Celebrating 100 years: David Z's Story

After almost 18 years with CSC, David Zakharoff, Manager Member Education, considers himself fortunate. He says he has the best team and the best line of work in the business!

David feels privileged to be at the coalface because he knows customer engagement is at the core of everything we do.

Seeing customers in real time — instead of only interacting with them by email or phone — David reflects that receiving direct feedback means hearing it warts and all!

‘Fortunately, member feedback is overwhelmingly positive. Sometimes, however, customer comments can be negative. I enjoy the opportunity to work with the customer to find a positive outcome.’

Building customer relationships based on trust, especially with our ADF customers, David says is incredibly rewarding. It’s not uncommon for military members to take a few moments to ‘suss him or his team out’, but as soon as members realise that they’re here to help them, the walls come down and communication flows easily.

'On hundreds of occasions, we’ve finished the chat about their super but then spend another 15 minutes simply talking. These authentic conversations are so important because our customers just want to feel seen and heard. It also brings the human side of CSC to our customers — that we are, in so many ways, just like them.’

Early in his CSC career, David worked in the Military Casework Team, where his interactions with customers were via phone and submitted forms. Before long, the cases he was working with began to feel the same and the process began to feel robotic. He thought he was losing touch with the real person behind the document — a person who likely had a very sad story. David elected to move out of this role and sought a position where he could have more direct contact with our customers. He found this with the Member Education Team.

'There were so many cases and, generally speaking, a sad story attached to each one. Every person had a life-changing incident which led them to that point. I began to feel limited as to how I could help them and the cases were taking a toll on my outlook on life. I decided to leave that space because I didn’t feel I was giving the role, or the customers, the best of me. I also felt like the move was right for my headspace.’

In his current position, David prefers to credit his team for the amazing work that they do inside and outside of the organisation, and the incredible way that they support each other.

'My team shines in the most difficult of circumstances — from bedside visits for the terminally ill to meeting directly with returning vets, some of whom are physically injured or retain deep mental scars. While these extreme cases are few, my colleagues perform this role incredibly well. Rarely will the team talk about these cases; you won’t read about them on the intranet. But they are the most professional and resilient individuals I know and have the maturity and interpersonal skills to perform such difficult tasks extremely well. They know our customers and are a credit to our organisation.’