A leader in his field makes it his new mission to spread over 30 years’ worth of knowledge to his colleagues and inspire others in the housing industry.
National Careers Week recognises career guidance and pathways available to people to get them excited about their chosen path and options.
As part of this campaign, our Head of Construction and Delivery, Parry Morgan, deep dives into his career journey and how he has worked his way up within the housing sector.
Starting his career off as a 16-year-old apprentice, he credits his success to the people who have mentored and supported him along the way.
Parry Morgan, our Head of Construction and Delivery said: “I got into construction by mistake really, although quickly discovered a passion for the built environment. I’ve been lucky throughout my career because I’ve always had or worked with people more senior than me to ask questions and they have helped me.
“All my career I've been mentored, even if they've been informal mentors rather than a formal situation. I've learned a lot in my time by the helpfulness of other people. So, through that, why can't I use that information to share it with others and help them?”
From estate agency to architecture, surveying and construction, over 20 years ago Parry decided to use his experiences to help LiveWest build more affordable homes in the South West.
Being in one of the first cohorts of students in the UK to achieve a Sustainability and Project Manager Master’s degree in 2015 at the age of 50, he has been putting that knowledge and experience to good use supporting LiveWest on the journey to delivering greener and more energy efficient homes in the built environment.
Parry said: “I’ve always been a person who volunteers for the difficult jobs and then thought after, this is really challenging, but I’ve learnt lots by doing that. I’ve found that you learn from the hard experiences, not the easy stuff.
“After a period, everybody comes to you and says, ‘Well how do you do that?’ I'll share my experience and they go, ‘that's not so bad’. By sharing my experience and the mistakes I made, it helps more people in the industry.
“I think it helps people grow by making sure they don't make the same mistakes. So, they progress quicker because I've been able to assist and mentor them.”
At LiveWest, Parry’s role involves managing the teams who deliver our new homes into the business and monitoring the construction of new and affordable homes.
Through his role of leading teams, Parry likes taking this knowledge and sharing it with people in whatever way possible so he can help them achieve their career goals. Another way he has found this possible is by taking on a role of mentoring through CIH’s GEM programme.
Parry added: “I found through the GEM programme; it's giving me that opportunity now to put that information across to other people.
“I've found in the mentoring journey it's a joint team effort. I learn as much from the mentee as probably they learn from me. I change and adapt because for example the mentee has better I.T skills that they share and because of their support my IT skills have improved.
“I will explain things to them about contract information, how you network in the business, how you work with other people but also how every decision they make affects somebody.
“The simplest way is if they don't know, what I can do is give them the network of people so they can go and speak to the relevant people, so they make the right decision. It ticks all the boxes for everybody.”
Parry really enjoys helping people develop in their careers and looks forward to helping more of our colleagues and people in the housing sector.
Parry added: “The thing about LiveWest is that it doesn't matter how senior you become within the business, there are always people more senior than you that will support and give you advice. At LiveWest I believe we're quite open and that allows everyone to feel included.
“I always wanted to do the best I can to help as many people as possible and being head of the department means I've got one foot in the operational camp, and I've got one foot in the management strategy camp. So, I get the best of both worlds because I can understand the strategy then I can try and overlay that in what people do day-to-day because I'm responsible for procedures, processes, and policy.
“If you take your learning over time and use it to become an advocate for change and continuous improvement then sharing this with others is a gift that everyone is capable of imparting to others. The benefits are significant to both mentors and mentees.
“It’s about listening and allowing people to grow and thrive through the learning gained from work challenges. Making mistakes along the way is part of the journey and mentoring can help support and equip others along the way. For me it's about working with people to support their learning and growth.”