Housed: The Shared Living Podcast
Sarah Canning and Deenie Lee of The Property Marketing Strategists have teamed up with Daniel Smith of Student Housing Consultancy to discuss the latest news, views and insights in the shared living sector.
Each episode they will be delving into a wide variety of subjects and asking the questions which aren't often asked.
This podcast is a must for anyone working in Student Accommodation, BTR, Co-Living, Operational Real Estate or Shared Living.
Housed: The Shared Living Podcast
Cultivating Tomorrow's Leaders: Building Bridges Across PBSA featuring Kelly-anne Watson, Romy Levin and Jon Badge
The final episode in this special mini series with The Class Foundation and we are asking “How do we cultivate the PBSA sector leaders of tomorrow?” Dan and Sarah are joined by Kelly-anne Watson of The Class Foundation as well as two brilliant leaders from the sector marketing expert Romy Levin and Jon Badge of We are Homes for Students to discuss:
- An introduction to community hubs
- How community hubs are creating tomorrow's PBSA leaders by breaking down silos and sharing knowledge across Europe
- How we can professionalise student living as a legitimate career path
- The future vision of community hubs; including geographic spotlights, resource sharing, and potential standalone events.
Those who are interested in learning more about what The Class Conference is all about, or want to book their tickets can visit our/the website : www.theclassfoundation.com/conference
A huge thank you to the sponsor of this mini series, MyStudentHalls - find your ideal student accommodation across the UK.
Hello everyone and welcome to this very special episode of How's the Shared Living podcast. Today is the final episode in our special three-part mini-series in partnership with the Class Foundation. Today we will be discussing how we can cultivate the leaders of tomorrow. But firstly, introductions. I'm Sarah Canning from the Property Marketing Strategist.
Speaker 2:I'm Dan Smith from Resi Consultancy.
Speaker 1:And we are without Deanie today, but we do have some very special guests. A warm welcome to Kelly-Anne from the Class Foundation Marketing Industry Leader Romy Levin and John Badge from Homes for Students. Hello everyone, morning Hi. Before we start, though, let's hear from our mini-series sponsor, my Student Halls.
Speaker 3:Housed is sponsored by Spotlight Boost on mystudenthallscom.
Speaker 1:Use. Spotlight Boost by my Student Halls is definitely a resource all PBSA operators should be looking at over those final few weeks of the letting season, so make sure you get in touch with Dan Roberts and the team there. So anybody that's been following this mini-series will have heard from the last couple of episodes from Kellyanne, and you thoroughly shared with us the challenges and potential solutions to support the growing demand of good quality housing for students across Europe, and today we'll be discussing how the sector can do that and who are the leaders that can make that happen. I think you made it very clear that enough talking. We need action now and people that can be accountable for that action. And some of our audience might be familiar with the community hubs you've cultivated at the class conference over the last few years, so can you share more about them and why they were created? Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4:Thank you, sarah, and thank you for those that have stuck with us over the three episodes. I do love to talk, as most people know, but I hope you actually gained something from it. But I'm really excited to talk about the community hubs. This came from a real gap that we keep seeing in the PBSA sector. There's so much talent and knowledge within the industry, but it's often struck into silos and people kind of stay in their own roles in their own companies and even within their own countries. So while senior leaders often get the opportunity to go to conferences, networking and move between big brands, we don't seem to be doing much for the rising talent. So we risk losing brilliant people simply because we don't have the space for them to grow or connect.
Speaker 4:So we created the community hubs. They are exclusive to our partners and they focus on key areas like marketing, operations, hr, asset management and investment. So the idea was pretty simple real conversations between people doing the work. It's about creating opportunity for leadership. We now have community leaders like Romy and John who we're going to introduce a little bit later who moderate these sessions but also guide the discussions. So, yeah, they're not just from one organisation either, they're not from senior roles. They're just people who have stepped up and want to take the conversation to another level. So it's a chance to grow skills in moderation, public speaking, sector leadership in a real supportive environment. So these spaces are about sharing ideas, solving problems and learning from one another. It's not just the personal growth, but it's also about supporting the whole industry to move forward. So for us at the class, it gives insight into what's really going on across the sector and over time it'll help us build a stronger, connected, more future-proof industry. I guess.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean we've definitely seen that through kind of working with you on the community hubs over the last few years. It's so rare to see an organisation that I think embraces not just people. We're not talking about one demographic, we're not talking about young people or under 30s or under 25s, or it's not a token, I guess it's. You know, you're not putting you know a badge on it necessarily. You're kind of saying that these are people that wouldn't necessarily normally get the opportunity to be exposed to these kind of conversations and networking opportunities and to kind of do something about it. Really, I guess it's the work that you've been doing with these community hubs, kelly-ann. Have you seen other organizations kind of step up as well, or do you still feel like you're standing out well?
