Twelve months ago, Gentoo's complaints team was drowning. Tenant satisfaction sat at 70%, and the regulatory clock was ticking.
Fast forward to today: TSM scores have hit 80%, they've achieved C1 regulatory grading, and the organisation has been certified as a Great Place to Work.
Here's how they did it — and what other housing associations can learn from their transformation.
In a recent webinar, Michael McGuigan, Customer Voice Manager at Gentoo, walked through exactly how they made it happen — while supporting over 60,000 customers across 28,500 homes.
At the end of 2023, Gentoo were facing issues that will sound familiar to many in the sector:
Michael McGuigan, Customer Voice Manager, summed it up:
“We had a compliance team that was compliant, but there were opportunities to improve. There was quite a reactive culture, and we created a customer committee to hold us to account.”
The first big shift? Moving from a traditional complaints team to a broader Customer Voice function — signalling a shift from “complaints” to genuine listening.
The new structure included:
This wasn’t just a change in org chart — it was a serious investment in people. Gentoo delivered:
Behind the scenes, they also overhauled the systems and processes that support good service:
To sense-check progress, Gentoo welcomed:
Gentoo knew that teams dealing with difficult conversations need support, so they built an environment that encouraged wellbeing, not burnout.
They introduced:
“There’s genuine camaraderie in the team,” said McGuigan. “We all recognise this work is hard, but valuable.”
Insight wasn’t kept locked away in Customer Voice. Teams across Gentoo were given access to:
The result? Teams went from asking for reports to becoming proactive insight users. Data became part of everyday conversations, not a once-a-quarter obligation.
TSM Improvement:
Operational Wins:
External Recognition:
Here’s what Gentoo credit as the key drivers of their success:
1. Culture Before Process
“Culture is key to delivering improved performance,” says McGuigan. “You need good data and strong processes — but none of that works without the right mindset.”
2. Data for Everyone
Self-serve dashboards created a new hunger for insight across Gentoo. By making data easy to access and understand, they empowered people to take action.
3. Customer-Led Accountability
Their six-member Customer Committee now meets every eight weeks, providing challenge and direction on how Gentoo serves its tenants.
4. Beyond Consultation
They’ve moved past traditional tenant engagement to more proactive, personal approaches:
Gentoo's story proves that meaningful transformation is achievable — but it starts with a mindset shift. Customer feedback isn't a compliance exercise; it's fuel for improvement.
Here's what other HAs can take from their approach:
Invest in people first. Strong performance in complaints comes from well-supported teams. Investing in wellbeing isn't fluffy — it's strategic.
Share insight widely. Self-serve dashboards created a new hunger for data across Gentoo. When everyone can access insight, everyone can act on it.
Think long-term on TSMs. "Don't overreact to quarterly scores," says McGuigan. Build sustainable improvement, not quick fixes.
Let tech do the admin. With Power BI and automated workflows, teams spend more time using insight, not wrangling spreadsheets.
Triangulate everything. Complaints, TSMs, and engagement data all matter. Together, they tell a more complete story than any single metric. Because when everyone sees data as their business, change doesn't just happen — it sticks.
Gentoo isn’t slowing down. The transformation work of the past year has laid a strong foundation, but they’re already looking to the future. Next on the roadmap is achieving TPAS accreditation, reinforcing their commitment to transparency, accountability, and trust in tenant engagement.
They’re also taking community outreach one step further with a mobile engagement unit, a physical presence that will bring conversations directly to tenants in their neighbourhoods, making it easier for “seldom heard” voices to be part of the feedback loop.
And we’re looking forward to working with Gentoo ourselves. Gentoo plans to use Wordnerds to automate even more of their feedback analysis, freeing up their team to focus on the human side of service and ensuring insight is acted on, not just collected.
Watch the full webinar with Michael McGuigan, VoC Manager at Gentoo Group, here.
We help housing associations turn tenant feedback into measurable improvements. If you're working toward TSM targets or preparing for regulatory scrutiny, we'd love to chat.