Office Professional Rita Hardham
DSI Panels Group, VIC
Behind every well-run business is someone who keeps the numbers tight and the standards high. At DSI Panels Group, that’s Rita Hardham.
Rita's role may be head of accounts, but she does so much more says her nominator.
"Because of Rita we have a reputation of paying bills correctly and on time (a lot of the time early) which our partners love. They know they can rely on DSI Panels, and we know we can rely on Rita. But there is so much more to Rita, whether it's making sure the cupboards are stocked with stationary, doing the Costco and grocery runs, making sure there are uniforms for everyone to wear or picking up the phone and answering customer calls when required. She is a jack of all trades, and a master of all. She's got the reputation of a "ball buster" but honestly, if she didn't, she wouldn't think she was doing her job properly."
If there’s a better way to do something, she’s willing to adopt it, even if it means learning from scratch.
Rita loves order, organisation and keeping to a budge. Being a family business and Clarissa's (DSI is owned by Clarissa and Dave) mum means that she feels extra responsibility in her everyday role, but because she works with such drive every day she instills the same values into everyone around her.
Also being of Italian background she loves to cook and bake for her family, and that's what DSI is to her. She spoils the staff with food, and you know you can't say no. Rita is one of the foundations of DSI Panels and everyone loves working with her.
"Rita previously volunteered at Monash Children's Hospital's NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) which she loved, but recently due to her partner being unfortunately diagnosed with cancer only a few months ago has also championed the idea of a DSI Panels Lifeblood Team. Rita wanted to do her part to help so she came to us with an idea of allowing staff members to donate blood or plasma during business hours to help with the Red Cross's current dire blood and plasma bank levels. This is something we are currently rolling out across our 3 locations giving staff the opportunity to donate blood or plasma once per quarter to help where we can."