Speaker 4:first and foremost, the only badge that we've been putting uh, that's been put on. It is john badge but, uh, very good no
Speaker 4:I have seen other organizations that are that are doing really good stuff. I think paddy is a good example. He's doing lots of stuff about kind of who are the next generation of industry leaders and how are people that are coming from non-traditional backgrounds going into real estate. I think that's a really great initiative. I've seen Soraya, for example, leading on like women's networks as well, which has been pretty phenomenal with GSL. There's conversations that I've had also with other kind of well-positioned industry organizations such as Unipol that are looking at creating training sessions for leadership.
Speaker 4:I've also spoken to many universities IE University, lse that have really spoken about their real estate courses and actually how a lot of like real estate societies and courses don't actually really have like a PPSA specific module, for example. And then, finally, we've got like the Developers Club. I'm one of their trustees as well for their foundation, so they are also supporting vulnerable people who need housing. But on the other side of that, they have who are the SME developers, the rising stars in industry, and how can they support them by creating networks, training and opportunities for them to basically thrive. So there's lots of things going on, but let me tell you now a lot of this is based in the UK. I don't really see much going on in the greater European scale and, as you said, sarah, they're very specific to certain type of qualities in cohorts, so whether it's just for women, or whether it's just for young people, or so on. So this is an opportunity for anybody that wants to develop their leadership skills while growing their network. So, yeah, I think that's where the opportunity lies.
Speaker 2:It's a great opportunity as well, I think, with Europe it's a really interesting one.
Speaker 2:All too often in the UK we sort of we say like it's the UK and Europe, when actually every single country has something individual, like in terms of the BTR or the multifamily or the PBSA and the universities, and I think there are some bodies out there.
Speaker 2:But that's where the Class Foundation really comes in and I feel, and I think most people in the industry would feel, that it sort of embodies all of Europe, to be completely honest. So I think that's where these community hubs are a great opportunity to learn a bit from other people throughout Europe. And the one that I came to the other day, the marketing hub, that had plenty of people from all over Europe on it and that's really interesting to get those perspectives, because we're so siloed, I think in PBSA in particular a lot of the time and we need to take more learnings from other countries, from other regions, from other industries as well. So you know, the more hospitality can bleed into that, the better, I think. So, yeah, keep up the good work, but great that there are some other bodies out there in particular in the UK.
Speaker 1:And on that topic, I think now's a good time to bring in Romy and John, who have been, you know, spearheading and leading some of these community hubs. So, romy, I'll go to you first. What's your role within the community hubs for the class foundation?
Speaker 3:I'm fortunate I've been both a participant and a guest moderator, so I was very honored to be asked to help moderate a session. They're incredibly engaging discussions. So the kind of main purpose of moderating is to help facilitate discussions, encourage people to share best practices and, most importantly, listen very, very closely about what others are experiencing across the sector so that we can bring more people into that dialogue and expand the discussion. Exactly to your point, dan. A couple of sessions ago there was a real focus on France and that was quite a nuance for a lot of us on the call, because maybe we have experience in the UK and Spain, but that was a really new point of view and it was amazing to have people working in the French market come on board and share things we hadn't thought of or ask questions about our experience. So, participant and moderator.
Speaker 1:And John, how about you? I've?
Speaker 5:had the honour of being able to moderate the operations group a few times actually and hopefully will continue to do so for a bit longer.
Speaker 5:I find it hugely rewarding as a moderator. As Romy rightly says, we're here to encourage and tease out some of the discussion, some of the best practice and sharing of ideas has been great, and it's really nice to do that in a kind of non-competitive environment. I think we all at times will be competitors in our sector, but one thing that I think these groups do is they kind of enable kind of open dialogue, which I think has been really powerful and the people joining them. There's all sorts of talent and, as dan mentioned also, we've seen, you know, in the operations group alone we've seen people from at least five or six different countries at least across europe and everyone brings something to the table. So it's been really great just to listen to people's views and it interestingly, despite often being a little bit UK kind of heavy, it's great to hear that everyone's facing pretty similar challenges that people can explore and that's only going to help.
Speaker 5:Kind of sector, cohesion, I'd say.
Speaker 1:What you just said, john, about kind of non-competitiveness, I think is really really key. I mean, I've been in the sector for about a million years and I think that it's been really unhealthy at times how closed people have been to sharing things. And you know, we're generally, you know, in cycles going through the same thing at the same time, albeit from a different angle, and there's people that have been in the sector a long time and people that are new and people that have come from other sectors as well. So we, you know like hats off to you both for kind of trying to break those barriers down and encourage people to open up.
