Train. Safeguard. Mindful.
- Ralph Sutcliffe
- Jul 23
- 2 min read
In-house Research is currently in full on Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM) mode!
There is always a bit of a buzz around the office when TSMs start, and an air of anticipation from the team in regard to how easy tenants will be to contact and what satisfaction levels they will have.
It also brings an extra element to the calls that In-house Research and the telephone research team put a lot of thought and care into - safeguarding.
In-house Research prides itself on not focussing solely on collecting data but making sure those we call feel heard and that we are listening. We are aware that for some, our telephone researchers might be the only person they speak to that day. Quite a responsibility and one that we handle with care.
In today’s society, many people face complex challenges that cover a wide range of areas, such as physical or mental health issues, financial hardship, antisocial behaviour, and living conditions that may not always be suitable. In addition to this, statistics from the government show that in the year ending March 2022 around 1 in 4 people in the UK reported living with a disability*.
These challenges are no different in social housing. We recognise that behind each survey and comment collected, there is a real person, and that their experiences can have a profound effect on their welfare. In light of this, the management team recently reviewed and streamlined our welfare concern process. A process that has now been rolled out and is being put into practice.
We work with our researchers to keep safeguarding at the forefront of their minds, and they are trained to actively listen, spot red flags, and to respond with empathy and neutrality. Red flags can take many forms, and we look at not just what the tenant is telling us but how they are telling us, taking their tone and language into consideration too. Most importantly, our telephone researchers know how to escalate concerns if needed.
In addition to our telephone research, our safeguarding practices and policies apply to different methodologies, meaning that even if a survey is self-completed by a customer, we can still identify cases for review where a safeguarding risk may be present. This ensures that each alert is reviewed by a real human, because there are some things where human understanding will always outperform artificial intelligence.
TSMs to us mean we Train, we Safeguard and we are Mindful in our interactions.
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