Séan McCann, Resident Involvement Officer
Tell us about yourself
I was born in Cape Town and come from a very Irish background. After studying business and public relations and then backpacking around Europe, my first job was as a PR officer for the Social Investment department of Africa's largest telecommunications company.
I moved to the UK in 1998 and joined Metropolitan Housing Partnership as a customer services officer on the Moorlands Estate in Brixton. A friend of mine who worked in housing told me about the industry, which made me think it might be something I would enjoy.
After a couple of years, I become Regional Resident Involvement Officer, empowering our residents to help us make key decisions together. This involved engaging residents to give feedback on important topics such as tackling ASB and improving the services we provide.
What do you do in your position at MHP?
After 6 years in resident involvement, I took on a secondment role at the St. Martin's Community Partnership as Socio-Economic Regeneration Worker. My job is about engaging the local community to ensure sustainability, community cohesion and economic growth.Community projects I have worked on so far include our local youth club, youth holiday programmes, a youth internet radio station, a senior citizens club, environmental sustainability projects, a family open day event and mini 'good neighbours ' residents conference, with many more projects in the pipeline!
What changes have you made at MHP?
My colleagues and I have looked for new ways to engage residents and make resident involvement as inclusive and accessible as possible. We have surveyed residents to find out how they view our services and how we could improve our Key Performance Indicators. As a result, we have been able to draw up practical service improvement plans.
I feel I have played a key role in making resident involvement non-clinical, through our open family days and our regional newsletter, Southern Peaks. To get the best out of people, participation should be fun!
Why did you choose to work for MHP?
I started tempting back in 1999 and found I really enjoyed the housing sector. Starting out in Customer Services gave me an invaluable foundation in providing a good service in housing.I choose to continue working with MHP because it is an organisation which invests in its employees. I have had great training opportunities throughout my housing career and feel I have really grown with the organisation.