Speaker 5:I'm a huge believer in transferable skills and I believe that PBSA needs to continue to bring people in from other sectors that bring those new ideas and it's crazy to try and keep all those new ideas to yourself the more we can share best practice and new ways to solve the challenges we have as a sector, that's only going to benefit everyone in the longer run. I'd say.
Speaker 3:And, I think, the people who are willing to join these sessions and collaborate. We know that sharing a bit of insight isn't everything. That isn't a competitive advantage. It's still in the executions.
Speaker 3:There's absolutely no harm in sharing something you've learned, or asking for feedback on a challenge and seeing how other people are approaching it, because, exactly as john said, it's amazing we all do very similar things but we approach things very differently. And there are a lot of things we do in a similar fashion but so many different things that we do very, very differently, whether that's the due to the size of team resource, people's backgrounds, like you said, john, if they come from another industry. So it's always, I feel like, frantically, whether you're a participant or a moderator, you're taking notes, because there's so much inspiration that comes from these different points that people are sharing. And, politically, because it's from a range of different stakeholders in the organization who aren't the C-suite in the organization who aren't the c-suite. There's a lot of different perspectives to be had, based on which team they're in, what level of the organization they're in, what level of their professional journey they're in. So it's hugely insightful and lots of kind of light bulb moments of.
Speaker 3:I really want to take that away and try it. Have we thought about implementing this in the same way? How are they measuring that? Tell me more. I'm struggling with this. It's a really kind of collaborative discussion and I think it's because people are coming to the table with a fresh perspective of exactly like you said, sarah. This isn't about competition anymore. It can't be. We're more interested in learning and doing things better than we are about remaining siloed and cut off.
Speaker 5:Romy, I think just picking up on that point around kind of siloed, and the benefit of sharing that kind of fresh views or fresh ideas, or just this is how I solved a problem.
Speaker 5:There are challenges around, I guess the maturity or the cohesion we have in different countries around Europe. Certainly, you know we find solutions. Sometimes we talk about solutions that are, but that are experienced in the UK that there isn't maybe resource or the ability to deliver, maybe in country. We've seen people run and book courses in the UK from Italy just to get exposure to a certain type of training mental health, first aid, for example. So I think there's, there are sector challenges that we were certainly on a journey to try and solve. But just talking about stuff and being aware that there are things that exist can only raise awareness and help maybe those things be brought into the rest of Europe or vice versa. We can certainly learn in the UK from some of the other countries and how they're doing things as well, which is often probably a little bit less restrictive or structured versus our models, but it's definitely a great forum to share those that energy and ideas hell yeah.
Speaker 2:and to what extent have you seen it change over time in terms of the, the way that people are sharing information, because the way I see it is getting you know, it's getting tougher to fill beds, I think in certain locations, obviously, with different areas of maturity, especially in the uk, that I would would have thought leads to more people becoming a bit more secretive, a bit more focused on their competitive advantage. But it feels like there's actually a bit of a step change, especially with some of the work you're doing in these community hubs, that people are actually being more open, they're sharing best practice. And is that a result of? Is that just a natural evolution, or is that a result of more focus on the student and wellbeing, et cetera? What do you think?
Speaker 4:I think it's a little bit of both really.
Speaker 4:I also think that the industry although despite what maybe many of the agents and some of the others have been saying about this kind of optimistic view and everything I think actually on the ground a lot of people have had quite difficult times recovering post COVID as well, particularly, and I think a lot of people are just trying to find their feet. I think a lot of people are overworked at the moment and then don't really have these opportunities to kind of grow. Then the growth of that kind of the BTR sector as well, and a lot of talent leaving, leaving PBSA, I think there's. You know, I think this is the reason why we're seeing some of these things. And then with the pressures of being able to deliver fantastic, for example, wellbeing and social programmes, everything's just been intensified. So what I've seen through the evolution of the actual community hubs is at the beginning it was about really maybe complaining a little bit more and also a lot of people either not getting involved or and then some quite dominant speakers just basically identifying some of the issues.
Speaker 4:So I'll give an example here.
Speaker 4:So in our HR and people hub it kind of started off by talking about basically no was no talent and that it's actually a very difficult role and they don't have many opportunities to kind of connect with each other, or that they basically were talking about how all their job descriptions, for example, were not fit for purpose anymore and now evolved into okay, let's sit down if the job roles are not fit for purpose, like what can we do as a sector to rethink those job titles and role structures?
