Mooring alongside: Anchors in Partnership

How can anchors learn from Housing Associations about employment, skills and workforce?

By Savannah Fishel

Anchor work is much more than a set of activities or boxes to be ticked - contributing to the ever-changing needs of communities requires an evolving mindset and culture. Understanding the needs of communities means investing in local relationships - such as housing associations, community groups and local charities.

Housing associations have been working as anchor organisations for many years, investing in employment, education and skills and offering secure housing as a means of tackling inequality. The average lifespan for those sleeping rough is only 43 years for women, and stable employment is frequently interlinked with health and wellbeing. Tackling intergenerational employment and helping people find and keep a safe place to live is central to narrowing the health inequalities gap, and anchors have a huge amount to learn from local systems and organisations. 

The anchor work of housing associations was the topic of a joint webinar with HACT last month attended by more than 70 people. Experts from the housing and health sector talked through the question ‘What Can NHS Anchors Learn From Housing Associations?’ and four key areas emerged for upskilling, generating local employment and supporting the workforce as an anchor.

Find out more about the Health Anchors Learning Network here
Watch the HACT/HALN event here

To download the one-page infographic, see our ‘Tools to get started’ page or visit the HALN FutureNHS page

1. Save a seat at the table 
   Charities and community groups have a deep understanding of the local population. Invite colleagues from local organisations to participate in your boards or groups on employment and workforce. Ask local housing associations about their strategies for combating racial inequality gaps, closing the digital divide and generally improving accessibility to employment for those furthest from it. Housing Associations have extensive local knowledge and connections that the NHS can benefit from.
   

2. Make the NHS more accessible
   Co-produce and sensecheck job advertisements: get help on what language to use, how to simplify application processes and how to recruit on a values, not competency basis. Looking for transferable skills widens the recruitment pool allowing for diversity of thought and skillset. 
   

3. Partner up to recruit locally 
   Run targeted recruitment campaigns with local organisations who can promote jobs to their local networks and to the individuals most at risk of unemployment. Housing Associations are ideally positioned to promote jobs to a large number of local people and have networks that the NHS can’t always easily tap into. 
   

4. Offer tailored support and upskilling
   The skills needed for your employees will crossover with important skills for jobs outside of the NHS. Offer bespoke one-on-one support sessions on job hunting, interviewing and applications. Consider developing sector-specific upskilling programmes in collaboration with local organisations, for instance in administration or facilities management. Hiring locally is a win-win for both residents and anchor organisations as place-based recruitment tends to lead to increased job retention rates, which is a major priority for the health and social care sector.

Much like many major anchor institutions, housing associations are amongst few local employers who have remained roughly the same size during the Covid-19 pandemic. Health anchors have a real opportunity to partner with long-standing anchors like housing associations to learn from their vast experience and simultaneously work toward the agendas of social mobility, levelling up and tackling health inequalities.