Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) announced plans to restructure the organization in an effort to deliver better, faster service to its 110,000 tenants. According to the press release, the improvements will be implemented over the next six months.
“Our plan is about recognizing that the best service is provided by staff on the ground who know our tenants and understand their needs,” said TCHC President and CEO Kevin Marshman. “That’s why we are empowering our local teams to make more decisions on-site, and deliver the quality service our tenants deserve.”
Approved by the TCHC Board, with the intent of redirecting resources to frontline teams, the plan includes:
• Decentralizing decision-making away from head office and into all buildings and communities, and hiring more superintendents, cleaners and support staff;
• Creating 134 local service hubs across the city, where the prime point of contact for tenants will be the building superintendent, supported by a local team focused on building services, tenancy management and community supports;
• Investing $5 million a year to expand hours of service to cover evenings and weekends based on community needs and bring more services into buildings and local hubs;
• Empowering superintendents to make service decisions at the local level, so that tenants can have meaningful conversations about their homes that don’t get lost in process.
Toronto Community Housing restructuring plans
To support these changes, TCHC is creating three new regional offices across the city each led by a General Manager with responsibility for the complete spectrum of tenant services.
Integrated tenant services
In the past, TCHC’s service delivery model has been organized into two distinct divisions. The new plan merges both groups together to close service gaps and establish clear, common lines of accountability.
Under the new structure, the former Asset Management and Tenant and Community Services groups have been merged together under the leadership of a Chief Operating Officer. This new unified team is now responsible for delivering the full spectrum of tenant services, including building services, tenancy management and community supports.
Building and community teams
Moving forward, tenant-facing staff will be part of local teams based in 134 buildings and community hubs. These local teams will be empowered to make more customer service decisions on-site, instead of being caught up in lengthy process.
The building superintendent of each service hub, already an integral part of the service we provide to tenants, will function as their prime point of contact. Superintendents will be supported by a team fully equipped to provide the quality services tenants deserve.
Three regional offices
To further its commitment to bring services and decision-making closer to tenants, TCHC will decentralize many service functions currently based at head office, into three regional offices across the city. Each regional office will be led by a General Manager reporting to the newly appointed Chief Operating Officer, Sheila Penny. Each General Manager will oversee teams that support and manage service hub staff across their region.
New Chief Operating Officer
Toronto Community Housing has appointed Sheila Penny as its new Chief Operating Officer. In re-establishing the role of Chief Operating Officer, TCHC says it is “bringing together all elements of tenant service under a common structure to ensure that service to tenants is delivered consistently, efficiently and with accountability.”
Ms. Penny is described as a highly experienced executive leader, with a track record of guiding diverse teams to deliver capital construction and facilities operations. She brings more than 20 years of public sector experience to the role, in operations, design and construction, energy management, real estate, planning, sustainability and redevelopment