Speaker 4:And I think that then was a really positive evolution. After having three online check-ins where they now started to get to know each other, they've got a LinkedIn page where they can connect with each other. We're also now looking at implementing WhatsApp groups, which was feedback from these sessions that they want to continue to engage with each other. So I think we're seeing the evolution of like from problem and complaining into more solution, working together. And I think that comes from what Romy and John were saying in terms of feeling like it's a safe space, but then also being like actually we're better together, from learning from each other.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a really good point about kind of fostering positive conversations. I think you know, certainly in my experience, when you do get people together you have to kind of break through that, that kind of moany bit about you know, about their jobs. It's you know, it's natural, isn't it?
Speaker 4:Because that's your kind of shared experience a lot of the time you know, but it's down to the moderators, like Romy and John, to kind of re-divert the questions and kind of, you know, get over that to get positive outcome out of it. Yeah, but there's also there's real benefit in giving people a space to really complain and be real about it, because at the end of the day, there's nobody really within your organisation that you can just say these things out loud to, because you're seen as just get on with your job. So creating those spaces where they can do that, then feeling safe, heard and seen and having that kind of relationship with the other stakeholders that are in that group, to then transform that into solutions, is really powerful.
Speaker 1:That's such a good point. Kellyanne, romy and John, kind of what? Have you found any challenges in moderating the sessions? You do. I mean, I've been in Romy's sessions and you know, I know that you do a great job, but it's not easy. You know you're bringing together some people that don't know each other. You're bringing them across Europe, you know, in a kind of, you know, a virtual space really initially. So how do you both find that?
Speaker 3:I think I'm really fortunate in that I've been remote working for the best part of five or six years now, so I kind of thrive in that awkward space where people aren't quite sure what to say, and I think trying to set everyone at ease and teasing things out of people one of the best things I think about starting the sessions the way we do there's a there's a lot of people on them. Now these sessions are growing exponentially. But getting an intro in and vaguely understanding where people are coming from in terms of their geography, their team helps you to kind of then say okay, we're talking about, for example, ai. We've got a couple of digital experts on the call. Who are they? Can we ask would you like to share something and make it not? You're not calling anyone out to say something, but offering people the opportunity to share if they want, because we also have to be cognizant of it is representative of lots of people across Europe. There might be a lag in terms of technology. You need to give people a moment just to digest the question.
Speaker 5:I think. In addition to that, romy, I think one of the challenges sometimes when these groups are getting bigger is to and as a moderator, is to recognise when to try and tease something out with someone Particularly. Some people will sit there very quietly and are content to do so. They have something to add that just sometimes needs a bit of a prod or a nudge and particularly if you know that person from a certain location or certain business and you know something about them, you can absolutely try and encourage them to bring some of their expertise and knowledge to the table.
Speaker 5:I think one of the challenges we do need is we need more engagement from senior members in our sector to push, push, stroke, help people engage with things like this. You know, there's certainly some businesses that are really well represented, you know, and they do way above and beyond, and sometimes you're on a call there's eight people from one business, don't you think it's fantastic to see that level of engagement? There are some market absence absences, I'd say, from some businesses that I know have got plenty of people. I know look, look, there's ambition. They just maybe haven't. Either that hasn't filtered its way through, or we just need to find a better way to engage them.
Speaker 5:I'm hoping there's not you know they're not actively discouraging people. I don't think they would ever do that, but I think it's just an awareness piece from the right senior people trying to make it available for other people to spend some time engaging. I suppose.
Speaker 4:Yeah, john, I can say that is absolutely the case. We are engaging with lots of investors, operators, developers, all types of organizations from the industry. We're telling them about it, but there definitely is some organizations that see more value in this or are prioritizing this. I would like to see this as an action from the sector in terms of seeing the real value in that you know, we're not trying to sell something in this space Like this is a real. It's a real opportunity for them to be able to grow and thrive. I started a young professionals network in my early twenties when I lived in Leeds, young professionals network in my early 20s when I lived in Leeds, and I learned so much from other people in that, from different industries and so on, in different remits at different levels, whether it was mentorship, building kind of different, strong, resilient networks, which I still use today. So I'm hoping that that can be used in the same way in these networks as well.
Speaker 2:John homes for students are obviously the second biggest player in PBSA and obviously across BTR. I know you've got about 55,000 beds or so probably more now since yesterday. It wouldn't surprise me. But how much value are you seeing in these sessions? Because I think that I think we have a lot of smaller and mid-range players who are looking for knowledge sharing and I see them at all the events. And then actually I think that some of the bigger players are actually underrepresented. And is that because, firstly, they're so busy or is it because they're under-resourced, potentially? Or is it just because they're just getting on doing their own thing? They don't. They're not really that bothered about knowledge sharing so much or potentially learning, learning from the wider industry. I don't know what you think.
