Back to the floor – Founding Director Matt Rittner visits Paddington Basin

In a series of Back to the Floor blogs, directors and the senior management team at Rendall & Rittner explain what it is like working with front of house staff. The initiative enables staff and management to work closer together ensuring Rendall & Rittner delivers high-quality customer care and an exemplary pofessional service.

Rendall & Rittner’s very own founding director, Matt Rittner, may have surprised the team at Paddington Basin, just off the Edgware Road, London, when he turned up for a day’s work with the concierge, estates management team, groundsman and cleaner.

“I think I may have shocked a few people! However, this was not set up so I could check up on our staff. We have grown so much since we started in 1990 and our on-site teams are almost 1,000 strong, so it is vital that the senior team make time to meet our onsite staff and acknowledge the valuable work they do.

“This exercise allowed me to see how hard our front of house team work and the types of challenges that they face on a day-to-day basis. Today, expectations of our residents are greater than in the past, so we want to understand our staff’s working day and how we can strive to further deliver excellent service to our residents and leaseholders across our portfolio of buildings.

“It was fantastic to see how the team presented themselves and carried out their duties so enthusiastically. While there are many residents at this development, staff spoke to them using their first name, which was a great personal touch. The staff are clearly passionate in their roles. The estate manager, Carlos has worked at this development for 12 years, the cleaner, Kaisa, for 10 years and the groundsman, Rodrigo, for eight years. Carlos is known for nurturing staff and some have progressed in their careers to join the concierge team here or at other developments.

“I spent an hour and a half with Rodrigo, walking the site and finding out about his challenges, like the two large water feature ponds at the front of the entrance – that he takes great pride in cleaning daily so that they look pristine. Kaisa is very proud of her cleaning but was frustrated that due to the design of the building, some of the internal window cleaning was a challenge.  I recommended this should be handed over to the window cleaners.

“It is important that we have excellent morale among our staff and that solutions are in place so that they can all work to the best of their ability and with the appropriate tools for the job.  It is our role to ensure they have the correct uniform, the right equipment, understand our standard operating procedures and that they can come to us with any issues they may need support with.

“Cultural, technology and service-level advances have changed the property management role. While our staff at Rendall & Rittner are proud of their work and of being able to assist our lessees and residents it is crucial that we continue to push service levels up and adapt to this ever-changing landscape.”