As Bradley Hall’s first chief operating officer, Sharon Boyd brings a wealth of experience and a fresh, new perspective to the firm.
She steps into this newly-created position with a vision to strengthen Bradley Hall’s systems, improve procedures and support its dynamic teams. Here, she shares what drew her to the business and how she plans to foster a thriving company culture as it embarks on its next phase of growth.
As new chief operating officer, you’ll be tasked with bettering internal systems, utilising today’s technology to enhance procedures and processes and driving the people side of the business. What are you most excited about as begin your journey at Bradley Hall?
I am absolutely thrilled to be joining Bradley Hall at such an exciting time. The business is expanding with significant growth planned and people are at the heart of that. Everything about our business operations is about our people, from our surveyors to our planners, our agents and our accounts managers.
I’m very passionate about the human aspect of our business and particularly excited to start rolling out changes to our people development programmes, talent retention, the roll-out of our career pathways and looking at bringing in additional property specialists across the many departments and offices within our group.
Technology changes are a close second and, with better understanding of what AI is and how the industry is starting to embrace and embed it, I would like to have cutting-edge technology not only to enhance what we do and how we do it, but to futureproof the business.
Whether you’re a fan of AI or not, it has its place and, used in the right way, can be a fantastic business asset. It’s my role to ensure that my colleagues have the best tools and technology to enable them to do the job, while also ensuring that the technology we adapt enhances the client experience.
What drew you to Bradley Hall as a company and what aspects of its mission or values resonate most with you?
I was fortunate enough to work with the company during my time in the legal sector. We collaborated on a number of property transactions and had numerous mutual clients and, on a personal level, I built a good working relationship with the team. I had always been an admirer of Bradley Hall; the brand and its growth, its values and the emphasis it places upon its people absolutely align with mine. I’m an ambitious and driven professional and Bradley Hall’s growth plan for the next five years, along with its value set, really resonates with me. I am genuinely so excited to be part of the team that will drive that growth.
You’ve held senior positions in the past, including a chief executive role at Samuel Phillips Law. How do you see your years of experience influencing your approach at Bradley Hall?
I am very comfortable (after years of practice, of course!) in all aspects of managing operations. To be successful in a role such as this one, it’s imperative that I build solid relationships internally with the team, as well as externally with clients, suppliers and collaborative partners.
The perception of the job title can often be very different from the reality – fancy title, tough gig at times. I don’t sit in a metaphorical ivory tower – I much prefer to be at ground level with the team and in and among the action. I’m a solutions-focussed leader, with bucketfuls of resilience and experience and very rarely phased by a challenge or a curveball – in fact I thrive on them. In my previous role, I undertook and achieved a significant business transformation project and delivered multiple change management programmes. This, I believe, will set me in good stead in the new role at Bradley Hall.
There are some similarities by way of challenges and opportunities, so having overcome those previously, I’ll not make the same mistake twice!
What are some of the biggest opportunities, or challenges, you foresee for businesses within in the property sector and how do you plan to help Bradley Hall navigate them?
The recent change in Government will bring both challenges and opportunities aplenty. The business impact of the rise in Employer National Insurance contributions are well lamented, but a challenge nonetheless.
On a more positive note, however, we are looking forward to the outcome of the consultation process in respect of the proposed changes to planning, as well as the agenda to increase housebuilding. Every department within the business has opportunities to grow – the challenge will be in respect of the recruitment needs to support that growth.
Today, more than ever, there is a sharp focus on wellbeing, mental health and employee satisfaction in the workplace. How will you be working with the leaders and the wider teams at Bradley Hall to help shape a strong company culture as it continues to expand?
After leading teams and businesses for well over 20 years, I have observed a significant increase lately in respect of corporate burnout, mental health issues and a huge spike in anxiety and stress in the modern workplace. The pandemic, in my experience, exacerbated many underlying issues and brought them to the surface; I feel we are still suffering a hangover from that chapter and business leaders need to remain vigilant.
During the first year of the pandemic and specifically during the periods of lockdown and working from home, I found that those staff members who lived alone were at the greatest risk of developing anxiety, suffering effects of isolation and sometimes experiencing mild depression. As the pastoral lead for that business, I introduced two key private and confidential services to staff – life coaching and, for more clinically-focused need, access to private CBT, talking therapies and counselling.
Some staff had been quoted months and not weeks in respect of waiting times for NHS support and that could have led to a rapid decline in their mental health – I wasn’t prepared to risk that. For a relatively small investment, we could support that individual with first-class mental health care, privately and discreetly and, ultimately, mitigate longer-term issues for that individual including absence. It worked incredibly well.
I am still very much in the early stages of my induction into life at Bradley Hall, but the health and wellbeing of staff, as well as their experience and, specifically, their satisfaction of working for the company, are at the core of my discussions with the heads of departments. The culture within the business is extremely positive, but there has been a period of growth with a number of new talent acquisitions. My role is to ensure that our culture is not disrupted, but positively embedded and enhanced where needed.
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