The theme of this edition of my blog is leadership. It’s naturally a very important skill for managers of any level to have, and leadership certainly plays an important role in my day to day activities at RoS, with July being no different. In discussing leadership, I’d also like to highlight our new campaign to create closer engagement with lenders across the UK – read on for more details.

Leading at RoS: Events and stakeholder engagement

As you’ll have read in my previous blog, external events are a valuable opportunity for me to meet with stakeholders and take the lead in showcasing RoS and the work we do. In another echo of last month, in July I again attended Civil Service Live, though this time at the event in Manchester.

I was part of a stand alongside colleagues from the Cabinet Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with our contribution focussing on engaging civil servants in encouraging citizen participation in shaping public policy and services. As some of you are no doubt aware, collaboration and consultation have been a central part of our work for some time now, so it was great to share this experience with other members of the Civil Service.

I also took part in a panel discussion at the Connect Gov Leaders Summit, talking about the role of leadership in the data-driven economy, another area of importance for RoS. The role of executive leadership was also on the agenda when I met with my counterpart at National Records of Scotland, to continue to lead on the close work we do together.

I also met with some of the Chief Executives of other public bodies in Scotland to discuss the further action we could take to respond to the Scottish Government’s announcement of a climate emergency. We are all already working hard to encourage sustainability and reduce the environmental impact of our organisations but we want to do more.

Meeting directly with customers is another important task for me as a leader. I’m a firm believer in the importance of being visible as a chief executive, as it provides valuable support and acts as a clear route for any comments or concerns.

Spotlight: Our lender engagement campaign

In recent weeks, our customer engagement teams and others across the organisation have been hard at work on a campaign to work more closely with lenders across the UK, to make sure they have the support and information they need on RoS and our processes to transact on properties in Scotland with confidence.

I’ve personally contacted the CEOs of the largest lending organisations that operate in the Scottish property market, to provide more details on our policies and processes, our work to eradicate our current registration arrear, and open the door for further conversation on the matter as required.

This letter is something that I hope will have a positive impact on our customers across the industry, and at time of writing I’ve already had a number of replies, all of which have been positive and also echoed the enthusiasm for closer communication.

A direct line of communication: The best way to lead business change

I mentioned earlier about the importance of meeting directly with customers, and I’d like to close this blog by emphasising just how much my colleagues and I value this at RoS. I’d therefore encourage any of our customers to reach out if there is ever a situation where we can provide extra assistance.

Whether you have a bulk of applications submissions coming up, are looking to expedite an application, or have any other matter you’d like to discuss, please do get in touch, either through our Customer Services team, or by speaking to your dedicated Customer Relationship Manager.

I am also always happy to hear directly from customers, so if there is ever anything you would like to draw to my personal attention, please do not hesitate to contact me. You can follow me on Twitter @RoSKeeper.

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