Women in Social Housing (WISH) has partnered with Compassionate Leaders to offer its members access to a new personal development programme designed to support women’s career progressions across the sector.
Led by CEO Hayley Gillard, Compassionate Leaders transforms organisations across the housing sector by strengthening leadership, culture, and overall organisational performance.
Manager School Online is a Level 5 ILM-accredited programme that builds confident, capable managers in social housing through a 12-week self-study programme that flexibly fits around busy work schedules.
Unlike generic leadership programmes, this course is tailored specifically to the realities of social housing and the challenges faced by today’s managers.
The training combines sector-relevant scenarios with practical tools that can be applied immediately in the workplace, while placing strong focus on building confidence, self-awareness, and psychologically safe team cultures.
As WISH’s resident Leadership Consultant, Hayley has already supported hundreds of women through training, coaching and qualifications.
Hayley has over 15 years’ experience in supporting housing organisations, specialising in developing managers who have been promoted for their technical expertise but have had little formal training in managing people.
Hayley Gillard, CEO of Compassionate Leaders, said:
“In housing, we often see talented individuals promoted into management without the opportunity to develop the skills they need to lead others. In fact, the WISH training needs survey consistently shows that confidence is one of the key areas members struggle with.
“Manager School Online bridges that gap, offering an accredited programme that strengthens people management skills, confidence and communication, supporting managers to bring the behaviours and expectations of the Competence and Conduct Standard to life in everyday practice.”
The programme uniquely combines psychological insight, sector expertise, and practical applications to help build confidence in people management, reflecting WISH’s commitment to supporting professional growth among women across the sector.
Jayne Entwistle, Managing Director at WISH, said:
“At WISH, we are committed to supporting women across the housing sector to step into leadership with confidence and clarity. This partnership with Compassionate Leaders reflects both the scale of the challenge and the opportunity we have to better equip managers with the skills they need.
“Manager School Online offers a practical, accessible route to developing confident, capable leaders who can create psychologically safe, high-performing teams across our sector.”
Existing WISH corporate members can receive an exclusive 10% discount when booking a place on the programme.
Organisations that enrol multiple managers have an additional option to add in-person accountability and implementation sessions.
These sessions are designed to help translate learning into real workplace practice by supporting managers to embed new skills and behaviours and strengthening consistency of management approach across teams.
For corporate enquiries or to discuss cohort bookings, contact Hayley Gillard at Compassionate Leaders.