Kier consults with tenants to improve repair service

Published by Elizabeth Pokorny for Kier Services in Housing and also in Communities

Kier recently invited tenants along to a customer workshop to review the service provided to them as well as consider ways to improve efficiency and introduce innovation. The half day workshop held at  L&H Homes offices in Lincoln, included tenants, Kier repairs staff and L&H Homes (L&H) board members and senior members of staff, who all came together to discuss issues, what is going well, and priorities for the next 12 months.

Achievements over the last 20 months include: an increase in the number of appointments being kept, the introduction of ‘zoning’, which reduced travel time and fuel consumption; and customers felt there is a more consistent and reliable service overall. The workshop also generated a variety of outcomes to focus on for the next 12 months, for example: tracking the journey of a repair call to completion in order to find ways to improve the process and increase the number of right-first-time fixes; work shadowing across both organisations to build relations and understanding; planning joint open days and other community events and ‘ride outs’ for L&H Homes call centre staff, so they can experience the front-line aspect of the repairs service with technicians.

Kier senior operations manager, Heidi Thompson, commented: “Kier is proud of progress made so far - the excellent working partnership, the service developments and the added value we bring. We have achieved this by listening to our customers, taking their ideas on board and acting on their needs. This workshop will take the service we provide to the next level, finding ways to enhance and innovate together over the coming years.”

Tenant Board representative, Linda Scott, said: “As tenants we were so pleased with the workshop and so impressed with how open and honest Kier are. There had been problems early on but they are well on the way to putting things right. There has been a vast improvement in the service and hopefully we are all on the right track.”

L&H Homes head of property services, Richard Tweddell, added: “Involving our tenants in the service review will allow us to provide an even better repairs service, aligned to our customers’ needs. I’m confident that tenants will experience service improvement as a result of this workshop.’’ 

The collaboration between Kier and L&H Homes was created in April 2011 to provide repairs and maintenance to around 5,000 homes around Lincolnshire, East Anglia, East Riding and Nottinghamshire.