fbpx

Back to the Floor at London Borough of Waltham Forest

Richard King- Director at Osborne shares his experience of visiting the team at Wood Street.
“I had the rewarding experience of sharing some really quality time with our colleagues at Wood Street. The team care for circa 10,500 homes on behalf of the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
I was taken step by step through the team’s daily activities, the supporting operational management systems and processes. Protocols carefully designed and continually refined to ensure residents’ calls are answered quickly and efficiently. Each fault is thoroughly investigated and identified in advance from each call, the residents are fully informed and the skilled tradesperson dispatch to complete the work at the earliest, most efficient and in a caring manner.

However, it was what went on outside the formal system and process implementation that inspired me most of all. The team members seemed to have acquired a 6th sense that allowed them to constantly mentally analyse the service provision and have the presence and agility to adapt to changing situations imposed during the working day. Crucially they are empowered to take decisions on the spot in the best interests of the resident.

As a member of the Industry Fairness, Inclusion and Respect Steering Group, I was immensely proud to see the wide diversity of skills, experience and backgrounds of the Wood Street team. Another real positive for me was the close camaraderie and humour of team members demonstrated in what is an extremely challenging and dynamic working environment in placing resident’s needs, many of them vulnerable individuals, as the upmost priority.

Such is the strength and depth of inclusivity in the Wood Street team that a pre-arranged language translation service is very rarely used, as so many languages are fluently spoken by the team members themselves and for me this was another crucial differentiating element of the team’s personal service.
Thanks to the team at Wood Street for your very warm welcome and for the learning experience I greatly appreciated. The learning I will apply as I continue to work closely with my Communities Business colleagues, as we strive to persuasively articulate the added value of the Osborne Brand. In doing so enabling us to reach as many potential customers as possible who do not yet know just how much we can help them solve their problems.

I have been overwhelmed by the number of congratulations and best wishes noting my 33 years with Osborne, recently. The question I have been asked more than anything is why have I stayed so long? This is a really easy question to answer! Right from the start as a trainee I have had regular opportunities to learn new skills and take on new roles and challenges. I have had great managers and mentors and have always tried to give back to others what I have been so fortunate to experience on my own personal journey.

The best career advice I ever had was from Geoffrey Osborne himself; to always attract people into your team’s that you think can do the job better than you can yourself, create an environment that allows those people to make decisions, grow and flourish, and see every challenge and engagement with others as an opportunity to learn something new.
All the time you feel constantly inspired by the people around you, you instinctively know you are in the very best place!”

X