Up Close and Personal
Michelle Davies is Account Director for Osborne Property Services, leading on our partnership with Slough Borough Council.
Here, she explains a little about her role and why she finds it so rewarding.
Q: Michelle, please could you tell us a little about your background and how you came to work for Osborne?
I started my career in Housing at the age of 18 as an administrator with a building services company.
This developed a passion for the housing sector and I moved swiftly into a supervisory role with another company, which enabled me to gather some technical and site knowledge.
Moving from responsive repairs to voids, I then became a Voids Manager, but decided I preferred office management so took up a role as Assistant Contract Manager.
Within four years I was managing my own contract as Contract Manager. This role was a great foundation for my next move where I was responsible for multiple contracts at any one time – an amazing challenge! With four years under my belt, I felt well prepared to join the Osborne team.
Q: So what does your role as Account Director involve?
I have overall management responsibility and long term sustainability of our contract with Slough Borough Council, which provides a wide range of services to over 7,000 homes including repairs, compliance, voids and caretaking.
It is my job to ensure that all activities are carried out in accordance with all statutory requirements including Health and Safety, Quality Assurance and Employment Legislation.
Accountable for the full service delivery of the contract from voids to planned to contact centre, it’s a busy role! A huge part of this is ensuring that client satisfaction levels remain high and that Key Performance Indicators are not only met, but continuously improved.
Every month I report directly to the Board members advising of the operational performance and the financial and commercial aspects of the contact, whilst helping to develop and grow the business by actively encouraging a proactive and strategic organic growth attitude with all levels of employees.
My team are my biggest asset and I am here to support, motivate and lead the key the Senior Mangers within my team whilst aiming to maintain the highest standards of presentation, personal integrity and customer support.
As part of managing a great team, I’m always working towards people development and succession planning to ensure opportunities are created and that our key people are retained.
Q: What’s the most rewarding thing about your job?
I think the most rewarding aspect is making a difference to the people I meet and interact with. I also really enjoy mentoring. For me, there’s nothing more rewarding than watching my colleagues grow within their roles and as individuals.