Speaker 5:I think there's a I guess it's not a single answer to that. Uh, is everyone in a business like hfs? Is everyone busy all the time? Of course we are. You know, we are a very fast-paced environment. We don't stand still for a day. We might say we probably have more beds tomorrow than we do today. But I can only talk about hfs from my perspective. But I think it's something we really strongly do believe in these hubs and I've got a couple of other colleagues who are, you know, sitting kind of the same level as I do, who are, who have been involved or have attended and are keen to continue to do so.
Speaker 5:I think for me the opportunity is to now. We want to push forward our you know, the next wave of talent I suppose We've got. We've just recently completed our first cohort of our of an internal progression program. It's a three-tiered one, but we've just completed that and some of the people who've come through that are looking to take that next step. And these are, these are the sort of environments where those people can drop, put themselves into. It just might need to be a signposting to know they're there but they can put themselves into and still continue to learn and develop and and absorb more knowledge sector, you know, and all the other things that are going on. I just can't see any negatives in doing that. So any business that can't make a small amount of time for their people to kind of integrate into things like this, I think it's a very short-sighted view. So it's something we're really keen to do a lot more of.
Speaker 3:Completely agree, john. You need the leadership to champion the people in the business. That should be engaging in these forums and inspiring them and feeling like they get value or added value from working for that employer, because that employer is championing them to be involved in external initiatives and giving them opportunities to be heard in the industry heard in the industry. There's so much to be said from all of the extracurriculars you can offer people to engage them and make them feel valued day to day and keep them motivated and I'm so lucky to have been led by saraya communello and I can pass that on to people in my team like if you champion the people and who work with you and work for you, no, no bad can come from that, can it? You're encouraging them to go out there. You're increasing business value.
Speaker 3:If you can create a next generation of networking and that's one of my favorite things from the community hub so far is that you've created a brand new network without the kind of awkwardness that someone in a more junior position might feel about walking into a huge conference room and trying to approach an individual and start a conversation. The other day other day to your point, john I walked up to david chatterton and said hi, I've only seen you on the screen in the community hub. Great to meet you. And immediately now we've got a personal rapport. I know about his, his life, his background, his work, his team, and that was all from having had this introduction and this kind of virtual engagement in the hub you have no doubt you know all about dave chatterton's life engagement in the hub.
Speaker 2:You have no doubt you know all about dave chaderton's life. He, he loves the chat, but oh, he is such a fantastic industry leader. And I think, kelly, ann, what I was going to say is that you you've curated some, some brilliant industry leaders, but also you're bringing through the next level of talent as well. And I think that's what, as you said, romey, someone like suraya and this isn't like a, you know, a Nido Lovin or anything like that, this is very much, you know, focused on that talent Someone like Soraya is able to bring that through and I think, you know, being on the marketing hub with her moderating the other day, it was so accessible for absolutely everyone. She involved everyone.
Speaker 2:I actually wrapped up to that, thinking that it was just going to be effectively like a bit like a webinar, and then, next thing, I know I'm on camera in my gym kit and, you know, suddenly I've got to introduce myself, so which, you know I don't have too much of a problem doing, of course, is more about shutting me up most of the time, but but I think that's where it was. It was just it felt so inclusive and so accessible and I'd certainly encourage everyone to get involved. But yeah, kellyann, just a bit of kudos, I think, to the class foundation there for bringing through the next generation of leaders within all areas of the business, you know, whether operations, sales, marketing, finance, fm, esg, whatever it might be, I think the more that we can champion those who have been before and then bring through the next level of talent, I think that's that's, you know, such a clear mandate for the class foundation.
Speaker 1:I think I mean, I've worked in corporate environments for a lot of my my career and then have become obviously a freelancer and and self-employed and I always say that if I'd given myself the time, or the businesses that I'd worked for had given me the time to learn more when I was in those corporate roles, I'd have been so much better at my job, like I just, you know you're on the conveyor belt and you know, post COVID, I guess we're in a situation where we have webinars and we have podcasts, which we didn't have for, you know, for most of my career previous to that.
Speaker 1:So the only way to kind of get learning experience is to be sent on a formal learning course which, as we know, in this sector there isn't really anything that's specific to us.
Speaker 1:You know, and I knew that there were conferences out there, but I was never invited to the conferences because only the development and acquisitions team were invited to the conferences.
