Kingdom Housing Association has congratulated staff members who have recently gained new professional qualifications while working with Fife’s largest housing association.

Staff who recently completed formal qualifications with the encouragement and support of Kingdom include Gary Haldane, head of information and communications technology, who completed his Masters Degree in ICT Strategic Leadership.

Gary said: “My studies have had a positive impact on me and Kingdom and I am applying the knowledge I have gained to focus on advancing technology use within Kingdom and achieving organisational aims and objectives.”

Julie Watson, a senior development services officer at Kingdom, completed the Chartered Management Institute Diploma in Management & Leadership in June 2014 and is currently studying for her BA Management, which she will complete in May 2016.

Julie explained: “Continuous learning is important for me to grow both personally and professionally. Being given the opportunity to expand my skills and knowledge has helped increase my confidence and respond effectively to changing business needs.”

Briony Hall, ICT assistant, recently successfully completed the PRINCE2 Practitioner certificate in Project Management while Alex McLaren, area housing manager, completed his MSc in Housing Studies.

Kingdom has its own in-house maintenance team and has employed a number of apprentices over the years. Declan Cairns is the latest employee to complete his apprenticeship and is now a qualified electrician.

“I’ve now completed my 4 year apprenticeship,” he said. “And I’d like to thank the other electricians at Kingdom I’ve worked with who have taught me so much.”

Kingdom manages and operates a relatively large Support & Care Service and has an ongoing programme of training and qualifications for Support & Care staff. Over the last year 18 staff have obtained their SVQ II in Social Services & Health Care, a Senior Support Worker has obtained an SVQ III in Health & Social Care and 4 staff have gained their Professional Development Award (PDA) in Heath & Social Care Supervision.

Earlier this year Kingdom Housing Association retained its Investors in People accreditation, originally receiving this accreditation more than 12 years ago. Encouraging staff with their learning and development is a key objective for Kingdom.

Bill Banks, chief executive at Kingdom, said: “We specifically identify being a good employer as one of our strategic objectives and through helping staff to pursue continuous learning and development opportunities we contribute to this objective. This strategy provides many benefits, it improves our business operations, improves services to our tenants and customers and enhances staff motivation, personal and career development.

“Undertaking formal studies requires a great deal of commitment from the staff involved and I’d like to congratulate all the staff who have recently completed their courses.”

Kingdom recently undertook an Employee Opinion Survey which found that 89 per cent of staff are satisfied with Kingdom as an employer. Bill Banks said he felt Kingdom’s approach to staff learning and development had helped contribute to the high levels of satisfaction confirmed as part of the survey.

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