Capita has helped Wakefield & District Housing improve productivity by a third following the introduction of its mobile working software.
With responsibility for maintaining the homes of more than 20 per cent of the local population, WDH deals with a wide variety of tenant enquiries every day, ranging from the urgent to the routine. As a result, WDH was one of the first housing providers to equip its maintenance staff with mobile technology, but WDH’s other tenant-facing employees were still tied to the office between appointments.
Geoff Kirk, service director for business systems, Wakefield & District Housing, said, “Our work is based in our communities, so why keep technology office-based?
“However, the system we originally used in the repairs team wouldn’t work on a company-wide basis but we found Capita’s mobile software could offer the all-round approach we needed to do our jobs – anytime, anyplace, anywhere.”
Previously, WDH’s field-based staff had to come into the office to collect case details and log incidents. Now, the team of almost 500 employees is fully mobile and can carry out these tasks wherever they are.
Louise Muirhead, senior business analyst for business systems, Wakefield & District Housing, said, “If a tenant is having budgeting difficulties, one of our estate officers can direct the case to our financial well-being team without needing to return to the office, setting help in motion there and then. Or if a resident needs a repair, this is logged on the system straight away and in some cases, the repair can be done by close of play that day.
“Once the information is entered, it is immediately available to the rest of the organisation. The relevant department will know that a tenant spoke to our team that morning and will know exactly what the issue is, so they can get the right support in place.”
WDH reported that mobile working had provided the opportunity to keep costs to a minimum and had increased productivity by 34 per cent.
Muirhead said, “Our field-based employees no longer need desk space. We have a hot-desking system which has reduced our overall need for office space. It also means that employees are not travelling to and from the office regularly, which has resulted in significant savings in car mileage costs.
“Our employees have made the cultural shift towards mobile technology, and their device has become a lifeline for their day-to-day job.”