Speaker 1:So I just think it's kind of chalk and cheese now, thank goodness, like we're in a position now where these opportunities are here and I can't emphasize enough that, you know, as somebody who does a lot of interviewing for clients and a lot of talent spotting is. You know, my first kind of thing is okay, you're in your job, but what else do you do? You know, how can you prove that you have this passion and this interest and this drive? And you know, if they say that they've attended webinars and they've been to conferences and they've listened to podcasts and they read blogs, then that's a massive tick for me, because it just it just shows that either you or your industry have kind of carved that space and time out for you to kind of, you know, accelerate your, your learning so I fell into student accommodation I think most people say that back in 2015 and and I had to make it all up as I went along I had, I had support.
Speaker 2:it was more kind of scaffolding to kind of work within, I suppose, but I I had to make it all up as I went along. I made quite a few mistakes and I didn't feel like I really had the support of the industry. No one knew me. It was very much. You know the old boys network at the time. It's definitely not the old boys network anymore, that's for sure, and so I think again that's where these sessions can just make it more inclusive, that shared learning is absolutely key.
Speaker 2:But back to that point how can we make sure that student living can really be seen as a career? Because, like I said, I fell into it. I wasn't actually told by the recruitment consultant that was trying to get me away from the Bombay Sapphire distillery, where I previously was, what industry it was. She said I'm not going to tell you what industry it is, just turn up, go and meet this MD and then see what you think. And that was my first induction into PBSA. So, yeah, how can we make sure that student living really is seen as a career. I think, dan, you're right.
Speaker 5:Nearly everybody I know that I've ever come across has fallen into PBSA. To be honest, most people don't even know it's a sector. You know, I try and explain to my friends sometimes what do you do for a living and they'll always they always like, oh is that a thing? But you know, I think the reality is we have to professionalise. You know our sector. We have to find a way to maybe create that. I think Kellyanne touched on it earlier.
Speaker 5:You know recognised qualifications in our sector. You know we don't really have that. No matter what you study at university or affiliated kind of studies, there's nothing that you can say that's recognised across. You know our industry as a whole. We've got aspirations at home for students to grow the programme we've launched over the next five years and hopefully work in partnership with the university to get that accredited kind of accredited status so that when someone looks at a CV and sees you know, completed this course, that's something across the sector that will carry weight and that can only work in our favor, for our teams but also for the sector.
Speaker 5:And I think you know you want qualifications to be recognised across our businesses, not just. You know we've got an internal progression programme. You've graduated great. That works for us within our four walls. I think you will lose some great people as part of that process, but you're also going to gain them, and I just think you have to do that. As a sector, as a group, we have to find ways to explore, push at those doors and really create an opportunity.
Speaker 5:It doesn't always have to be linear either. So I think you know some of the the rate that homes of students has grown over the last five years. We've seen so many people move from department to different departments. Not everyone's just stepping up into the boss's shoes when they move on. You know, I think I'm a big believer in developing and giving opportunities to people to explore new direction. I suppose, and one of the things we've seen out of our recent journey is more and more people actually recognising that's something I'm really passionate about, that's something I'd like to do more of and, you know, trying to put themselves in that space. You've just got to give people the opportunity. So it's a long way to go, I'd say, but there needs to be a will and a want from senior people within the sector to get their heads together and work out what's needed. But, in all honesty, there's definitely opportunity there, I think.
Speaker 3:It's really inspiring to hear that that is still going on at Homes for Students, because one of the concerns in the back of my mind is I came up in an internship program after having lived in a building. I don't really hear much about that anymore. Is that still out there? Is that widespread? It's certainly not been happening where I've come from in any kind of robust fashion and I think there's a lot of oh it's just accommodation kind of narrative around what this product is or what this sector is.
Speaker 3:But it should be kind of repositioned as a lifestyle sector and it's transformational. It's a bridge between hospitality, wellness, education. I mean, to your point, John, if there can be accreditation and that's an active line of work, that's incredible and it's super interdisciplinary, Like if we need people to innovate because we are so closely competitive and there is a limit to the product that we currently provide. There's such a window of opportunity for people to go in to other remits around design, psychology, sustainability for sure, different types of technology, whether that's digital, whether that's in situ in a residence. There's all this opportunity that we don't currently leverage, but we're aware of the challenges that exist and talent could fill that and it's the talent we can foster that live with us.
Speaker 2:I'm going to say it before I get a phone call from Aaron or Robin at Yugo. But Yugo is, 38% of their staff are students that have other are either currently living with them or that they have lived with them. So it is a huge, yeah, it's a huge number there. So that's really very much ingrained into into yugo and I find that really interesting because I think there is there's such an opportunity. But what? What do we need to give them? What do we need to give students to show them that or you know, our residents or or anyone, that that there is that opportunity there. It's not just a case of the roles, I don't think, but maybe it is also about the fact that we need those availabilities there.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we have such an opportunity with student staff. I think I can imagine I don't know the numbers for other organisations I used to work at Unipol Such a high proportion of those staff then came through the reins. One thing that I used to why I love this industry as well is what you were saying, romy is there's so many opportunities to do so many different things within the organization. Like. I'm a perfect example of that. I studied events and business. I was not going to get into real estate, let's be honest.
