Milestones: Charlie Smith’s 5-Year Journey at Greystar
As a dedicated member of our People and Culture team, a large part of Charlie’s role is focused on attracting, retaining, and developing talent for our global team. Read on as he reflects on his time at Greystar:
What attracted you to Greystar?
“In all honesty, when I was approached about the opportunity at Greystar, I had relatively limited knowledge of the residential market, or Greystar as a trailblazer within that particular revolution in Europe. I will say that the recognition of people as a pillar and equality as a value supported my decision, as those are two things that naturally thread through both my personal and professional identity. However, now that I reflect, it was the people that I met through the recruitment process that heavily influenced my decision. Everyone I met, up, down, and sideways to the reporting line modelled the same behaviours: commerciality, transparency, and appreciation for the need to be able to flex your critical thinking muscle to be successful here, something that I see as integral to building a meaningful and diverse career.”
What keeps you at Greystar?
“This is tough, as there are so many reasons! However, to summarise at a very high level, the European platform today is an entirely different beast than when I joined the organisation in 2019. We have scaled our AUM and unit count significantly, have more than doubled our geographical spread across the region, have launched our first (€1.5 billion) fund, and are now truly seen as the regional leader in our specialist arenas. In addition, with business growth comes people growth, and I am extremely proud of the work my team has done in leading the expansion of our team member populations across Europe and all lines of business over that period. Reflecting on the changes now and recognising what has been achieved from a people perspective is something I will always look upon very fondly.”
How would you describe Greystar’s culture?
“I am going to pivot a little here and highlight what is important to me from the perspective of culture, and that has consistently been anchored in values relating to equality of opportunity and inclusive practices in all their forms. I always strive to maintain these principles in whatever capacity I operate, and it would be fair to say that I continue to be a strong proponent of upholding these as core foundations across the organisation. These are principles that any team member should uphold, irrespective of their role or level of seniority. The support I have had from core members of the senior European leadership team in this regard has been unwavering. That speaks volumes when it comes to the strength of our culture.”
What are you most looking forward to about Greystar’s future?
“I have been extremely fortunate in my career at Greystar so far. I have been afforded so many opportunities, of which I am very grateful, and I continue to operate outside of the mandate originally given to me 5 years ago, to both my personal and professional development and to the benefit of the organisation. These range from leading our DEI strategy in the region to building global competency frameworks, systems optimisations, offshoring recruiting activity, building a shared services team, and strengthening our leadership teams through recruiting top talent into the business. Looking forward, I am encouraged by the sheer opportunity for continued global transformation across the People and Culture team and hope to play an integral role there by leveraging the depth and breadth of my knowledge and experience across global Greystar.”
“Despite temporary market challenges, I believe Greystar in Europe will continue to flourish. We have an exceptional product, a robust business model that can navigate turbulent macro market economic challenges, and people committed to driving that vision through to completion.”
- Charlie Smith, Senior Director, Talent Acquisition & Human Resources
Join us throughout the rest of 2024 as we continue recognising other team members as part of our milestones celebration.
Interested in joining the Greystar Europe team? Check out the Greystar Careers page to apply today.
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