Pictured above: Sinead Butters chief executive of the
Aspire Group
A leading board member of the National Housing Federation has
added her weight to the debate about lack of graduate opportunities
in housing associations, saying more openings need to be made.
Sinead Butters, who is also chief executive of the Aspire Group,
believes housing associations are in need of the research skills
provided by graduates if they are to prosper.
"Housing associations need to take a blended approach in the
staff they recruit and there must be room for graduates," she
said.
Her comments were in response to those of Amanda Marques,
Managing Director of recruitment outsourcers PPS, who said that a
lack of willingness to employ graduates by housing associations was
a "bewildering waste of money and talent."
Sinead Butters said graduates bring a wealth of knowledge and
the important research skills necessary for prosperity as the
sector becomes more and more diverse.
She added: "The research data skills that many graduates
possess, helping issues such as customer profile information, are
invaluable.
"The issues of social change, deprivation, regeneration and
impact on environments, have made a career in housing much more of
a prospect for graduates than perhaps it has been in the past.
"At one time the housing profession was never seen as a place
for graduates, but this has changed and we should welcome the
shift."
Sinead also noted that the statistical analysis skills learned
in universities are of great relevance to the modern way that
pro-active housing associations now research the needs of their
organisations.
Aspire Housing, which provides for 20,000 tenants in
Staffordshire and Cheshire, has recently recruited eight graduates
across the organisation.
Mrs Marques article provoked the response amid claims graduates
were tuning into the public sector at large but as yet there was
little evidence to support housing associations doing likewise and
she called upon universities, the Association of Graduate
Recruiters, and the housing association community to resolves
this.
Following the publishing on the internet of her views and some
disagreement Mrs Marques has since said: "My comments were not
intended to be unduly critical of the sector as a whole. At PPS we
are passionate about social housing and recognise the hard work
that housing associations dedicate to workforce development and it
was most definitely not our intention to detract from the good work
being done."