Volunteer Hotseat
Challenging assumptions and tackling the gender pay gap
We have a growing network of over 800 Enterprise Advisers who volunteer their time to develop a strong careers programme for young people at secondary school or college. The role involves sharing their HR expertise and insight to connect education with businesses and employers to help create work and training opportunities for young people. In this volunteer hotseat, Nigel Jones FCIPD, Group Director of People at The Together Housing Group - one of the largest housing associations in the
The property sector is a male dominated industry and this is leading to a gender pay gap in the sector, despite there being opportunities for everyone. To help challenge role assumptions, I helped organise a female only enrichment session. A presentation was given by our female staff, including the Head of Property Care, an apprentice, and a female plumber, which showcased the range of great career opportunities out there for women in the property sector.
The Our Lady and St John Catholic School (OLSJ) sits on a large housing estate in Blackburn that The Together Housing Group owns and manages. It is a deprived area so I knew the support of an Enterprise Advisor would be incredibly valuable to the pupils as they would benefit from finding out more about the local career opportunities we offer. Together Housing Group would also benefit by attracting new young talent into the sector.
Maisie Roberts
From student to employee; Maisie Roberts
Adding value to careers education
North, managing over 36,000 homes - tells us more about his role as Enterprise Adviser at Our Lady and St John Catholic School in Lancashire.
Maisie joined Together Housing Group as a school leaver, coming in as HR admin apprentice and then achieving a full-time position as an Administrator in the Repairs and Customer Support team. From an Enterprise Advisor perspective, Maise’s enthusiasm and hard work is a
The OLSJ School has a dedicated full-time careers leader in place, and I see this as a must for any school as they can focus on driving the careers curriculum forward. My role as Enterprise Advisor is to provide added value through employer acumen and insight into what employers expect from young people. I’ve been able to set up site visits for students which provides them with the opportunity to see what an office is like, find out about jobs in the housing association sector and learn about our interview and recruitment process. I hope to build on these activities through providing work experience, and delivering employability skills sessions to help students identify the skills they have, or need, to match the job role they are interested in.
Nigel Jones FCIPD
powerful example of what one person can achieve at the start of their career, and from the business’ perspective, we see Maisie joining us as a real success story on how we can continue to support young people into employment.
Giving back
I wanted to get involved with the Enterprise Advisor programme as I saw how the role would provide a great opportunity to give back locally. It also supports Together Housing Group’s vision of trying to provide career support and opportunities for our tenants and their children.
Find out more about becoming an Enterprise Advisor here .
REGIONAL INSIGHTS
Winter 2021
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