Toronto Community Housing restructuring to improve frontline services to tenants

TORONTO, Sept. 13, 2019 /CNW/ - Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) is restructuring its organization to add more front-line resources and empower staff to deliver better, faster service to its 110,000 tenants.

Building on the City of Toronto's Tenants First plan, Toronto Community Housing will implement the restructuring over the next six months. The following improvements, approved by the TCHC Board, will redirect resources to frontline teams that will provide services closer to where tenants live: 

• Decentralizing decision-making away from head office and into all buildings and communities, and hiring more superintendents, cleaners and support staff. This will ensure the right people can make the right decisions for tenants right away.
  

• Creating 134 local service hubs across the city, where the prime point of contact for tenants will be the building superintendent, supported by a local team focused on building services, tenancy management and community supports. This will make sure tenants get help for issues in their unit or building when they need it.
  
  
• Investing $5 million a year to expand hours of service to cover evenings and weekends based on community needs and bring more services into buildings and local hubs. This is about making sure we have strong frontline services.
  

• Empowering superintendents to make service decisions at the local level, so that tenants can have meaningful conversations about their homes that don't get lost in process. This is about cutting red tape and putting our tenants first.

To support these changes, TCHC is creating three new regional offices across the city each led by a General Manager with responsibility for the complete spectrum of tenant services. 

Quotes

"Our plan is about recognizing that the best service is provided by staff on the ground who know our tenants and understand their needs. That's why we are empowering our local teams to make more decisions on-site, and deliver the quality service our tenants deserve."  

?TCHC President and CEO Kevin Marshman

"The restructuring plan is a huge step forward in putting tenants first. This is an investment in frontline services to help residents while reducing layers of red tape and bureaucracy. I look forward to supporting Kevin Marshman and his team in implementing these changes so that TCHC tenants can receive the quality services and supports they deserve."

?Mayor John Tory 

"Toronto Community Housing tenants deserve to know that Canada's largest social housing provider is making the most of its resources, while providing support services that are simple, accessible and responsive to local needs."

?Deputy Mayor Ana Bailâo

"As a TCHC tenant, I welcome these improvements to bring services closer to our homes and make it easier for us to connect with staff and get timely decisions about the services we need. It's going to make a big difference for our communities."

?TCHC tenant board director Ubah Farah

Backgrounder 

Improving frontline services to TCHC tenants

Under a restructuring plan approved by the board on September 12, 2019, Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) will add more front-line resources and empower local decision-making to provide tenants with better, faster, more responsive service.

Integrated tenant services  

Delivering quality service to tenants is TCHC's most important objective. In the past TCHC's service delivery model has been organized into two distinct divisions. Our plan merges both groups together to close service gaps and establish clear, common lines of accountability. 

Under the new structure, the former Asset Management and Tenant and Community Services groups have been merged together under the leadership of a Chief Operating Officer. This new unified team is now responsible for delivering the full spectrum of tenant services, including building services, tenancy management and community supports.

Building and community teams 

The best service is always delivered by teams close to the customer and who are empowered and supported to make quality service their priority. Our plan has been designed to empower front line employees and will provide them with the training, resources, and supports they need to deliver better service to tenants.   

Under the new structure, tenant-facing staff will be part of local teams based in 134 buildings and community hubs. These local teams will be empowered to make more customer service decisions on-site, instead of being caught up in lengthy process.    

The building superintendent of each service hub, already an integral part of the service we provide to tenants, will function as their prime point of contact. Superintendents will be supported by a team fully equipped to provide the quality services tenants deserve. 

Three regional offices 

To further its commitment to bring services and decision-making closer to tenants, TCHC will decentralize many service functions currently based at head office, into three regional offices across the city. Each regional office will be led by a General Manager reporting to the newly appointed Chief Operating Officer, Sheila Penny. Each General Manager will oversee teams that support and manage service hub staff across their region.

A New Chief Operating Officer

Toronto Community Housing has appointed Sheila Penny as its new Chief Operating Officer. In re-establishing the role of Chief Operating Officer, we are bringing together all elements of tenant service under a common structure to ensure that service to tenants is delivered consistently, efficiently and with accountability.  

Sheila is a highly experienced executive leader, with a track record of guiding diverse teams to deliver capital construction and facilities operations. She brings more than 20 years of public sector experience to the role, in operations, design and construction, energy management, real estate, planning, sustainability and redevelopment.

About Toronto Community Housing 

Toronto Community Housing (www.torontohousing.ca) is Canada's largest social housing provider. Toronto Community Housing provides homes for nearly 60,000 low- and moderate-income households in neighbourhoods across the city. Toronto Community Housing is wholly owned by the City of Toronto and its 2,100 buildings represent a $10-billion public asset. 

SOURCE Toronto Community Housing Corporation