John Martin, Managing Director, Babcock & Brown Communities

Getting it right for 10,000 residents

How do you measure success if you are a retirement communities operator? One of the largest owners, operators and developers is Babcock & Brown Communities (BBC), with 56 Primelife and Fini locations across Australia and New Zealand. Headed by John Martin, the measure of success is when residents refer their friends to a BBC community. John says: "This means we have got it right."

John: "We create and manage retirement living choices for retirees to make the most of this exciting new stage of life being redefined by the baby boomers."

"Of course, we create built environments, being homes and roads and community centres, but we also build emotional environments. This is all about creating places where people want to be and feel good about themselves and good about being with the people around them. What we are doing is creating and managing residential communities for seniors; we know we are successful if they are happy communities."

"This must be a holistic experience; the sales experience has to be positive, the accommodation product must be what the new generation of retirees want, and the living and social experience has to be enjoyable."

"If all these planets come into alignment then our residents will say ‘they've got it right' - one of the greatest compliments my team and I could receive."

"The most important skill I have learned as CEO is to be a better listener; to hear what our residents want and to hear their feedback on how we are performing against their expectations. As a business, we have to be looking outwards and listen to our managers and our salespeople if we are to continually improve our offering."

"I also want us to be seen as the provider of choice, the operator that people most want to entrust their future well-being with."

"Part of the answer is to go back to basics. I have a passionate belief that retirement communities can bring back the integrity of community living. It worries me that today in the suburbs we construct high fences around our homes, cutting ourselves off from our neighbours and the greater community. One of the real benefits of retirement living is that it is a low fence environment encouraging people to engage with and enjoy the friendship of the people around them, yet is still safe and secure."

"We need to get people to think about ageing as being a positive experience. Joining one of our locations should be about renewal and investing in yourself. I want us thinking more about wellness and how we can help in enhancing the quality of life going forward. This includes the obvious things like the quality of the accommodation and facilities and feeling secure and respected, but should also include us finding preferred partners that have products or services of interest to our residents whether that be for electrical goods, insurance, telecommunications, wealth management or travel and entertainment."

"We also have to try and maintain the local feel. Most of our residents come from the local area and we have to stay connected with that. I am enthusiastic about our residents staying in touch with the local community by hosting events to bring the outside community in and let the residents show off their home."

"Another point of difference for us is that we are a major provider of residential aged care so we understand the needs of our residents as they age. Following our acquisition of Conform Health Care in NSW, we now operate 29 aged care facilities predominantly in Victoria and NSW with over 30 percent of our aged care beds co-located with retirement communities. This allows some of our residents to know they never have to move again if their care needs increase."

"Personally, looking forward, my primary goal is to motivate our people about what they do and why and how they do it. People change companies, organisations do not. By setting a clear vision for the future, you can spark motivation which drives energy and enthusiasm which leads to results. This can be a virtuous circle if you get it right. I would be really proud if some of the future leaders of our industry came from our business. This would mean I had ‘got it right too.'"

John Martin, Managing Director, Babcock & Brown Communities

Getting it right for 10,000 residents

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