Meet Zoheb, Regional Coordinator and Housing Academy student
Zoheb started working at Housing 21 in February 2019 as a Regional Coordinator in Leasehold Retirement Living based in West Yorkshire. Key elements of his role involve supporting Local Housing Managers by managing their queries relating to all aspects of the organisation from marketing to ordering supplies. As well as this, he supports Responsive Repairs where he deals with works orders, variations and completions, as well as daytime and emergency repairs.
Before joining the Housing Academy as part of the first cohort in September 2023, Zoheb had been working towards his caree
r aspirations by getting involved in any areas he could that would form part of his learning pathway. He had mentored Operational Managers in resident engagement meetings, shadowed the Regional Operational Managers in budget management meetings and attended resident sign up and termination of tenancies meetings. Zoheb has also gained recognition across the organisation by supporting with sessions at employee events and resident events.
“I wanted to join the Housing Academy as I always found myself wanting to go the extra mile by offering my help and support to our residents making sure they feel listened to and valued,” he said.
Zoheb’s career goal of becoming an Operations Manager has driven him to join the academy as he wants to work in this role to not only support residents, but also colleagues. His long-term goal within the organisation is to work collaboratively with his team to improve resident engagement and develop the services of Housing 21’s schemes.
“By joining the academy, I will be supported to enhance my skills and knowledge within housing to achieve my career goals,” he said.
Zoheb has been in the academy for six months and is enjoying the process so far. He said: “It’s great being able to speak with other colleagues in the academy to share ideas and support each other through the process, even if we are at different schemes across the country.
“My mentor has been fantastic at supporting me along the way, we work closely together where I am encouraged to go beyond expectations to reach my full potential.”
As Zoheb was part of the first cohort of students in the academy, he was nervous about what to expect:
“I would say the academy has exceeded my expectations; at first, I had the assumption it would just be non-stop intense learning, but this isn’t the case,” he said.
“I always look forward to the practical sessions as working with the residents is what I find most interesting. The balance between learning the knowledge and practical learning helps me to stay motivated and to see that the academy is designed to help me to reach my end goal.
“My highlight from the academy so far was when I had to deliver my first residents’ meeting. I didn’t have direct resident engagement in my previous role. I was very nervous and questioned whether I would be able to go ahead with this.
“Upon delivering my first residents’ meeting solo, I can say confidently that the residents were laughing and smiling with me which made me feel comfortable, and the meeting resolved any queries and concerns. This, alongside the support from my mentor and my learning from the academy has given me the confidence to deliver resident meetings in the future. I found this session to be a useful take away for the rest of the course, knowing the satisfaction this role can bring and how important resident engagement is with residents’ voices at the heart of Housing 21.”
Find out more about the Academy on our website.
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