Stars 2018, candidate Eden Bailey explains how as winner she would campaign to attract the next generation of housing talent
With the recent Grenfell tragedy and the increasing housing crisis, the housing sector is in the limelight.
There are a lot of questions around the real purpose and value of social housing and how we can change the perception of people who live in social housing.
The value of the work that we do is more important than ever.
Rising Stars 2018 is an amazing opportunity for housing professionals to drive the sector forward and show our commitment to the sector.
In return, we can enhance our skills, develop our personal brand and raise our profile at a national level during the process.
My journey in the housing sector began in 2006, when I started working as a housing assistant. Since then, I have continued to feel inspired working for the sector as I know that I can make a difference to people’s lives.
So how will I shine in my year as Rising Star?
One of the prizes for winning the Rising Star competition is to receive mentoring from a sector leader, which will help me in my professional development. I would like to develop my leadership skills, self-awareness and analytical thinking, which I can apply internally and externally.
In return, I would like to give something back to other housing professionals as I’m a volunteer mentor for the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) myself.
“I would like to strengthen our efforts with regards to equality in the sector around gender pay and the representation of women and young people at board level.”
I will feel a great satisfaction to help others progress in their career.
I’m also a strong advocate of making housing a career of choice for young people and to bring diversity to the sector.
I’m proud to be part of CIH Futures, a group working to support the CIH to attract and engage a more diverse group of professionals to begin a career in housing and join the professional body for housing.
Diversity is very important in our sector – from the frontline to board level. I would like to push the boundaries and strengthen our efforts with regards to equality in the sector around gender pay and the representation of women and young people at board level.
I will make the most of the opportunity offered by the Rising Stars programme and campaign on how we are going to attract the next generation of talent into housing.
I will use the power of social media and networking with peers and leaders to support this work and generate thought-provoking discussions about housing as a career of choice.
I will then take this debate and work with schools and universities to promote the benefits of housing qualifications and apprenticeships, working with employers within the sector to attract more young people to work for them.
As a quality team manager, part of my role is to recruit and coach new customer service staff and I find the majority of them have not worked in the housing sector before. This is a perfect opportunity to highlight that they can make a difference in people’s lives, whatever their role in housing.
I’m committed to tackling the homelessness crisis. According to the latest government statistics, in England there were 4,751 people sleeping rough on any given night in Autumn 2017 and the number of people sleeping rough in England has increased by 15% year-on-year.
“We need to address the underlying causes of homelessness and invest more in prevention.”
I’m incredibly passionate about housing and the work that CIH does.
I believe that the solution lies beyond just building homes; I believe that we need to address the underlying causes of homelessness and invest more in prevention and a holistic approach to tackling this crisis.
Having originally come from the Philippines, a developing country, I was personally affected by a family member becoming homeless with no support from the government and this was a very upsetting experience for all parties involved.
This has translated into how I approach my work and this competition, as I believe that we shouldn’t have this crisis in this country.
We are working in a very challenging climate and therefore I intend to use the Rising Stars 2018 programme as a platform to support the work of CIH in tackling homelessness and influence key decision-makers by way of becoming an ambassador in addressing the long-term drivers behind the homelessness crisis in our country.
Eden Bailey, quality team manager, WM Housing Group
