Our customers’ voice is at the heart of everything we do. The Onward Customer Engagement Community is how we give customers a louder voice. More than 2,600 customers are signed up to the Community from across all our neighbourhoods. They work with us to influence service improvements, drive change, and help make our homes and communities better places to live.
Our customers give us the best possible insight into how good our homes and services really are, so listening to customers, and acting on what they say, is critical to our long-term success. We are a customer organisation and listening to customers is the responsibility of everyone at Onward, every day and in every interaction between colleagues and customers.
We use lots of different methods to hear the opinions and ideas of customers who want to influence how we do things.
Our engagement activities include:
- Customer scrutiny that allows customers the opportunity to review our performance
- A clear and personal complaints process
- Surveys seeking views and opinions on specific service areas
- Forums and activities to shape and influence services
- Social media, including comments and feedback
- Social investment and wellbeing activities
- Local initiatives (community days, coffee mornings)
Other forms of engagement:
- Publications and information such as our newsletter
- Website with relevant information, engagement opportunities and community news
- Tenancy and customer support
- Digital and self-service solutions
Resident Scrutiny Board
We are committed to putting customers at the heart of everything we do. Customer views, priorities and aspirations enrich and improve the way we run Onward.
Our approach to customer scrutiny is inspired by the Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard of the Regulator of Social Housing. The Standard advocates a ‘co-regulatory approach’ whereby landlords support tenants to ‘shape and scrutinise service delivery and to hold boards and councillors to account’.
The Resident Scrutiny Board meets quarterly to review performance across the business. The Scrutiny Board reports directly into our Finance and Performance Committee on outcomes, recommendations and actions arising from scrutiny activities. It establishes a direct line of accountability between the Onward Board and customers, giving residents opportunities to influence performance, make recommendations and shape future services.