Housemark’s benchmarking expertise, sector insight and target-setting support helped Orbit strengthen its approach to performance management, align strategic ambitions with sector expectations and provide confidence to its executive team and board.
For Orbit Group, one of the UK’s foremost housing groups managing around 47,000 homes, ensuring a robust, evidence-based approach to target setting and performance management was a key priority as it worked towards the ambitions outlined in its 2030 Strategy.
Having worked with Housemark for several years, Orbit turned to the organisation for expert insight, benchmarking and independent assurance to support the next phase of its strategic planning.
“We’ve worked with Housemark for quite a few years now, but we’ve really started to utilise the relationship more over the last couple of years,” said Robyn Ranford, Corporate Performance and Planning Manager at Orbit.
“Housemark’s team supports us with benchmarking information, sector insight and best practice guidance. If we’ve got a query, it’s often one of the first places we turn.”
The challenge: Setting ambitious but achievable TSM targets
As part of its 2030 Strategy, Orbit had established ambitious performance goals, with an ambition to deliver amongst the best customer experience of any housing association in the country. Following a strategic review, Orbit wanted confidence that future targets would remain both ambitious and realistic while supporting its wider organisational objectives.
“Our sector is a challenging one, as we’re operating in a complex and highly regulated environment,” said Robyn. “There’s a considerable amount of data and a large number of areas that need managing and reporting. Having access to a trusted source of benchmarking and sector insight really helps put performance into context.”
The solution: Data-driven target setting and performance benchmarking
Housemark worked closely with Orbit to review historic performance, assess strategic ambitions and identify an appropriate peer group for benchmarking. Using sector data and performance trends, Housemark helped Orbit develop a framework for setting future TSM targets that balanced ambition with realism.
“We wanted support on setting targets for the full suite of TSMs beyond 2026,” said Robyn. “Housemark helped us identify a relevant peer group and looked at our historic performance, strategic ambitions and the progress we’d already made.”
The recommendations provided by Housemark were then reviewed alongside Orbit’s own business plans, investment programmes and transformation initiatives, ensuring the final targets reflected the organisation’s specific circumstances and priorities.
“What we then did was overlay our own internal knowledge of the business,” Robyn explained. “We looked at the change programmes we had coming up, where we were investing and where we expected performance improvements. That allowed us to develop targets that were relevant, meaningful and achievable.”
Alongside target-setting support, Housemark delivered presentations and insight sessions for Orbit’s executive team and board, helping decision-makers understand how the organisation compared with its peers and wider sector trends.
“It also provided a really valuable external perspective when we’re looking at performance, regulation or best practice,” said Robyn.
Housemark’s support also extends to regulatory reporting, performance benchmarking and helping organisations understand emerging sector requirements through webinars, insight sessions and expert guidance.
The results: Greater confidence in strategic planning and performance management
Housemark has helped strengthen confidence in Orbit’s approach to performance management and strategic planning.
The target-setting framework received support from both the executive team and board, while Housemark’s independent expertise assured that Orbit’s ambitions were set within the appropriate context of sector expectations and peer performance.
“For our executive team and board, it was reassuring to have that external validation,” said Robyn.“Housemark gave us confidence that our targets were ambitious in line with our peer group and aligned with where we want to be as an organisation.”
The presentations delivered to Orbit’s board also helped members better understand the organisation’s performance journey and the wider context in which it operates.
“We’d been telling our board that we were improving, but hearing that directly from sector performance experts was incredibly valuable,” said Robyn.
“It helped put our progress into perspective and provided additional assurance that we were moving in the right direction.”
Today, Orbit continues to draw on Housemark’s benchmarking services, sector insight, webinars and expert guidance to support decision-making across the organisation.
Robyn concluded:
“It’s not just the data, Housemark has become a really valuable sounding board for us. Whether it’s performance reporting, regulatory returns, target setting or understanding what’s happening across the sector, its team has helped us make more informed decisions. I’d definitely recommend Housemark to other housing providers. The insight, assurance and expertise they bring have been hugely valuable across all levels of the organisation.”
With Tenant Satisfaction Measures now playing a critical role in regulatory compliance and service improvement, having the right data and sector context has never been more important. Housemark’s TSM and benchmarking services provide trusted insight, peer comparison and expert support to help you set meaningful targets, track progress and make informed decisions.