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Brew Monday - time for a cuppa and a catch up ☕ Today we had Brew Monday, an initiative encouraging people to take a moment to check in on their friends, family, or colleagues during the dark January days. Those in the office and working for RHP got to collect a free drink of their choice from the canteen and enjoy a tasty snack provided by the Communications team ☕ 🍪 Mental health is something to talk about every day and at RHP we want to create a positive wellbeing culture where all employees can flourish.
We’re proud of our commitment to becoming a Menopause Friendly employer. The menopause affects all of us, whether we’re experiencing it ourselves, or know someone who is. We’ve already made positive strides in this area by introducing our regular ‘Menopause Meets’ sessions, publishing a refreshed Menopause policy detailing all the support on offer, and opening up the conversation to educate, build awareness, and help people feel comfortable to ask for support.
As a values-based organisation, we’re committed to being an inclusive service provider and employer all year round. National Inclusion Week offers a moment to reflect on some of the key progress we’ve made over the past twelve months. There’s always more to do, and we’re looking forward to continuing to work with customers and colleagues to keep improving.
We’ve been recognised with a Gold Award in the Mind Wellbeing Workplace Index for the second time! This is the highest recognition you can get for workplace wellbeing. The index is a benchmark of best policy and practice. It’s designed to help organisations find out what they’re doing well and where they could improve their approach to mental health in the workplace. As part of this, our people were invited to complete a survey about how they feel RHP Group supports their wellbeing and mental health. Achieving this level of award means we have successfully embedded mental health into our policies and practices, we utilise a variety of best practice approaches and we demonstrate a long-term, in-depth commitment to our people’s mental health.
Last week we joined together for our all employee conference at Twickenham Stadium. The theme this year was the RHP Olympics. The perfect choice given many of their values connect with our own, and the games in Paris are just around the corner. We made music with boomwhackers and drums at our very own opening ceremony, went head to head competing for medals in team challenges, and heard from Derek Redmond about his inspiring career and Olympic story. Lunch time was spent eating yummy food and taking selfies pitch-side! Our employees were fantastic sports, bringing energy, enthusiasm and competitive spirits to the day. Colleagues from across different teams worked together striving for gold, but also spent time connecting and having fun.
Happy Pride Month! At RHP Group, we celebrate diversity, inclusion, and the vibrant LGBTQ+ community that makes us stronger. This Pride Month, we've invited our people to share their unique experiences and stories about what Pride means to them. Whether it’s a moment of pride, an inspiring allyship experience, or anything that's positively impacted them. We want to create a supportive space where everyone feels seen and valued. #PrideAtRHP
Last Thursday was Time to Talk day the nation’s biggest mental health conversation. We want to create a space where conversations about mental wellbeing are welcomed and encouraged every day. We held a number of activities focused on our mental wellbeing. One of them was a 'Tea and Talk' morning. We had conversation starters, time to talk bingo, a cake sale with proceeds going to our chosen charity, The Vineyard, and ultimately an opportunity to connect with colleagues. It was just what we needed to give us all a boost for the start of February. We also had these snazzy mugs on offer for a voluntary donation to our chosen charity. A great visual reminder that we should regularly connect over a cuppa.
Connect with growth We believe learning new things doesn’t just help people get better at their jobs, it also helps them get to where they want to go in the future, whether that’s sticking with us, or moving on somewhere else. That's why we take our employees development seriously, investing in targeted training throughout the year, supporting our people to take professional qualifications, and being open to conversations about anything else that might help them grow in their role and deliver excellent service. We believe growth can take all sorts of shapes, and isn’t just about moving to a different role. We've been showcasing stories internally from our people who've used their curiosity to explore the development opportunities across RHP Group and share their advice for anyone wanting to develop in their existing role. Here's our first case study from Kathy McNulty, a Community Housing Advisor with our subsidiary company, Co-op Homes.
Please join us in giving a very warm welcome to Sarah Thomas who starts her role as as Chief Executive of RHP Group today! Sarah has extensive experience in the housing sector with over 11 years at Executive level. Sarah joins us from a role as Chief Operating Officer at Peabody, one of the UK’s largest housing associations. She previously worked at Catalyst as Interim Chief Executive, having joined them as Chief Operating Officer in 2019. Prior to roles in housing, Sarah worked in the commercial sector including over eight years’ experience at a senior level at Eurostar. Sarah has a strong track record in strategic leadership, transformation, performance, and customer experience. In addition to her accomplishments in large, complex organisations in both the housing and private sectors.
Empowering women isn’t just a one-day celebration for us here across RHP Group: it’s a daily commitment to creating a truly inclusive culture. When we embrace equity, we embrace diversity and inclusion: that's why gender equality is a key part of our inclusion strategy. Our mean gender pay gap is as low as 0.2%, and women make up: 52.6% of employees 50.7% of managers 50% of Executive Directors 54.5% of RHP's Board 71.4% of Co-op Homes' Board We're also looking forward to welcoming our new female Chief Executive from 1 April!
