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Gearing itself towards growth in 2021, one of Australia’s biggest real estate groups has announced a number of new appointments, starting at the top.
LJ Hooker Group stated that the alignment of its leadership structure and a number of executive and senior appointments “will see the business deliver a consistent, targeted strategy in how it drives performance and supports its offices and people across the group”.
Most notably, this has seen Christine Mikhael into the newly formed role of chief performance officer across the LJ Hooker Group, which encompasses the franchise network, LJ Hooker Connect and LJ Hooker Avnu.
The realignment has also seen an expansion of Ruth Trewhella’s chief operations officer role, which will see her now heading up the office and agent experience for the group also.
Changes have also taken place within LJ Hooker’s network performance team, which supports the franchise network.
Rhona Olsson has been brought onboard as state director for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, while industry coach Shane Kempton will take on the role of state director for Western Australia and South Australia.
According to LJ Hooker, this will bring these regions in line with Stephen Mutton’s leadership as state director of Queensland, the Northern Territory, Victoria and Tasmania.
According to LJ Hooker network chief Graeme Hyde, the targeted strategy is about positioning the states and territories for long-term growth.
Mr Hyde said the group is excited about the addition of Ms Olsson to the team and to onboard Mr Kempton into a permanent role.
Ms Olsson “comes with more than 20 years’ experience in operational leadership and performance management, with previous positions held at CoreLogic, Interlinked Property Solutions and WBP Group”, the network chief flagged.
He said it was clear from the outset that the new state director is passionate about driving a strong team culture and helping professionals achieve their goals: “She’s a strategic innovator with a wealth of knowledge and expertise that we believe will greatly benefit our network.”
Mr Hyde also considered it “a natural decision” to bring Mr Kempton into the state directorship role permanently.
“He is no stranger to LJ Hooker, having been a part of the leadership team for over a year now,” he said.
The network chief explained that dedicated state directors “deliver significant results including greater network engagement and a laser focus by business owners on recruitment”.
He added that the creation of such roles means state directors can partner with offices to assist in local mergers or acquisition activity and scale market shares, or assist with agent performance and support.
“We believe that this organisational strategy will help us deliver solid leadership, team culture and brand presence across our network in Australia,” Mr Hyde said.
The leadership realignment has also seen changes to LJ Hooker’s property management division.
Head of property management at LJ Hooker Avnu Nick Georges will now take on a leadership role across the LJ Hooker franchise network.
Mr Hyde said Mr Georges’ leadership has already delivered “outstanding” results for the brand.
“We believe his strategic direction on growth, recruitment and operational efficiencies, while being supported by [a] specialist team, will be highly valuable for the franchise network and drive great performance,” the network chief said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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