View publication - Chartered Institute of Housing

PART ONE: LEARNING TODAY
significant contribution to the success of the homelessness sector by achieving improved
service user outcomes. Although the number of people arriving on the streets continues
to increase, homelessness services have collectively ensured the average length of stay
has dropped very significantly. It is beyond reasonable doubt that this is because services
as a whole have been far better managed, particularly in those organisations that have
invested in the recruitment and development of the best staff and have been prepared
to grow their own managers.
The sector now needs to shape itself to respond to the major challenges for its clients
brought about by welfare reform and challenges to organisations arising through
funding cuts as well as the competitive tendering regime. It also needs to seize the
myriad opportunities presented by new sources of funding for certain initiatives such as
health work or employment for ex-offenders and by newer resources such as the ready
and free availability of social media as a means of communication. Its ability to do so
depends on the capability of the leader-managers we have within the sector.
With feedback and involvement from managers facing these challenges and some
re-design and reshaping of the curriculum and learning materials, LPoC is the ideal
programme to equip managers to rise to these challenges successfully.
Key points
• Funding reductions, job insecurity and the increasing diversity and
complexity of service provision models mean that successful providers of
homelessness services need managers with high level leadership skills.
• ‘Hard’ skills such as commercial acumen, project management, and service
design and development are particularly relevant to current and future
needs.
• In addition, managers will need to learn effective people management
techniques and the ‘softer’ leadership, interpersonal and partnership skills
associated with the ability to achieve results with and through others.
• From the outset CIH has partnered with managers from the homelessness
sector to design and refine the LPoC programme. For this reason it has
been uniquely placed to deliver essential knowledge and skills which can
be applied immediately by managers to solving the real problems and
challenges they face.
• LPoC is forward looking, continually evolving to anticipate and address
future leadership skills needs for the sector.
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