Among the best of the Best Companies
It was the year that the world celebrated the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales and later mourned the loss of Apple founder Steve Jobs.
2011 was also the first year we, Wales & West Housing, were named the top not-for-profit business to work for in Wales and 14th in the UK in the Best Companies List.
To mark our commitment, we have been presented with a Special 10-Year Award from Best Companies. The award recognises our commitment to improving our engagement with our staff and their workplace experience.
To achieve our place in the Best Companies listing in 2011, employment engagement specialists Best Companies surveyed our 336 staff anonymously and analysed the responses. Staff were asked about their experiences of working for WWH in a number of areas including job satisfaction, their relationships with managers, their personal and professional development, work-life balance, sense of fulfilment and financial security.
We have continued to excel in the Best Companies rankings and have consistently been recognised as a world class employer with the Best Companies 3* accreditation.
In 2020 we achieved the 3* award for the first time as a Group company when 492 Wales & West Housing staff and 184 people working for our maintenance company Cambria Maintenance Services were surveyed. Based on their feedback we were ranked the No 1 housing association to work for in Wales.
Group Chief Executive Anne Hinchey said: “Receiving this special award from Best Companies is an amazing achievement. However, any organisation is only as good as the people who work there, and we are fortunate to have exceptional, dedicated, teams who work together every day to make a difference.”
“Since we first took part in the Best Companies survey in 2011, our organisation has grown and evolved but our commitment to live and breathe our culture and values has remained constant.
“We work hard to build a strong culture of enabling and empowering our people to make decisions, understanding what we do and why we do it and trusting staff to do the right thing for our residents. It is one of the reasons our people want to stay and new people want to come and work for us.”
Group Chief Executive Anne Hinchey
“Our continued success as the top Welsh housing association to work for is a testament to our approach to the importance of staff wellbeing and satisfaction.
“We have worked with Best Companies for so long because their approach helps us to get a clear picture of how our staff feel and how they demonstrate our values on a day-to-day basis.
“By engaging with staff through the Best Companies survey we can get a better understanding of why people enjoy working here. It gives us the opportunity to understand what’s working well so that we can share best practice across departments, and it also helps us to understand where there might be areas for improvement.
“We want to attract and retain the best talent and Best Companies has a reputation that gives existing and future employees a sense of confidence in knowing how we look after our people and creating the best possible environment for everyone working at WWH Group to reach their full potential.”
“Being named one of the UK’s Best Companies to Work For is an accolade like no other. It is something that organisations the length and breadth of the nation strive for – but only the very best achieve. The 10 Year Award is presented to organisations who have featured on one or more of the National Best Companies to Work For lists for an incredible 10 years, recognising a long-term commitment to employee engagement,” said Jonathan Austin, CEO & Founder, Best Companies.
“I would like to congratulate Wales & West Housing Group on achieving the 10 Year Special Recognition Award in 2022. This significant achievement demonstrates that you genuinely value your people and view workplace engagement as a vital part of your organisation’s success. You have continued to focus on your employees and have been rewarded with an engaged workforce who continuously tell us that this is a best company to work for – well done indeed.”
Jonathan Austin, CEO & Founder, Best Companies.
The Wales & West Housing Group also holds the highest Platinum Investors in People award.
In the latest Best Companies 2022 survey, these are some of the things our staff say they like about our culture:
- the way our Group Chief Executive Anne Hinchey welcomes every new starter personally with an informal ‘getting to know you’ chat
- our staff ‘Wellbeing Champions’, a group of 45 volunteers who provide confidential mental health first aid to any staff who might feel they have no-one to turn to
- how our managers spend time in the work with staff to understand the challenges and workload
- the support staff are given to grow professionally and personally to help them reach their full potential – including formal qualifications, eLearning and bespoke in-house training
- the way we Grow Our Own, an initiative to attract and support talent into our workforce and sector
- the chance to take an extra paid working day every year to volunteer on projects that are close to their hearts
