Q&A | Jodie Williams, Warrington Housing Association.

Jodie Williams | Warrington Housing Association | Performance & Policy Officer

JW: Calculating performance data for internal and external management of business performance and attainment of targets, goals and values. In this new position, the role is still developing. I am involved with software, our Colleague Newsletter, Colleague Forum and other exciting and important aspects of Corporate Services.

What’s the best part of your job?

JW: Learning how to help colleagues so they can best be themselves and do their job to provide a quality service for the benefit of customers, their health and happiness.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced in your role since the beginning of the pandemic?

JW: I have no pre-pandemic benchmark for my current job role. I started at WHA as an Asset & Compliance Apprentice at the beginning of the pandemic. I have been in my current role as Performance & Policy Officer since June 2021. However, a challenge I have observed is the growing demand on colleagues/teams to maintain services, the pursuit of business plans, targets and values as customer needs continue to grow, whether this be a primary or secondary cause of the pandemic or despite the pandemic. These challenges could be related to physical health, mental health, the material supply chain, employment, financial support, carbon output, compliance, building safety etc.

What’s a valuable lesson you’ve learnt during the pandemic?

JW: That there are more people, organisations and sectors out there who care about doing what they believe to be right by our people and spaces than I had previously thought. I am not yet sure if there is a single best step to take in empowering people, but I believe that the more people who care about trying to with the ability and willingness to stand, work, share, listen, learn, rest and take accountability then there's a better chance of promoting and protecting the health, safety and futures of everyone present and future. A better chance than if we didn't try at all, or if we only tried alone or against others who are trying to pursue the same goals as you/us.

If you had to choose one meal to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?

JW: Spiced sweet potato and coconut soup.

Who would be your perfect celebrity dinner guest and why?

JW: A financially, resource or authority rich celebrity who is willing and able to have a meal with anyone and everyone who is in or is facing food insecurity, this meal would not require the physical presence of the celebrity anywhere other than where they currently reside. The celebrity would make all arrangements and cover any costs to make this meal as sustainable as possible for all individuals and all surrounding social and physical landscapes. My reasoning is that this seems like a fairly meaningful use of a limited opportunity if it were just one dinner and one celebrity.

Favourite band or artist?

JW: My music presence jumps around a little, I'm less concerned with a particular band or artist and more so with what sounds feel right in the moment. I don't have a favourite artist, or even a top-five, though I do appreciate the art and the humanity surrounding the creation of the sound.

Q&A | Leo Skelly, Prima Group.

Leo Skelly | Prima Group | Business Intelligence Analyst

LS: I provide the group with both detailed and aggregated business-related information using analytic software and techniques, putting benchmarking, data and business intelligence at the centre of the decision-making processes for the business. Additionally, I ensure that data and insight support our business improvement initiatives and statutory reporting requirements.

What's the best part of your job?

LS: There are two elements to my job that I love; programming and the people. I'm a creator so I like nothing better than to start off with nothing, travel the highs & lows of that road, and end up with a completed project or product having transformed an idea or a request into something of great use and benefit to others. A sense of achievement. The people are great and because we're a small organisation, we really do know everyone across the business and we work well together towards our common goals, and when we celebrate, we celebrate together.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your role since the beginning of the pandemic?

LS: The digital world is at the heart of everything I do. When the pandemic struck, I saw a sharp increase in the demand for information specifically as face-to-face business elements were either reduced or withdrawn, thus promoting the need for greater digital awareness. The challenge has not only been to meet that demand but to embed new ways of working that meet both the current needs of the business as well as future needs.

What’s a valuable lesson you’ve learnt during the pandemic?

LS: There are two valuable lessons that I've learned. The first is to focus on what's important. In Dec 2020, I was involved in a serious road traffic accident with a drunk-driver and unfortunately, I was on the OUTSIDE of my vehicle at the time and suffered serious leg injuries. I hold no anger or ill-thoughts towards the driver but instead, my focus is entirely upon my return to fitness and my family. There's nothing more important. In focusing on what's important, I now find it easier to identify and remove the noise of life & work, and that's helped me both in and out of work, physically and mentally. The second lesson is having a full and rounded appreciation of my time. With our staff members working almost completely from home during the pandemic, there's never been a more important period within which to exercise a sharp distinction between home life and work life, and to this end, I quickly learned to separate the two. I now appreciate the time that I have for work tasks and the time that I have for home life.

If you had to choose one meal to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?

LS: Anything with fish and rice, preferably a whole baked fish with rice and veg.

Who would be your perfect celebrity dinner guest and why?

LS: I'd have to say, Leonardo Da Vinci. What a guy! I loved him in The Beach and Inception! No seriously, Leonardo was a master at everything he did, a true polymath. He was an expert at painting, draughtsmanship, engineering, science, theology, sculpting, architecture, anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography and palaeontology, and amazingly, he still holds the Guinness World Record for speed text messaging (he doesn't!).

Favourite band or artist?

LS: A MUCH harder question than 'favourite dinner guest'! I might touch upon The Beatles, REM, Crowded House, early U2, Radiohead, Mozart, AC-DC, Miles Davis, Dua Lipa or Jean-Michel Jarre. It's a seriously difficult question to answer for me.