View publication - Chartered Institute of Housing

LEADING PLACES OF CHANGE – SKILLS AND LEARNING CHALLENGES
Leading Places of Change – skills and learning challenges
for the homelessness sector now and in the future
By Helen Giles, Managing Director of Broadway’s Real People HR consultancy, and HR
Director of Broadway Homelessness & Support
Summary
Both the operating environment and service provision models for providers of
homeless services have become increasingly complex. Leadership skills are
essential if providers are to navigate these challenges and remain sustainable
and relevant. Underinvestment in leadership skills has been a cross-sector
challenge. For the homelessness sector the Leading Places of Change (LPoC)
Programme has been significant in plugging the skills gap. This article will also
explore how homelessness service providers and LPoC need to evolve to deal
with emerging challenges and skills needs.
The changing operational context for homelessness services
The operating environment for providers of homelessness services has become
increasingly tough over recent years. This is a direct result of the decreasing amount of
public money available to deal with growing demand. As the public purse gets squeezed
further, the operating context will become increasingly challenging and this will present
new demands on the skills and learning needs of people working in the sector.
As the funding climate has toughened, the volume and complexity of service user needs
and the desire of statutory authorities to find new solutions to entrenched problems has
created a much broader spectrum of different approaches and opportunities. This has
made the shape of service provision a more complex mosaic than was the case in the
days when we were essentially providing outreach, hostels and supported housing on
service models that had not changed radically for at least two decades.
The leadership challenges faced by managers in the homelessness sector today and
tomorrow are incredibly demanding. Unless they acquire the necessary skills to adapt in
a changing environment, they will lose credibility with purchasers and funders, risk
forfeiting existing contracts; and fail to win sufficient new business to survive. Sadly this
has already been the fate of some providers who have not been flexible enough to
adapt to a changing world.
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