Driving Resident Satisfaction Through Colleague Engagement with Hive
Railway Housing Association partners with Hive to improve engagement, track meaningful cultural shifts, and ensure colleague feedback translates into better resident experiences.
Housing Association
0 - 250 Employees
The overview
Railway Housing Association partners with Hive to boost employee engagement, track meaningful cultural shifts, and ensure colleague feedback drives improved resident experiences. Leadership recognised that engaged colleagues directly influence resident satisfaction. Since using Hive they’ve seen their engagement scores soar.
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What brought Railway Housing Association to Hive?
Railway Housing Association (RHA) set a bold vision: to become the best small housing provider in the UK. To achieve this, they knew they needed to raise resident satisfaction from the low 80s to the mid-90s, a target set at board level.
“The biggest strategic indicator for us is our aspiration to be number one in resident satisfaction. Resident satisfaction is fundamentally shaped by the experiences they have, and colleagues play a huge role in that.
When you look at many of our key indicators—things like how we handle complaints or keep residents informed—a lot of it comes down to culture: how we interact, whether we truly listen, act on feedback, and then communicate back to residents to close the loop. That’s what drives real improvement.”
– Matt Sugden, CEO
Leadership recognised that great customer service begins with engaged colleagues. They needed a tool that could:
- Build trust through confidentiality
- Provide empirical data to track cultural change
- Link employee engagement directly to regulatory and strategic KPIs.
Hive stood out as the platform capable of delivering on all, making it a natural choice for RHA’s transformation journey.
Staying on the pulse through times of change
RHA began using Hive as they embarked on their first full operating model restructure in 20 years. For many long-serving colleagues, this scale of change was daunting. But Hive provides a constant temperature check, helping leaders measure sentiment, adapt approaches, and reassure the board with data coming directly from their people.
“Colleagues in resident-facing roles have a far better understanding of day-to-day experiences than I do—and that’s where the real value lies. If we can engage everyone around that insight — servicing residents, improving, and innovating continuously—then it’s the collective engagement of the whole colleague base that will make us a far more positive and powerful organisation.”
– Matt Sugden, CEO
By regularly tracking colleague sentiment, RHA can translate insights into concrete actions that shape both culture and operations.
Feedback into action
Colleague feedback drove real change at RHA. Recruitment shifted to a values and behaviours-led model, with resident–colleague panels introduced to ensure new hires embodied a resident-first approach.
Hive Open Door became a channel not only for raising concerns but also for suggesting improvements, such as clearer communication processes, showing that colleague input directly shaped change.
Feedback also highlighted the need for more recognition, prompting the promotion of Hive Fives, which embedded peer-to-peer appreciation and drove noticeable spikes in recognition activity following surveys.
Surveys that build trust and track progress
RHA uses quarterly pulse surveys alongside their annual deep-dive survey to capture both quick check-ins and more detailed feedback. At first, leaders feared survey fatigue, but colleagues embraced the format: response rates consistently range from 80–100%. These surveys aren’t just about numbers. They’ve become a mechanism for tracking culture shifts over time. For example:
- eNPS moved from 28 to 50, a significant leap that exceeded the board’s strategic target of 30
- The 22% shift of passives to promoters provides statistical evidence of cultural change
- Real-time dashboards allow leaders to track responses daily, spotting trends and adapting quickly.
Leaders follow up with every detractor—HR confidentially reaches out using aliases, understanding concerns, and either resolving issues or supporting employees in finding a better fit.
Confidentiality as a cultural foundation
Trust is critical. Colleagues had been sceptical of previous platforms, but Hive’s confidentiality commitment reassured them and encouraged honesty.
“Hive’s confidentiality guarantee built trust instantly. Colleagues share openly, and we’ve turned that feedback into measurable improvements—not just for engagement, but for resident service and compliance with new regulatory standards.”
– Karen West, Corporate Support Manager
This approach extends to Hive Open Door, where colleagues can share ideas or concerns at any time, knowing their identity is protected. Leadership uses Hive Messenger to follow up and dive deeper into feedback, closing the loop safely.
“I’m not interested in what people think I want to hear — I want the cold, honest truth so we can act on it.”
– Matt Sugden, CEO
Benchmarking and sector standards
RHA also uses Hive’s benchmarking tools to measure themselves against both the housing sector and wider industries. This gives context to their eNPS results, helping them demonstrate progress to the board. They can clearly show that scores above +41 are “outstanding” compared to sector norms, strengthening confidence in their strategy.
“Our focus right now is having the right data and the analysis to make sense of it. If we were running our own surveys, we’d have to do all of that ourselves, which isn’t easy—looking at patterns across different answers, connecting the dots. Hive makes that straightforward.”
– Karen West, Corporate Support Manager,
Strategic reporting
For a smaller housing provider, resources were limited. Hive’s reports identified the key drivers of engagement that would deliver the biggest impact on scores and, ultimately, organisational outcomes. This evidence-based focus ensured that leadership effort translated into measurable results.
The reports weren’t confined to the exec team either. RHA invite their wider leadership team to hear Hive’s experts present findings, helping embed ownership of cultural change across the organisation.
Recognition and innovation
Beyond surveys, Hive Fives helped build a culture of recognition. Prompts at the end of surveys encouraged colleagues to celebrate each other, creating surges of appreciation across teams. Leaders saw this as more powerful than top-down praise.
Meanwhile, Open Door gave people a safe space to raise concerns or ideas. While initially used for worries, it quickly became a tool for innovation, with colleagues suggesting improvements to communication and services.
Beyond quantitative results, these initiatives influence everyday culture, reinforcing engagement and innovation.
“I believe that continuing to improve our sector-leading levels of colleague engagement will naturally drive higher resident satisfaction scores. We want people to come to work excited to make a difference, because when they do, we deliver a fantastic service to residents. Hive has been an incredible tool on that journey, and it remains vital for tracking where we go from here.”
– Matt Sugden, CEO – Railway Housing Association
Who is Railway Housing Association
Railway Housing Association is a not-for-profit housing provider established in 1919 to support returning railway workers after World War I. Today, it owns and manages 1,620 homes across 20 local authority areas in the North East and Yorkshire, including Darlington, Doncaster, Durham, East Riding, Hull, Leeds, Newcastle, and York.
As a registered charity and housing association, it reinvests rental income into maintaining and improving homes and communities. While its origins are rooted in serving railway workers, Railway Housing Association now offers affordable housing to a diverse range of residents.
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