Great team spirit but poor management and low pay - Operational Support Officer Southern Housing Employee Review

1.0
20 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great team, very helpful & inclusive with a proactive team focused ethics in providing support to colleagues including newbies and taking ownership and accountability where required

Cons

Poor Management, salary, team and role structure Management - Team managers are great individuals, however, they are limited by the head of department in how they manage their direct reports. Essentially, the Head of Operational support micromanages Team Managers in how they manage their direct reports. Causing an unfortunate opinion that team managers are sometimes “out of touch” when enforcing managerial directions or team action. No manager should be forced to work in such a way and it does NOT benefit the team or the service provided by the team. 1 thing I did find strange was managers would hunt you down if you was away from your desk in the office for too long, even when your role required you to be away or if you were in a meeting, to the point their line of questioning requests for a timelines and reasons as to why you were away…..very off key. This team is apart of the customer access and transactions directorate (Operational support, Customer response, Customer Repairs, customer accounts) which all teams seem to commonly displays these behaviours. AVOID at all costs The Salary is extremely low in comparison of the Job description to the actual day to day. There are several projects ongoing which is poorly managed by the Head of Department, on top of the services we provide on a day to day basis. It is not forgiving or rewarding…a MESS. The team and role structure needs revising. Officers and Advisors are heavily micromanaged by team managers (As per the instruction of the Head of Department) with no clear intentions of removing the invisible chains from said necks. 0 autonomy to manage your day to day. And a very unnecessary need to report every little detail to your manager. There’s around 60 services provided to residents and teams across the business which mostly are all still in a state of crisis due to the 2 existing policy’s from the 2 predecessors legacy organisations (Optivo & Southern Housing Group) for 1 service. Very little, if any, signs of progress to transform this, causes major divide between the team and the business and causes stress to residents when they are advised wrong (mistakenly) based off the wrong policy to the corresponding legacy organisation their property originates from. Lastly, the head of department…..where do I even start? She is just unequipped and inexperienced to perform in her current role and needs serious investigating to outline if she is fit enough to continue. As a Head Of Service, it it’s professionally expected that you understand EVERYTHING about your department/service that YOU represent. Down to the core. She has exampled many occasions where she has either little or outdated levels of understand of the 60+ processes/services provided to residents and the business. Due to this, she has made several changes to the structure of these processes without consulting Officers and Advisors if said changes will align within day to day job responsibilities and the standard of quality to the service we provide….that in itself has fumbled her chances of redemption to restore the faith from her officers and advisors in her. Need I say more? I could go on forever. Bottom line is, she put in that position out of favouritism from directors, not because she is suitable for the role and as a head of service to role partially resident facing, she would crumble in a instant if she had to unpick a complex case in 3-5 working days.

avatar
Southern Housing Response
5d
Thank you for taking the time to share your personal feedback. We’re pleased you felt the organisation was supportive, we agree we’ve a great team spirit and brilliant one team working. It’s something we’re proud of and prioritise as an organisation. However, I’m sorry to read you did have several areas of concern. We take any feedback about our services and leadership seriously. We can offer you the reassurance that our Leadership Team and Heads of Service are experienced and committed professionals who work closely with teams across a wide range of complex services. As with any organisation delivering multiple services, changes are sometimes necessary to improve outcomes for residents and the wider business. These changes are made following careful consideration, even where the full context may not always be clear to all members of the team. We recognise organisational change can sometimes feel challenging and may not always be fully understood or agreed with by everyone involved. Please be assured that our focus remains on delivering the best possible service and continuously improving how we operate so we meet our resident’s needs. It may be helpful to reflect on findings from our most recent Pulse colleague survey, which showed that: • 75% of colleagues feel the Executive Team demonstrates our values • 79% feel their Leadership Team member does the same • 89% feel their manager demonstrates our values We know there is always more to do, but these results indicate colleagues generally have a positive experience with leadership. With regards to our pay structure, we regularly review and benchmark salaries and have a generous benefits package. Our Pay Policy and Procedure sets out how we approach and manage pay decisions. If colleagues have concerns, they can raise these with our People Support Team so we can look into them and respond in more detail. Please feel free to contact me directly so I can understand your concerns more fully and respond with more details. Thank you again for your feedback. Lynn Bates

Explore other reviews about Southern Housing

1.0
24 Sept 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

So, I work with some great people on the ground, people with real passion for what we do and who want to do the best by our residents. We also get paid well for the industry we work in, and we get some good benefits such as BUPA Healthcare. We get our Birthdays off, on top 6 weeks annual leave, plus all the Bank Holidays too. My direct line manager is very good, supportive and caring, plus also passionate about what we do. Some of our residents ae lovely and make our jobs really rewarding.

Cons

Above my manager and within other teams there are some managers, directors and even a couple of Executives who just aren't good enough and are leading us nowhere. As an organisation we seem to have no direction, every one seems to be working in silos making sure their behinds are covered. No one is working well together consistently enough to take the organisation forwards again. No one knows what anyone else does or where to go to find out how to resolve challenges. Our IT systems seem to be going backwards making our jobs so much harder instead of supporting us in being more efficient. We were promised at our merger that we would be bringing more repairs in-house, making it easier for other frontline staff to get things done and support our residents; and yet we seem to have more contractors than ever, and no one seems to actually manage them. Housing Officers have to deal with the brunt of constant complaints from our residents, and we are unable to explain why things are the way they are. Sadly, there is a huge amount wrong at Southern Housing. I worked for Southern Housing Group before we merged with Optivo, and things were poor there; many of us hoped Optivo and it's reputation would bring us up a level, but we seemed to have carried on as we were and dragged Optivo down to our level. It's so sad and depressing.

12
avatar
Southern Housing Response
8mo
We’re really concerned to read some of your feedback and the comments you’ve shared. We do have a variety of support available to colleagues, including our employee assistance programme, mental health first aiders, our EDI network groups, colleague forum and our Leadership Team. You’ll find more information about all of the above on our colleague Intranet. I’d encourage you to reach out to your People Business Partner to discuss your concerns in more detail and you can contact us people.support@southernhousing.org.uk
5.0
6 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The advantages of working for Southern Housing are varied. There is a great working environment - you feel supported, they are always attentive to your progress and learning and they listen when you have personal situations where you need their support. I am very satisfied and truly appreciate everything they have helped me with in this company. There have been many technological changes and new ways of working, which have put my endurance to the test. With the help of my team and the wider teams in general, I've been able to break through the barriers that come with new ways of working.

Cons

The workload can sometimes be quite heavy and demanding. However, I have always felt supported by my team and my manager, who reminds me that what matters is progressing little by little and doing things well, rather than feeling overwhelmed. At the same time, I feel that every day you learn something new and you never get bored.

avatar
Southern Housing Response
1mo
Thank you for the review. Glad to hear your positive experience of working for Southern Housing and your managers support, we feel it’s a great place to work too! 😊
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All