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Belong Life Spring 2012 A word from the team ‘IIP’ accreditation for the third time. Tracey Stakes, Finance Director, gives the low-down on progress at Belong Warrington. The contractors will soon be moving into Loushers Lane following our success in obtaining planning permission for what will be the fifth Belong village. Work at the £9.5 million pound scheme is due to start this summer, and will be ready for customers to move inn by early 2014. In fact customers are already starting to register their interest! The village will comprise 72 en-suite rooms in small, open plan households where specialist dementia and nursing support can be provided. Also on site will be 12 one-bedroom and six twobedroom apartments for independent living, all in close proximity to the village centre with bistro, hair salon and a range of additional facilities. Belong Property Manager, Nigel Franklin, has developed a ‘model design’ brief, building on the experience of existing villages and feedback on what customers and their families tell us is needed. The village will be designed once again by Pozzoni LLP, one of the UK’s leading architects in the field of designing for older people. During the construction phase, our central services teams are continuously supporting and implementing efficient working procedures to ensure that all Belong villages continue to offer the very best for everyone living and working there! You can follow us on... Belong welcomes contributions from our readers, please contact tracy.brookes@belong.org.uk Belong gets the thumbs up for ‘Investing in People.’ Belong has received resounding endorsement of its approach to people management, receiving the respected ‘Investor in People’ (IIP) accreditation for the third time. The nationally recognised people management standard is used to measure how successful an organisation is in communicating and carrying out its business plan through its people management processes. Belong, and indeed the CLS Group as a whole, was last awarded the status in 2008 and has again impressed the IIP, who found good evidence of staff learning and development, and a supportive and approachable management style. Progress made Interviews with 110 staff across the organisations indicate a strong, happy workforce with good levels of job satisfaction. The assessor also commented on Belong’s innovative implementation of the ‘Strategy Tree’, used to communicate the organisation’s vision, objectives and targets, as well as helping staff see their performance and contribution to the villages. Staff feel motivated and confident to input into how the villages are being run through team meetings, open door policies and good line management. There is a strong sense of team spirit and staff are comfortable offering suggestions to management, which have been well received. The assessor also found strong evidence that the quality and frequency of training has improved. Belong impressed with its promotion of ongoing staff development and the availability of opportunities for staff to get involved in things outside their normal roles. The well structured and welcoming nature of inductions were also praised. Wendy Gray in The Salon at Belong Wigan Tracy Paine, Belong’s Operations Director, comments: “We are delighted to receive this independent endorsement of our staff development. Our people are the heart of our business and we work hard to create a culture of ‘Belong champions’, dedicated to making life as good as it possibly can be for those who live in our villages. “We will continue to use the feedback given to us by the IIP to offer our customers the best possible services.” Looking ahead Recommendations for future developments have been suggested to better the villages’ performance, including improving staff rewards and strengthening of staff award schemes. Additional work is also to be done to develop consistency in people management practices across all the villages, as well as continuing to improve the visibility of senior people. Julie Naylor in the laundry room at Belong Atherton Gemma Clelland, Nurse at Belong Wigan 2 3
An interview with... “I love my work and it’s a bonus to get paid.” Forget the Olympics and Diamond Jubilee, 2012 marks a special anniversary for one of Belong’s General Managers, Gill Menguy. In January, she completed 25 years of service for the CLS group, and talks to Belong Life about her experiences. On the 5th January, Gill Menguy was sitting in the Bistro at Belong Wigan happily getting on with a staff meeting when she was asked to rush upstairs to see a brick that had, apparently, just been put through a window. “It was just an excuse to get me upstairs,” laughs Gill. “I walked into the venue and was greeted with a bouquet of flowers, a group of Belong staff and nine of our longstanding residents.” Gill has spent the last two and a half decades climbing the care career ladder, and launched Belong Wigan three years ago. For her, Wigan is where it all began too, as in 1986 she started as a Care Assistant in the old CLS care home, which stood on the site. She spills the beans on her career: What attracted you to the care sector? My mum managed a care home for young adults and in those days you lived on site and so I’ve grown up with it. Although I enjoyed the work then, I wanted to move into older people’s care because I never had a grandmother figure, and have a lot of respect for what older people have experienced. I love my work and it’s a bonus to get paid. Gill Menguy Gill on site during the building of Belong Wigan What do you find the most challenging? Treating people as individuals in a large environment was difficult, so I’m pleased that Belong has different, smaller households to support older people in. Funding is also very challenging. What are you most proud of? I didn’t leave school with the best qualifications, so I’m glad I’ve completed those while on the road to becoming a manager. I’m also happy with how I’m developing my staff, I think because I worked through from care assistant, I can honestly say to my team ‘I’ve been there and done it.’ What is the secret to your success? Liking what you do, and wanting to do the best for older people. What piece of advice would you give someone starting out in the sector? Look at small, homely environments that offer personalised care. Push and develop yourself, but get a work and life balance. When you aren’t at work, what do you enjoy doing? Looking after my grandchildren and spending time with my husband. This year is our silver wedding anniversary! Locally, I go to Bingo! It’s great, I don’t have to think and I can have a good catch up with my friends. News from... Belong Atherton manager scoops first prize within months of opening Julie Washington, General Manager at Belong Atherton, has been distinguished for a national award, taking home the title: ‘Most outstanding community village manager’ at the prestigious UK Over 50s Housing Awards 2011, presented last week in Westminster, London. “Running a village with such a wide range of services is certainly a challenge,” says Julie, “but it’s one we had been working up to for years. It’s fabulous to finally be in the new building, with a great team of staff working together, and all there to serve members of the community and provide high quality support for the older people of Greater Manchester.” The Over 50s Housing Awards, now in their third year, are run by the Over 50s Housing Weekly News, a leading business journal in the care home and retirement village sector in the UK. “The most notable trend,” said editor of the title, Mr. Esmonde Crawley, “is the emergence of new entrants to the sector taking out the major awards.” “Standards in the UK have risen dramatically in the past three years, and the UK now leads the world in some key areas,” he said, adding that: “Judging is against the prevailing international standards and not just a UK measurement.” Belong Life Spring 2012 Describe yourself in three words. Friendly, approachable, caring. Gill pictured during a visit from the Elisabeth Svendsen Trust Belong Atherton Julie Washington, General Manager at Belong Atherton, awarded ‘Most outstanding community village manager’ Gill with Rex the guard dog 4 5
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