Speaker 4:I then went and worked for an organization where I worked on policy, where my CEO decided to put me in the investor meetings. I then would go to all of the pre-application for new developments, help and sit with the design team about future-proofing and designing these buildings. Then I ran a full wellbeing programme, experience programme that I had 35 members of staff for across 16 different sites. I think there's so much opportunity there and, like, sometimes you're not defined by a job role and I also think where training schemes, such as what John just mentioned about learning about the whole business at a general level, is also something that could be a huge opportunity for the sector as well. So, although the community hubs are remit driven. I think there's an opportunity to bring all of these cohorts of people together to learn from each other as well.
Speaker 3:And I think it keeps coming back to leadership. Who champions you, kellyanne? Your CEO put you in those meetings Higher up. People in the organization noted your talent, your skills, your interests and found ways to deliver a pathway to you. There's so many different types of training that I think is needed A to be in the 21st century across the top levels of business, but B to ensure that we're fostering talent, allowing people to innovate and the importance of how that can drive business value growth returns. That's the key word everyone wants to hear. There's a real pathway you can literally map out to show what the benefit is of employing those people, especially if there's huge providers like you go and like you said, john, at homes for students. You can show what proportion of people working for you, what value do they deliver every day. That's quite an an easy ROI piece to pull together.
Speaker 3:So why is there not more emphasis on the type of training needed at those levels to allow us to open our eyes better to the opportunities that could be presented?
Speaker 3:Because there's step one how do we get people who already are students and living with us into these roles?
Speaker 3:But step two what do we need to do further in terms of collaboration as a sector, to invest in society in different places, to open up higher education as an opportunity to people.
Speaker 3:It goes much further beyond the market we already serve. There's this whole world, country, europe of young people who might not have the opportunities that we could possibly present to them. If we're able to invest, get our heads together and I think that's what I love about the community hubs this is only going to push forward a greater degree of collaboration the further these sessions move on, and one of my favorite things about the hub so far is that the class team spend a lot of time monitoring the sessions, reviewing the conversation, what happened, trying to define how to optimize the next session. So I mean, one of the learnings is in advance. It'd be great to define a topic so that people can come prepared and potentially tell colleagues or other people that might be interested in that topic, and I think that constant optimization from the class as an organization is what is really also driving the value of each of these sessions progressively and gives it such an exciting future.
Speaker 5:And Romy. I think that defining the topics, I think maybe there's a bit more work to be done for us on a longer term plan as well. So you know, at the minute I think there's they almost stand on their own independently across the. You know the number of times to do it through the year. So it could be that we invest a bit more time into kind of a more structured plan so that there's some collaboration between the different hubs as well. But I think there's so much more to go. There's so much more opportunity. I like to say the numbers have been growing every time I've taken part so far, and the last one being the largest so far from my perspective. I'd hope to see that grow again and again and again. You know the opportunity is huge.
Speaker 1:John, we've heard from you. You're obviously leading and moderating the operations community hub. Romy. You're leading and moderating the marketing community hub, kellyanne. Let's not forget the HR and investment hubs as well. What are they adding to the sector?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mentioned the HR one slightly before. I think I mentioned there some of the challenges, but for us, like, these are the people that are building our cultures, are recruiting our new staff but also are retaining our staff, so they've got a really, really important role in being able to basically help shape the next generation of talent that is coming in, whilst also cultivating the talent that we have. So I think there's a real opportunity. Also, in general, hr and people staff don't go to conferences, so they don't have a huge network as well. So I think there's a real learning there from each other. So I think there's a real learning there from each other.
Speaker 4:I would say asset management and investment. You know these are people that are managing portfolios, navigating kind of operational challenges and responding to huge market changing markets and challenges as well. So, similar to what John and Romy have both said, I think there's an opportunity here to learn cross over borders. Learn cross over borders. What we're finding is organizations that are normally quite siloed in terms of like regional are really learning from best practices. What similarities that they're seeing, particularly around maybe policy, legislation or portfolio kind of appetite, and that was a really, really interesting conversation which actually ended up moving into what data is needed, what? How will AI play into some of the day-to-day as well, which is quite interesting because AI was a ongoing prominent topic in multiple of the hubs.
Speaker 1:I mean, we're coming towards the end of the conversation and I don't want this to end because I'm learning so much from you all. But, john, is there kind of you know something that you would like to, I guess, kind of look to the future? What do you want the community hubs to do, you know, for the future of leadership in the sector?
