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We’re extremely proud to feature in this year’s Sunday Times Best Places to Work list. This prestigious national recognition is received for our commitment to being a great place to work by providing an empowering and rewarding environment for our colleagues. We work hard to ensure our colleagues are able to thrive and succeed irrespective of background; where they are empowered to deliver the right outcomes for the people who live in our homes. This follows our top 40 regional ranking in last year’s 2023 Best Companies to Work For list. More than anything, we know that delivering our mission is only possible with an engaged team. We continue to challenge ourselves every day to ensure we are able to reward the hard work of our people with a great place to work.
During this year's #InternationalWomensDay, we wanted to shine a light on a variety of inspirational women here at Midland Heart. We focused on the career journeys of those currently taking part in our Female Development programme, whilst our Balance (women's) network hosted a marketplace event. The marketplace showpiece saw almost 100 colleagues attend from across the business to learn more about the network’s priorities for the year, including health, menopause and the role of inspirational women. We also launched our new Everyday Sexism eLearning for colleagues, which has also been shaped by our Balance network.
Following our 2022 Colleague Engagement Survey, we’re delighted to be recognised nationally and regionally in the 2023 Best Companies to Work For list. In the West Midlands, we are placed within the top 40, at number 36 out of 76 organisations. Meanwhile, on a national level, within the Large Companies category we are ranked at position 90, and in 11th spot within the UK Housing sector’s top 25. Overall, to be named as one of the leading companies in the UK, and within our region and sector, is a proud moment and underlines our ongoing focus to provide a supportive, professional, and inclusive place to work #BestCompaniesAwards #BestCompanies
As we reach the end of #BlackHistoryMonth, we wanted to share some of the activities that have taken place over this month as part of our celebrations. Shaped by colleagues across our organisation and members of Unity, our Race and Ethnicity Inclusion Network, our activities have included: • Career Development Workshops providing support to our Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority colleagues looking to progress in their career. • Hosting two Caribbean breakfast mornings at our East Midlands Hub and Booth Street offices. • Starting a food bank collection across our organisation, supporting foodbanks in our local communities, in line with ‘Giving something back’, one of the themes colleagues have chosen each year for Black History Month. • Sharing blogs from our colleagues, around topics such as the origin and importance of BHM, Black men’s mental health and wellbeing, and what it’s like to be a part of our Black Colleague Development Programme. • Celebrating music, art, culture and, of course, delicious food at our Black History Month Marketplace at our Bath Row office in Birmingham.
Last week we gathered to celebrate the incredible dedication and hard work of our long-serving colleagues at this year’s Long Service Awards. This year’s cohort have collectively contributed an outstanding 710 years of service to Midland Heart! This remarkable number demonstrates the depth of experience and wealth of knowledge that our long-serving colleagues bring to the table, which has not only helped to shape our organisation but will guide us towards our future success. We want to say a massive thank you to all our long-serving colleagues, including those who, this year, have reached their five-year milestone. We appreciate your hard work and dedication to making what matters brilliant for our tenants and look forward to seeing what you accomplish in the years ahead!
As part of this year’s National Inclusion Week, we can share that we’ve been awarded a Bronze accreditation under the Inclusive Employers Standard. Achieving the standard is recognition for our diversity and inclusion work, with a variety of highlights including our Women’s Development Programme, the success of our four internal Inclusion Networks, and the formation of our Black Colleague Development Programme. The exceptional work from colleagues here at Midland Heart has created a workplace where everyone can feel a sense of belonging and the accreditation is another important milestone in our inclusivity journey.
We’re extremely proud of the sustained, long-term work everyone here at Midland Heart has done to bring our current corporate plan, Making What Matters Brilliant, to life. As we enter the final eighteen months, we’re now looking to the future and taking a collaborative approach to plan our next steps. It’s important that we have a clear vision for our next corporate plan and for colleagues and our customers to play a key part in helping us shape our future as we look to 2030. Led by our Executive Directors, we’ve hosted a variety of engagement sessions with over 200 colleagues, and attended several team away days across the business to understand what they need, how we can make Midland Heart a truly great place to work, and what we can do to be better for our tenants. The feedback from the sessions has shown how engaged and passionate our colleagues are to take things to the next level. In the coming weeks, we will be distributing a survey to our tenants so they can also play their role in shaping our plans for the future.
We’re excited to welcome the latest cohort of over 30 colleagues who have successfully gained a place on one of our three bespoke development programmes: the Black Colleague Development Programme, the Female Development Programme and the Aspiring Managers Programme. At our recent launch event, Glenn Harris, our Chief Executive, congratulated colleagues on being part of our development programmes which are designed to provide colleagues with the confidence and skills needed to further their careers, strengthen our internal pipeline of talent and play an essential role in increasing our diversity at leadership level. A colleague who attended the launch said: “The launch gave me a much better understanding about the development that I’m about to begin. I feel like the journey has been well mapped out for us all - excited to get stuck in now!” Ready to find out what you can achieve with us? Take a look at our vacancies to see the current opportunities to join our team.
Last week we held our Interfaith Celebrations at our HQ office in Birmingham, to recognise the religious festivities many of us have been celebrating at this time of year such as Ramadan, Easter, Passover, Eid, and Vaisakhi. Colleagues had the opportunity to sample staple foods eaten at religious holidays across the world and learn more about each one including an insight into why it is recommended to break a fast with dates in Ramadan, the importance of Matzah (a cracker-like, unleavened bread) on Passover, the link between Easter and eggs and the popularity of sharing mithai, traditional Indian sweets, on Vaisakhi. In addition to the celebrations, we also shared our Exec Director of Finance and Growth, Joe Reeves' experience on his month of fasting in allyship with our Muslim colleagues fasting for Ramadan. He said: “My Muslim colleagues have been supportive throughout my experience and have said that they have a lot of respect for my decision to go through Ramadan alongside them. They have even arranged for a celebratory Eid meal to mark the end of my month of fasting. "
It's #NationalApprenticeshipWeek and we proudly back this year's theme of helping the next generation develop #skillsforlife and knowledge required for a rewarding career. This week, we opened our doors at our #Birmingham HQ to 120 applicants for our new Degree Apprenticeship Programme with roles in Business Intelligence, Surveying and Cyber Security on offer for a lucky four taking part in the assessment days. Our prospective apprentices got stuck into team building activities and found out more about everything our apprenticeship programme has to offer including: 👨🎓 Gaining a bachelor’s degree and apprenticeships standard qualification (all tuition fees paid for) 📝 Graduating with five years’ professional experience, working alongside experts in a specific field 🎁 Access to our Brilliant Benefits (as well as usual student discounts) ✔ Guaranteed job at the end of the apprenticeship 💷 Earning £20,000 per year whilst studying Interested? We are on the lookout for another two apprentices for the roles of Procurement Officer and Fire Safety Engineer. Click below to apply
