People are at the heart of our business. By recognising people’s diverse needs and strengths and treating everyone fairly we can both serve our customers better and support our teams to run a brilliant business and improve services.

We embrace diversity in all that we do.  Our communities are diverse, and we are committed to reflecting this across our colleague community. We have friendly workplaces with open and non-judgemental atmospheres, and a commitment to employee wellbeing.

Our People Promise outlines how we believe people should be treated.

We are constantly working to make sure Orwell is an employer of choice embedding a professional attitude, a high level of ambition, and a real focus on delivery into our teams.  We value what each and every person brings to their role and the organisation.  We value difference and we care about what we deliver, how we deliver and about each other.

We keep checking how everyone is feeling by measuring:

• how happy we are at work
• how proud we are to work here
• how far we would recommend Orwell to our family and friends.

Right now, we are achieving over 90% on these and we are really proud of that.  In 2016, 2017 and 2019 we were listed in The Times Top 100 Best Companies to work for.

We get excited when we meet people who can bring to us great skills, a positive attitude and a passion for what they do.  If you are great at what you do and how you do it that is good enough for us.

As the saying goes, “great people know great people” so we have an employee referral scheme which pays up to £300 for each successful introduction.

We really care about each other here at Orwell, and this is regularly fed back to us:

"I'm so supported by Orwell"

Amy, Support Worker - Balfour House

How we all work together with our people is really important.  We currently hold Investors in People Silver and are on the path to Gold.  This means that we are considered to be an excellent employer in terms of putting people first and caring about their work-life balance; building a stronger, healthier, happier society.

We really care about personal and professional development and are very proud of the learning opportunities we offer, including the Orwell Academy that gives people the chance to develop their professional qualifications alongside work.

It is important to us that we pay fairly, however, the value that we place on people is not limited to pay but the employment experience explained here. As a not-for-profit organisation our income is generated by our tenants and customers paying rent and service charges, and by councils awarding contracts to provide support and care services at the best possible price.  To safeguard this income and to ensure we are as fair as possible, we pay the going rate for each role in our business. 

Here are some of the benefits of working with us:

• reward and recognition awards and rewards
• introduce someone you know bonus scheme
• interest free season ticket loan (travel)
• car loans
• free DBS checks
• free hepatitis vaccination (role specific)
• free flu vaccination (role specific)
• 22 - 26 days annual leave, plus eight bank holidays
• wellbeing promise (tokens which can be used for yoga, gym classes, etc)
• paid sick leave after 12 months service (up to six months’ full pay)
• rewards and gifts to celebrate length of service
• free parking and volunteer days

We are ambitious: ambitious about the growth of our organisation so that we can achieve more, and ambitious to realise the full potential of all our people, and all those we support and house.

The Orwell Academy aims to identify future leaders and those who are innovative and passionate showing our belief in them through supporting their development personally and professionally.  We really believe in apprenticeship opportunities and all our apprentices are supported by the Orwell Academy framework.

Alongside providing training, we also believe in the power of “learning by doing” and promote self-development, encouraging our employees to create and define their own growth opportunities.  We encourage continuous development to help aid professional career progression and personal growth by offering:

• eLearning for all                         
• ILM Level three and five for new and existing supervisors and managers
• supported internal career opportunities
• regular support and supervisions/catch-ups/1-2-1s

We will work in partnership and search out best practice.  We will collaborate with tenants, customers and colleagues and like-minded organisations to develop solutions together.

We enjoy working in partnership with other organisations, our tenants, customers, colleagues and like-minded organisations to find solutions together, and use the skills and experience of everyone to aim to be the very best we can be.

In delivering our academy we have partnered with local training providers who bring their expertise and combine this with our particular needs to deliver the best we can.

Working together as one big team, “Team Orwell” to achieve our ambitions is really important to us. We can achieve so much more if we all work together.

We recognise the importance of creating a work environment in which our people thrive and do meaningful work that they love. To ensure we have a positive working environment we offer agile and flexible working where possible and we use many methods to keep in touch with colleagues. We encourage the use of Facebook Workplace to communicate, recognise fantastic achievements and celebrate the work we do every day.

As a not-for-profit organisation, we regularly pull together to hold fund-raising competitions and events, which not only help us raise money for our chosen charities but brings us all together to achieve a common aim. 

Monthly we are all invited to take part in fun events such as BBQs, Pancake Day and baking competitions, to name a few.

 We have friendly working environments, many workplaces with lovely gardens, and kitchens stocked with tea, coffee and squash to keep refreshed!

We will be economic and embed efficiency across our services ensuring we lead the way with our knowledge and expertise.  We will ensure that our teams are committed and competent to be the best at what they do in order that they can provide the highest possible standards of service.

As a not-for-profit organisation it is true that we need to make sure we invest our budget in the right places.  We need to offer and achieve value for money while ensuring our teams are engaged, happy, committed and fantastic at what they do so they can provide the highest possible standards of service.  We recognise and celebrate teamwork which is the best part of working with Orwell (according to our latest Best Companies Top 100 companies survey).

We can’t wait to welcome you as part of our team at Orwell