The Pioneer Group has taken on a ‘new way of working’ for employees by permanently adopting an agile working practice.

The recent pandemic saw employers and employees across UK adapting overnight to homeworking which resulted as a successful trial for the Birmingham-based housing association.

This changing work pattern has altered the way businesses work and some organisations, including The Pioneer Group, are leading the way to empower employees by embracing agile working into their organisational culture.

Agile working allows employees to carry out their duties flexibly from different locations, to optimise their performance and do their best work. Everyone’s circumstances are unique, which is why the Group will continue to offer office and hub space to facilitate the agile working.

Simon Wilson, CEO, The Pioneer Group said:

Throughout the lockdowns, we had to respond to a huge challenge, and everyone worked incredibly hard to adapt while delivering key services in our communities; for many colleagues this meant very new ways of working. Despite some initial challenges, this approach has created a richer work/life balance for most.

A ‘triple win’ of balancing customer, business and employee needs is a key principle that The Pioneer Group has built into its agile working approach. We will continue to put our customers at the heart of what we do, and whether working from one of our hubs or a home office, we are all committed to ‘making lives and communities better’.

The move to agile working fits with a number of The Pioneer Group’s Corporate Plan objectives, including becoming an employer of choice, which includes having 90% staff satisfaction. The change will also contribute towards the Group’s Wellbeing Strategy and is also considered to attract new members to join the organisation.

Imran Khalifa, People and Organisational Development Manager at The Pioneer Group, said:

We have worked with stakeholders and colleagues from across the business to develop this new approach. Reflecting on the lessons learnt during the pandemic, we designed a fresh approach built around a new set of agile working principles to better support our staff and customers.

By identifying a series of principles, tools and techniques as guidance for staff members, our new agile working policy sets a clear expectation to maximise organisational and individual agility while responding to customer needs and helping the organisation be more efficient and effective.