Jobs and Careers Winter 2020/21 - 254

Navigating
the new world of work: a view from the

housing
sector

The Covid-19 pandemic
has seen the fast-tracking of mass
remote working. Yet people have different
expectations of what they want from 'flexibility'
and 'work-life balance' and studies suggest employees
are more determined than ever to create meaningful career paths.
The pandemic has forced employers to rethink how
they operate and engage with their employees. Aster
has been undergoing this cultural and organisational
change for some time. And we think the progress we've
made puts us in good stead to be able to adapt to new
ways of working.
We're a housing association that operates across the
south of England so our people work in a breadth of roles
and environments. Some are office-based while others
are out visiting customers or maintaining our homes.

It's not just a set of words. It's a shared understanding
of the way we work - creating a fair and inclusive
culture. From how we lead and learn, to how we
collaborate, communicate and innovate, this is how
we'll reach our vision - that everyone has a home.
We're now at a critical stage. Most businesses have
adapted in some way to the 'new normal' but are
already seeing the long-term effects of separation
from colleagues and workplaces.

The foundations that have underpinned this cultural
shift are agility and flexibility. Operationally, this means
being able to anticipate and adapt seamlessly to the
changing needs of our customers and the market and
the opportunities that presents - the current climate
shows how dynamic and fast-moving the housing
sector is and why now is a good time to join the industry.

The pandemic has accelerated our transformation.
Our change programme, Programme Experience,
builds on the work we've been doing over the past six
years to improve and modernise our customer and
colleague experience. Through five key work-streams,
Programme Experience will ensure we work
collaboratively to respond to rapidly changing
customer and colleague expectations and can
continue to succeed long into the future. From
embracing technology, to operating sustainably and
enhancing customer experience. The Aster Offer also
forms part of this and has been specifically designed
to ensure we're improving our colleagues' experience
in a fair and inclusive way by continuously listening to
and acting on their feedback.

Throughout our transformation journey, we've focused
on employee feedback to help us understand what
it's like to be an Aster employee - the good as well as the
areas we could improve. All of that feedback helps with
our future planning and decision making. The Aster Way,
a set of principles that underpin everything we do, is
embedded in our business to ensure we can do just that.

Prioritising health and wellbeing is also paramount.
We rolled out our Keeping Well & Feeling Connected
programme during lockdown. This involved introducing
a number of wellbeing activities and virtual social
groups, offering useful tools to support colleagues
when working from home and signposting them
to services available for specific support.

Over the years, we've created a flexible culture to cater
for these varying circumstances, encouraging different
teams to work together that wouldn't normally, and
improving work/life blend through offering flexible
leave and trusting our people to work in a way that
suits them, balancing the needs of the business with
their other commitments.

JC Autumn 2020 Aster Group.indd 2

01/12/2020 16:29
Jobs and Careers Winter 2020/21

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Jobs and Careers Winter 2020/21
