Kingdom Housing Association’s annual staff conference plays an important part in the organisation’s strategic business planning process and benefits from the input of colleagues from across the wider Kingdom Group, including Kingdom Support & Care and Kingdom Initiatives.

Hosted by Kingdom Group chief executive Bill Banks, the event began by celebrating the successes of the previous year that demonstrated agility and resilience as the Association emerged from the challenges of the pandemic. Representatives from Kingdom’s Employee Forum and Young Person Forum then shared their achievements with attendees and highlighted the benefits to staff individually, and the wider organisation, of participation in such groups.

Interactive sessions from the team at ‘Imagine If…’, a community interest company interested in starting conversations about shared living in Scotland, included all delegates playing a unique game designed to explore the possibilities of co-housing and shared spaces. Later, ‘Workout Sessions’ encouraged all staff to contribute innovative solutions to identified problem statements that would benefit Kingdom’s internal and external customers as well as streamlining systems and processes.

Bill Banks, Kingdom Group chief executive, said: “Getting so many staff together under one roof while still providing the level of service our tenants and service users expect from us is no mean feat. However, events like our staff conference are vitally important to the organisation. It’s an opportunity to share our past successes and look forward to the future together. Involving our colleagues in strategic discussions has enormous benefits and the wide range of views and experiences expressed is invaluable.”

Bill added: “Kingdom’s last two staff conferences were held virtually due to covid restrictions, so it was really good to have colleagues meeting each other face to face again this year. Feedback following the conference has been really positive and the insights we’ve gained will prove useful as we take our strategic planning forward. It seems certain there will be many challenges facing our tenants, customers and staff over the coming months and we will do all we can to continue to deliver on our strategic objectives and our mission to provide more than a home.”

Kingdom’s Employee Recognition Awards were also announced at the conference which acknowledged and celebrated the great work done by colleagues across the group and a special video tribute was played for Norah Smith, Kingdom Support and Care’s executive director, who recently retired after a decade with the organisation.