Honesty Over Perfection with Jamie Ratcliff

The HIP: The Housing Industry Podcast

By fostering an environment that prioritises honesty and encourages people to ‘speak up and challenge’, without fear of being ‘wrong’, organisations can benefit from a wider breadth of knowledge and skills.
Jamie Ratcliff, Chief Communities & Sustainability Officer at SNG joins us in this episode to share his passion for having an impact on people’s lives through his work.
Jamie has spent nearly 20 years in housing and it’s his passion for human rights that drew him in.
Sovereign and Network Homes merged to form SNG this October (2023). Jamie gives us a look into the merger and their goal of creating “The best merger the housing association sector has seen”. He shares how the organisation will align the two visions and strategies and gives insight into how the 10-year, £100 million investment into local communities will be utilised.
We also discuss how we can improve the sector with more positivity and by creating more inclusive organisations. We speak on the issues we’re seeing in recruitment practices within the sector, and Jamie shares how he would improve things.
In this episode, we cover:

• Jamie’s journey into the housing sector.
• A view of SNG post-merger.
• The Community Foundation investment that SNG is bringing to local communities.
• Why we need more positivity in the sector.
• Prioritising honesty over perfection as a leader.
• The benefits of having experience out of sector.
• Fostering an environment that encourages people to ‘speak up and challenge’.
• How do we unlock more diverse voices in our sector?
• Does anonymous recruiting work?