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Page 14 — Property Management Quarterly — January 2018
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P roperty management is an
industry built around out-
standing customer service,
so our team knows the
importance of people. Main-
taining good relationships with
residents and tenants of all kinds is
what keeps revenue flowing. But in
order to keep our customers happy,
property management team mem-
bers must feel fulfilled in their jobs
as well. Happy people deliver the
best service, which, in turn, leads to
loyal residents.
However, property management is
a stressful and demanding industry,
so it’s not always easy to keep your
team members content. As manag-
ers, it’s our job to consistently check
the pulse on our teams to make
sure we retain our top talent. How
do you build a rock-solid culture
and gain more loyalty with employ-
ees? Following are six of our best
tips.
1. Develop a company culture that
gives back to your team. Building an
enjoyable company culture is the
key to any people-centric business.
Most employees work to earn a pay-
check. However, according to a 2016
survey by Glassdoor, 57 percent of
respondents said that benefits and
other company perks play a major
role when deciding to pursue a par-
ticular job. For example, the popular
start up Airbnb offers its employees
an annual $2,000 stipend to travel
wherever they’d like.
So, find ways to reward your
employees for hard work and have
fun. They’re likely spending over
40 hours a week in your office, and
that’s a big commitment. It’s crucial
that you make sure
they feel valued
and respected with
their time.
2. Acknowledge
good days. We all
know manag-
ers who only
acknowledges their
employees when
they do something
wrong – don’t treat
your team this
way. Acknowledg-
ing your team’s
successes goes a
long way. When
they deliver great customer service,
tell them they did great work. It’s
that simple.
Likewise, although it might be
difficult at times, don’t focus on
every little mistake. Remember
that everyone has bad days, and
put yourself in their shoes. They’re
working a difficult job, and bad days
are bound to happen. When small
mistakes happen, give them a hall
pass. Excellent team members will
know when they made a mistake
and won’t need to be told what they
did wrong again.
3. Don’t fill their days with “fluff.”
How many meetings have you been
to that were of little to no value?
Don’t fill up your team’s calendars
with pointless meetings, appoint-
ments and other “fluff” that could
be covered in another way. People
feel disrespected when they are
asked to attend a meeting that isn’t
a valuable use of their time.
Take a look at your schedule and
cancel any unnecessary meetings.
If an in-person meeting can be
reduced to a phone call, or a phone
call can be reduced to an email,
do it. Your employees don’t want
to waste your time, so you should
show them the same respect. After
all, their time is your money.
4. Discover their personal goals.
Everyone in a company has per-
sonal and professional goals they’d
like to achieve, from the reception-
ist to the CEO. No matter the size
of your team, try to spend time
with each individual team member
to understand her personal goals.
This shows that you truly appreci-
ate your employees and want to see
each succeed.
Once you know their goals, craft
ways that you can support them
and acknowledge when they hit
milestones. For example, if an
employee wants to pay off $3,000
in debt over the next 12 months,
show them that you’re invested in
their goals by making a deal. Advise
them that every month they pay
down $200 toward this debt, you’ll
chip in another $50. This small ges-
ture of support will go a long way in
terms of this employee’s morale.
5. Challenge your team members.
Throughout my career in manage-
ment, I’ve found that the majority
of people I work with are capable
of taking on more responsibility as
they grow in their position. I like to
challenge these people, and they
often thrive because of it. Don’t just
give meaningless tasks that you
know your employees can do. Give
them tasks that they could fail at,
and embrace that failure as a nor-
mal part of the learning process. As
they achieve new jobs, keep adding
them until they have bigger respon-
sibilities on their shoulders.
This will help them grow profes-
sionally. They’ll come to you with
questions, but use this as an oppor-
tunity to teach, not tell. When they
ask the question, “What should I
do in this situation?” Respond by
asking them, “I’m not sure, what do
you think is the right way to tackle
this?” After they have answered
their own question, put them in
charge of making it happen.
6. Provide company-sponsored events
to relieve stress. When you achieve
something great as a team, switch
up your normal routine and reward
your people for their hard work.
Spice up a routine meeting by going
to your team’s favorite lunch place.
When you hit your leasing goals,
give everyone $100 in cash, head to
the shopping mall and require them
to buy something for themselves.
Again, property management is
a stressful industry, and you don’t
want your team to hit a wall. So,
every once in a while, make sure
that you stop and double-check that
no one is being overworked. If they
are, offer to take something off their
plate and give it to another team
member to avoid burnout.
These six methods might take
a little more time out of your day,
but the return on investment you’ll
get from your employees is huge.
Remember, the more you invest
in your team, the harder they’ll be
willing to work for you.▲
Nick Mertens
Vice president
of property
management, Atlas
Real Estate Group,
Denver