JIVE - Creating Change for Women & Girls in Science, Engineering, Construction and Technology

Case Study - Hounslow Homes Apprentice Hiring

Hounslow Homes works closely with the London Borough of Hounslow and tenants to deliver good quality housing services, and was one of the first Arm’s Length Management Organisations (ALMOs) in the UK to manage and improve local authority housing stock. This transition from being a part of local government to that of an independently managed not-for-profit company has required significant shifts in the culture and attitudes of the staff.

Gender & Diversity Issues

There are approximately 330 employees in the Property Services Directorate of Hounslow Homes. All craft employees are City & Guilds or NVQ 2/3 qualified. The maintenance workforce is 99% male. In contrast, the call centre supporting Property Services has a 75% female staff.

Although Hounslow Homes had received 700 applications for 12 craft apprenticeship positions in 2004, only 2 of the applicants were young women. In the spring of 2005, Pauline Ripley, Training Manager for Hounslow Homes, recognised that new strategies would be needed if Hounslow Homes were going to be successful in recruiting more diverse candidates in the future. She contacted the UK Resource Centre for assistance.

Developing a New Strategy

Clare Wilson, Employer Liaison Coordinator, and Tracie Fenton, Sector Skills Coordinator, began working with Pauline. Clare visited Hounslow Homes in March 2005 and discussed a number of services that could be provided by JIVE to help find female apprentice candidates. Claire Connaughton, Communications Manager, John Devonshire, Apprentice Manager, Linda Chapman, the UNISON steward for Hounslow Homes and Graham Spiller, Human Resources Manager, were also part of this meeting. A review of their recruiting advertising found only a minor change would be needed to highlight the opportunities for women. High on the list of possible actions was the use of the Cultural Analysis Tool or CAT, a questionnaire designed to assist employers in understanding and benchmarking the gender culture of their workplace. Attributes assessed were both ‘hard’ (tangible) and ‘soft’ (more intangible) factors that contribute to the underlying, often unspoken, workplace cultures.

The UKRC asked Janice Kinory, JIVE South East Project Manager, to work with Hounslow Homes. A second meeting was held in late April 2005 to acquaint Hounslow Homes key personnel with Janice and discuss administration of the CAT. This meeting included Sayeed Kadir, Director of Property Services, Sara Durrell, Communications Officer, Amelia Hulbert, Training Administrator, Linda, Pauline and John. Key decisions were made at the meeting relating to the CAT , including how the questionnaires would be distributed, which employees and managers would receive them, and timing to complete the survey. Due to the level of gender segregation, the survey would cover both call centre and craft employees. Follow-up actions were required before the survey could proceed. Other key stakeholders would need to be advised of and agree the plans. Pauline completed a questionnaire about company policies and procedures that would aid the analysis of the responses. A letter to accompany the questionnaires and explain their purpose was drafted by Sayeed and approved. The survey questionnaires were delivered to Hounslow Homes in mid-July 2005.

Distribution of questionnaires to craft employees took place at their monthly tool box talks, regularly scheduled meetings and other official matters. With July and August as heavy holiday periods, distribution was slower than anticipated. Employees were given until late September to submit the confidential responses back to the UKRC. By mid October 2005, the UKRC had analysed the replies and a review meeting was scheduled at Hounslow Homes. Janice and Rachel Epson, a JIVE trainer, licensed electrician and electrical contracting business owner, met with Pauline, Sayeed, John and Graham to present the results of the survey. Responses for managers and staff had been quantified and were reported back. With the larger number of participants, the responses were separated into male and female staff members.

The CAT highlighted a need for additional training about gender in the workplace starting with the management team. Gender issues training had been de-emphasised while Hounslow Homes had focused upon the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. The new Gender Equality Duty coming in to force in April 2007 was discussed and was proposed as a focus for new training for managers and staff.

Taking Positive Action, Getting Positive Results

In discussions with the apprentice manager, it was apparent that he was concerned that positive action activities to raise the number of female candidates should not result in less qualified candidates being taken on as apprentices. The JIVE team were able to assure him that we had the same objective, and were certain that new strategies for publicising apprenticeships would bring in female candidates equal to the other candidates.

Due to management staff changes at Hounslow Homes, Janice, Rachel, Pauline and Veronica Benson, JIVE South East’s Employer Liaison Manager, held a meeting in February 2006 to acquaint Ian Wallis, Deputy Operations Manager for Property Services, Martin Ross, Personnel Manager for Property Services, Dave Plummer, Operations Manager for Property Services, and Radiya Kaderbhai, Equalities Policy Officer, with the CAT results and ideas for recruiting atypical apprentices. Ideas discussed at the meeting included:

Ensuring that local schools knew that a non-traditional work experience opportunity in Property Services could be provided for schoolgirls
Planning an open day for young women to familiarise them with apprenticeship opportunities
Designing a flyer advertising an apprenticeship information open day targeted at young women
Distributing the flyer to tenants, local childcare centres, the library, schools, colleges and Connexions
Publicising the apprenticeship opportunities and the open day in the tenants’ newsletter

A successful Open Day for Girls was held on 17 May 2006. Participants learned what apprenticeships entailed, met with women already working in craft jobs in the Property Services Directorate and gained an awareness of the Hounslow Homes apprenticeship scheme application process.

With the extra effort put into recruiting, Hounslow Homes had 10 applications from women for apprenticeships, a 500% increase on the previous year. Of the 4 apprenticeship positions available, 1 was awarded to a female candidate based upon the interview panel recommendation. As this individual had already completed two years of plumbing training at a local college, she was able to take up her apprenticeship ready to contribute to the workplace.

Based upon the success of this year’s recruiting efforts, Hounslow Homes plans to continue their work with local schools and their annual girls’ day to interest young women in careers in craft occupations. Two of the girls who were unsuccessful candidates have begun studying plumbing at local Further Education colleges and hope to apply for apprenticeship positions in the future.