Award for young council customer service manager
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Posted on June 10, 2021
Central Highlands Regional Council’s Manager Customer Service and Emerald local Rebecah Brosnan has been awarded Queensland Young Manager of the Year Award for Leadership and Management Excellence.
Awarded by Local Government Managers Australia Queensland Division, the award acknowledges and encourages leadership and management excellence. It’s presented to a local government employee who has made an outstanding contribution to the positive growth of their council and community.
Ms Brosnan’s accolades within the council include visionary and transformational leadership and project management within its largest technological transformation and customer service centre structure.
In her professional and humble manner, Ms Brosnan credits her achievements to her teams and colleagues hard work and support.
‘Central Highlands Regional Council has customer service centres of various sizes in seven towns spread across a region the size of Tasmania,’ she said.
‘When we have frontline customer service staff in any of those towns able to solve a request from someone anywhere in the region, I feel that they are recognised as the professionals with diverse knowledge that we can’t do without.’
When it comes to teamwork, leadership and technology, she focuses on the development of others and providing the tools to thrive.
‘I have facilitated workshops with my team to unpack roadblocks and brainstorm solutions and I want people to understand the need for change and have the tools to thrive in an agile environment.’
Beginning her career in state government as an administration officer in 2006, Ms Brosnan joined Central Highlands Regional Council in 2012. After acting and training in the role for a year, she was appointed Manager Customer Service in 2019.
In this time, Ms Brosnan has been instrumental in implementing a contact centre to manage inbound calls, a customer request management system and a customer service strategy and action plan.
She was also heavily involved in the council’s Turn On Technology One Corporate Software Project, one of its largest and ongoing technological transformations.
Combined, these initiatives have led to frontline customer service staff consistently resolving more than 90 per cent of customer enquiries at first contact and above 80 per cent, customer satisfaction with the service provided. The latter is indicated in an annual community survey.
Mentor and General Manager of Customer and Commercial Services Michelle Webster said the award couldn’t have gone to a more deserving winner.
‘Rebecah’s journey is a showcase for the career potential in regional local governments,’ Ms Webster said.
‘Throughout her career, she actively sought out opportunities to improve service delivery and grow as a professional and leader.
‘She achieves this, and overcomes challenges along the way, with a proactive and pragmatic approach and relationships formed on trust and mutual respect.’
Ms Brosnan now studies a Diploma of Local Government Management and looks forward to continuing to build teams that succeed in transforming the council’s customer service into the future.