Speaker 5:Firstly, I think I've volunteered to kind of continue to moderate the operations hub, deliberately, because I want a little bit. I'd like to see a little bit more consistency over time. I think if you hand that baton over, you kind of have to start again a little bit each time. So I think a structured plan, continued growth in terms of participation. I'd like to try and find ways to explore not just sharing of ideas but actually sharing with resources. How do we, you know, know, without giving away all our individual secrets? You know, and I get, there's some elements of intellectual, you know, property and I get that. But there's absolutely merit in sharing resources, you know, and work that's been done that will benefit everyone. So I think for me it's the start of a great journey. There's loads and loads to go. Don't even know where we could end up, but with the right energy, participations, ideas, I think we can only benefit in the long term.
Speaker 1:And Romy, what would you like to see from this ongoing movement with the CLASS Foundation? I?
Speaker 3:think it'd be really interesting to see if we could follow a similar format to the way that the CLASS do their conferences and potentially have kind of spotlights on destinations geography so we did an Italy spotlight or a France spotlight and still have all the same people in the hub engaging in the conversation but really focus the learning across Europe. And we've talked a lot about the UK and Europe and how they're very interconnected but they're also very siloed and I think it would be really interesting to kind of foster input on challenges in those specific regions and then find opportunities to suggest solutions that we've got from other geographies and bring that together into a narrative. And I think, if the topics are really focused and we can say, ok, we're going to talk about AI as a globalised topic, but then we're going to talk about how do we sell experience in France, because that's a topic that's come up, I thought was a really interesting phrased question. We'll help people prepare and also come ready to offer advice, listen and, I think, just having more people involved in the teams, inviting other team members, because this is a confidence building exercise to the same extent.
Speaker 3:No one can show up and dominate the conversation. It needs to be collaborative. It needs to be. We want input from different people in different areas. So if that means for a couple of sessions people come along just to listen and see how it goes and then the input, I think that would be great. So to John's point, I hope this continues for a really long time. I hope we can keep the regularity and make a real focus on specific topics and make sure that we're kind of addressing that we're all sharing this challenge across Europe and it's not too UK focused.
Speaker 1:And Kellyanne. Obviously we've been talking about the community hubs, the ongoing virtual network. How is this going to come to life at the CARS conference in November?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so we have again. Feedback from the community hubs was that they don't really get to attend many conferences but when they do attend a conference, very overwhelming and intimidating. So what we decided to do was create a full space and program that is led by the community leaders and members of the community hubs so that they can talk about and explore what they want within their own learning boundaries. So we did that whilst also being able to experience a much larger conference as well at scale. So we are working with the community hub participants to come and attend, whilst also trying to engage with more senior leaders to nominate more people to come and identify who those voices are. So that is the opportunity that we're looking at, hopefully successfully executing at the conference this year and hoping that that grows year on year.
Speaker 4:I've got some really big ideas. I would love potentially to maybe host their own conference in the future. Maybe they could be their own awards, whether it's there's day training sessions, whether we can, as Romy was mentioning, organizations in different markets host their own community hubs live. So we could kind of yeah, have a look at like Italy or Spain having their own meetup as well. Yeah, have a look at like Italy or Spain having their own meetup as well, as well as maybe having a European level one. There's so much opportunity as well for this to continue to grow, not just only on a kind of a developing those individuals, but as a whole brand and initiative itself. As well.
Speaker 1:Wow, that just sounds so exciting and I can't wait to see it and be part of it. We've come to the end of the conversation now. Like I said, I wish we didn't wait to see it and be part of it. We've come to the end of the conversation now. Like I said, I wish we didn't have to end it, because I'm finding it inspiring and I can only imagine how inspiring the leaders of tomorrow will find a conversation like this. So thank you so much, kellyanne, for kind of initiating this and driving it forward. There's lots of ideas out there, but it's just great to see how kind of thought through and the you know the future that this can have.
Speaker 1:Thank you, john and Romy, for doing such a great job in leading your specialisms as well. If you want to take part in the community hubs or want to explore becoming a partner with the Class Foundation, you can reach out to Carolina with a C at theclasscom and or visit the website classfoundationcom forward slash partnership. That was, you know, just a brilliant conversation. Thank you so much, and we hope the audience takes the opportunity to find out more and will potentially attend the conference in Lisbon in November. But, as you've heard, even if you aren't able to, there are so many opportunities to get involved locally and virtually as well. Thank you again to my student halls for their spotlight boost sponsorship of this mini series and thank you all for listening. We will see you back again for season five of housed in september.