Sarah Hogg is a Strata Manager on a mission. The 2018 winner of the Strata Community Manager – Rising Star Award at the 2018 CHU Strata Community Awards is determined to raise the bar for quality and service excellence in the industry.
“The ‘done is done’ ethos does not resonate with me,” says Sarah.
“Owners aren’t bothered about fancy job descriptions. They want a genuine, accessible person to guide them through the complicated world of strata. They want someone with compassion, empathy and understanding of different people, with a good ability to listen and be heard on the important issues.”
Sarah embodies these values and more.
“We have to be the best we can be, even when we don’t want to be – and especially when we don’t want to be. This job at times can be very testing and I always find myself checking my behaviour and responses to ensure I am being true to myself and my ethics,” she says.
Sarah works for Body Corporate Services (BCS), a subsidiary of PICA Group, in Gosford and manages 70 buildings across 50km of the Central Coast. She has retained 100% of clients through outstanding customer service and increased her portfolio by 25%. But’s that’s not enough for her.
The Outstanding Young Employee at the 2018 Gosford/Erina & Coastal Chamber of Commerce Awards is also making waves as an internal auditor of BCS’s policies and procedures.
“I am passionate about quality management, so when a notice went out for nominations to establish a new quality management team at BCS, I immediately put my hand up,” says Sarah.
Sarah is one of 11 internal auditors at BCS tasked with auditing other branches for compliance against areas such as legislation, contract management and supplier performance.
“I tend to my own audits and help other auditors wherever required. We have just finished our first round of audits and follow up meetings. Thirty branch managers gave us 100% positive feedback.
“It has been a fantastic initiative. The results have been fed throughout the business, patterns dissected, and resources supplied to better the branches and company.”
Sarah believes education is the key to improving performance. She is working towards her diploma in quality management and wants to complete her Strata License.
“The new legislation made everyone more accountable including strata managers, so it’s imperative we have sound working knowledge of the law and best practice of strata management.”
And when the going gets tough, Sarah knows exactly what to do.
“When there’s an issue that needs resolution, we call a ‘campfire’ team meeting and get together to resolve the problem. The shared learnings are invaluable experiences for us all.”