Interview: Places for People, Digital Technology Leaders Awards finalist

"Places for People believe in putting people first, which includes empowering and developing its employees."

We're in an age where technology is far more than just a productivity tool: it's absolutely critical to business survival. That makes the people behind the technology more important than ever.

The Digital Technology Leaders Awards occupy a special place among Computing events. Rather than the platforms and tools, this event is dedicated to the professionals driving technology forwards at the leading edge of IT.

Our finalists this year - to be announced at a live ceremony in London on the 6th July - have done incredible work at a crucial time for the tech industry, and deserve recognition.

One of those finalists is affordable homes-led property management firm Places for People, which has reached the shortlist for not just one or two, but four categories: Most Successful Project in the Pandemic; Best Place to Work in Digital - Large Organisations; Project Team of the Year; and CTO of the Year.

We talked to Dean Garvey-North, Technology Officer at Places for People, about what makes his company stand out from the crowd.

Dean's varied role sees him advocating new technology ideas, managing colleagues, and ensuring that the organisation's IT strategies are in step with its objectives as an organisation - ultimately to create new homes and communities that are sustainable and accessible for all.

Computing: Please provide some background on your company for our readers.

Dean Garvey-North: Places for People is a leading affordable homes-led placemaker, creating and managing thriving communities that customers are proud to call home and are sustainable - economically, socially and environmentally.

The organisation's award-winning placemaking, property investment, development and management companies are active throughout the UK, and currently have:

• A portfolio of more than 219,000 owned or managed homes,
• Over 100 leisure facilities,
• Over 9,000 colleagues, assets of £4.8 billion,
• Plans to create a pipeline of circa 6,000 affordable homes over the next 10 years through its partnership with Homes England.

Beyond its core work of creating new homes and communities, Places for People is also committed to doing good through its work, and last year raised £165 million in social value, making a difference to customers and communities across the UK.

CTG: What makes you different from other technology companies?

DGN: Places for People is not a technology company, but a business using technology to improve the experiences of its colleagues and customers - something that is enabled by the IT team being at the heart of the business - a team which, in 2021, was crowned the 'best team to work for' in the organisation's internal annual survey.

Places for People believe in putting people first, which includes empowering and developing its employees. The IT team is an example of this approach. During the pandemic, the quick fix answer would have been to bring in external contractors; we were completely against such a move as there was huge potential in the team. We began a campaign of training and investment which would instil self-belief in our colleagues.

These are some points of differentiation:

Digital champions

At Places for People, all 9,000+ colleagues are included in digital decisions thus ensuring maximum advocacy as changes are implemented.

One way in which this is achieved is in the IT team's establishment of "Digital Champions", a network of about 260 excited colleagues across the business who advocate and test new technology systems and help train colleagues to use them.

A strong leader

I am part of a team of three heads, who lead Places for People Group IT. In the last two years I have curated a professional IT environment which promotes investment in people, skilled career development and a commitment to pioneering innovative, contemporary digital systems and ideas.

The team's efforts are recognised externally too, with colleagues sharing their knowledge and experiences by contributing to best practice. In the past year, colleagues have been finalists in a number of technology awards and invited to speak at major technology brand conferences, including Amazon's annual cloud conference, Google's housing event, the Gartner CIO Leadership Forum and Housing Technology magazine conferences.

Innovations

As such a highly skilled and empowered team, Places for People IT colleagues have come together to deliver stellar business and customer service; this has been particularly evident over the past two years, with the team adapting during the pandemic, introducing new initiatives to meet changing needs.

Improvements have helped support colleagues' wellbeing. Just one week into the first lockdown, the IT team migrated all colleagues to Microsoft 365, enabling Places for People start the 'Together' initiative on its intranet and Microsoft Teams, keeping colleagues connected and giving them access to new resources.

Helping customers through digital innovation

Places for People helped tackle isolation and digital exclusion resulting from the pandemic. During lockdown, the company supported vulnerable customers, ensuring that they could still connect and access services such as Universal Credit, training and job applications. The IT team connected Wi-Fi across more than 40 sites and repurposed old IT equipment to donate hundreds of iPads and Amazon Alexas to customers. In addition to this, the IT team worked with their connectivity partner and the Places for People Social Value team to donate hundreds of SIM cards loaded with free calls, text and data to those in need.

Customers have also been positively impacted by the IT team's work - a move to digital lettings and remote viewings of Places for People properties during the pandemic enabled more than 2,800 customers to move home by the end of the last financial year.

The IT team has also created systems to allow customers access to digital services - the take up of which increased 25% in the past year with over 32,200 customers now signed up.

CTG: What one company achievement in the last 12 months are you most proud of?

DGN: It would be difficult to single out one specific project, but at a top-level it is the internal and external recognition that the IT team at Places for People has received that has stood out. This team's achievements have grown significantly in the past year, with 163 projects delivered - a 186% increase on last year. The IT team is an integral part of the organisation that is now being nominated for external awards and recognised for its growth - all against the backdrop of the pandemic.

The most notable of my achievements are my efforts in establishing this appreciation of the IT team and its role in the wider business. I have invested in colleagues, bringing in tech leaders and external partners to help upskill them and make a significantly positive impact on personal development. It is a process that has boosted morale, with colleagues now more involved within the wider organisation and positively impacting the lives of our customers.

CTG: What are you working on this year?

DGN: Places for People is continuing to invest in colleagues and maintain a great working environment. Colleagues are involved in innovative new ideas that are piquing their interest daily; recent initiatives include an expansion into product management.

The team has also delivered revolutionary new software to improve connectivity across the organisation. Many colleagues are not based in an office with a large team of maintenance and front line workers who manage the company's portfolio of homes, digitally enabling our front line teams and keeping them connected is key to driving better customer service.

One of the main projects the IT team will focus on is the scaling of Places for People's CRM Salesforce platform; this move will be a huge driver for the business and integral to its wider technology strategy.

The increased use of Salesforce will help Places for People be more people focused and comes following significant investment that will allow for adoption across the organisation - driving efficiencies to help colleagues do their jobs better. It is projected that the use of Salesforce at Places for People will increase by 150% as a result of this project.

CTG: Why are events like the Digital Technology Leaders Awards important to the IT Industry?

DGN: It is imperative that IT, digital and technology professionals are celebrated in this increasingly digital era. Technology is at the heart of most businesses, and it is important to celebrate that, bringing more advocates in and helping increase adoption of new digital platforms in businesses.

It is also important that teams and individuals are appropriately recognised; this is a sector largely filled with unassuming people who are not used to shouting about the work that they do. It's really important that we come together and celebrate the achievements of all of our peers in this sector.