Tenant engagement isn’t new. But for some social housing providers, knowing how to best approach it isn’t always obvious. Often, there is an over-reliance on traditional methods such as template letters and phone scripts. However, the best tenant engagement strategy goes beyond this.
There are different approaches to tenant engagement. Depending on your needs and the needs of your individual tenants, you’ll have to determine which one works best for you. Here, we aim to help you make this decision…
Tenant engagement: the basics
The foundation for thinking about any behaviour is that context is key. It is integral to all behaviours. In short, providers should try to optimise their services by considering the underlying context, such as the relationship between a landlord and a tenant.
As a starting point for thinking about this relationship, it’s useful to consider what previous engagement tenants are likely to have received and where this engagement approach would fall on a transactional-relational continuum.
Which works best: a relational or transactional approach?
Typically, transactional approaches are short-term engagement methods aimed at getting action from a tenant with minimal fuss. In contrast, relational engagement methods operate with a long-term view, aimed at building relationships and acknowledging the need for a stable foundation for future engagement.
Both strategies have their respective strengths and weaknesses, and while we need to remember that context is key in choosing the best strategy for a given situation, the long-term nature of most tenancies fits more naturally with a relational approach. Not to mention, this approach often has a more beneficial impact on tenants...
Approaching strategy: The power of behavioural science
The success of relational engagement depends on having a long-term strategy. For instance, here are the key aspects of enacting a relational approach:
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Perceived fairness –
What is perceived fairness?
Research has suggested that when individuals feel they have been treated fairly, they are more likely to accept decisions, show greater compliance and behave more cooperatively. Consider how you’re speaking to your tenants and whether they would view your actions as fair. |
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Active participation –
What is active participation?
Not only does involving tenants within certain decisions force them to engage, but it often results in more reasoned decisions. This is particularly suited to situations where there is no one-size-fits-all and when the decision-maker has to engage in follow-up behaviour, such as arrears management. |
- Reciprocity –
What is reciprocity?
Think about how you frame or present information. In terms of rent collection strategies, rather than engaging with a tenant to “collect arrears payment”, we could be engaging to “help get their rent back on track”. This reciprocity – responding to a helpful act by returning the favour in some way – is inherent in engaging with tenants. |
How to create sustainable, long-term relationships with tenants
Relational engagement methods operate with a long-term view, aimed at building tenant-landlord relationships and acknowledging the need for a stable foundation for future engagement.
The success of relational engagement depends on: trust, respect, reciprocity, empathy and consistency. This thinking is based on our wider behavioural science research. Our very own in-house behavioural insights team have been looking at how this relates to the social housing sector, carrying out consultancy for social landlords. Combining the two, we can determine that a positive landlord-tenant relationship depends on: perceived fairness, active participation and reciprocity.
Here’s an in-depth look at these key relational engagement acts:
1. Perceived fairness –How can housing officers put this into practice?
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2. Active participation –How can housing officers put this into practice?
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3. Reciprocity –How can housing officers put this into practice?
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How Voicescape can help with tenant engagement
Establishing a culture fostered on perceived fairness, active participation and reciprocity is likely to create a positive relationship with tenants. Plus, it brings about clear benefits for more specific processes.
Targeted engagement campaigns for tenants can further nurture these benefits, and we have social housing management software that can help with just that. Why not get in touch below?
