Why is front office always regarded higher than maintenance staff?

Debatable question, this question is not meant as an attack towards front office staff, but to maybe open the eyes of some and get a discussion going.
But why is front office always regarded higher (industry over all , my company not included) than maintenance staff? I mean to be fair maintenance sees the residents more than office staff. Some office staff only see the resident for notices and/or rent payments. That is something that has always baffled me in this industry.

I work on the office side and we try to make our maintenance team feel like the rockstars they are. We are always thanking them and letting them know how much we appreciate them. The office staff couldn’t do what we do with out our amazing team. It’s baffling that all properties don’t do that.

I completely agree. The Service Teams actually have more of an impact on the overall success than the office team. Let's face it, when things are not going well with maintenance, poor turn quality, high ticket numbers, repeat calls, bad reviews, all of this has a detrimental effect on operations. I'd love to see more robust incentives for service, that mimics what we're paying on the sales and operation side. I'm speaking as an industry, in general. In my arena, training, I hate to admit that most of our ILTs are geared towards operations and sales. Service teams are the heartbeat of the entire property. Great discussion point that may spur us to do better!

I believe maintenance is the most important asset we have. Without my maintenance department both my clients and residents would be very dissatisfied.

I feel that every position is equally important- it’s the team that makes the property work. That said, I agree that maintenance affects residents more, and the office staff should be supporting them, (e.g. increasing communication with residents to make work more efficient for maintenance)

I believe we are ALL equal. I told my team - no one is better than the other, we ALL are responsible for working as a team to handle business.

They are just as important than anyone else and they are rewarded as others as well. At least at my community.

I need them and they need me.

Nah as an APM. I disagree. I had an amazing mentor once tell me something along the lines of “the office team is the brochure, the maintenance team are the reason why they stay.” In my opinion, anyone can lease and anyone can be an APM. Maintenance has to basically know several trades but only get paid for the one job.

The curse of any organization is when the value one group and devalue another. It is a sign of real cultural shortcomings.

Everyone has a role. Every role matters. Some jobs have different skills and pay more (for good and bad reasons), but if the culture is A is more important than B (at front line customer facing) then trouble is brewing.

That means people are more focused on status and prestige than family and teamwork.

I've noticed a LOT of people in this group who say...I would never HELP that role. My job is my job (more important) and their job is their job. It is ludicrous they would ever try to do my job.....etc.
One vision. One purpose. One mission. That is the unifying element that connects different roles to same objectives.

I cringe at the "its not my job" comments. If you have the ability and can make the time, HELP YOUR TEAM!

It may be front office that gets the move ins but it's maintenance that gets the renewals.
When a tenants renews thank your maintenance team!

I have worked as a tech, lead tech, and MSuper, all of the maintenance staff is incredibly valuable to the day to day operation of the business. If you dont have the techs and supers to do the turn and make them ready the Leasing staff doesnt have a job to do. Leasing relies on maintenance to make the first impression of a quality unit that the prospect will want to call home. Maintenance has to live up to the hype of quick and competent repairs to keep that idea alive when something goes wrong. It takes years in some cases to recover from 1 bad tech messing up a simple repair, it can torpedo the entire team. Good techs keep residents in units. Good leasing staff gets them in the door, and builds the relationship that helps to make it feel like home and gives a sense of community. If the front end as you call it takes care of the M team, the M team will in turn make it easier for you to get and keep residents. You dont need to buy them gifts, buy them lunch or laude the tables of their exploits, treat them fairly, be honest with them and thank them for their contributions. Just an old Tech talking, take it with a grain of salt if you must.

I agree , however , industry pay standards , budget , does not, I’ve been a tech for 10+ years an absolutely love what I do , the rep-or I have with my residents and making sure they feel confident in my work and my teams work, I’ve been on various levels now while there are companies who try to make maintenance feel like an important part of their team (my job is one of those who let it be known maintenance is a key player too) I’ve worked for companies before where they treat the maintenance staff like red headed step children , a lot of times the front office forgets that maintenance techs come out all hours of the night , through all types of weather conditions, we deal with the hot residents in summer and cold in winter, put our families on hold sometimes , all while they sit at home all cozy sipping their wine

Been in that boat, have a divorce partly because of it, I put my property and my residents before my family on several occasions because I was the on call tech. Alot of the office personnel dont see us at the property at 10pm fixing a furnace or coming in at 4 am to make sure the lots and drives are clear of snow and ice before the office opens at 8 or 9. We are behind the scenes and up front all at the same time.

Because office staff is who sells the unit, helps through the app process, and takes all the ridiculous requests and complaints on a daily basis. We calm the angry residents prior to maintenance entering their unit, usually. Front office eats a lot of shit, as I like to say. Nobody gets it unless they’ve worked a week at the front desk. My maintenance crew is the best I’ve ever had, but guess who deals with the initial complaints and the aftermath of work orders gone wrong? We do. Even corporate doesn’t get it. That’s why I love my company, cause they require any corporate employee to work front desk of a property for at least a week so they can grasp what we deal with daily. It will really drain you. Renewals though, I believe are 80% because of maintenance, that’s why they bonus off renewals as well. We get them in, but it takes all of us to keep them there.

If this is the case you are working for the wrong company and need to find someone who values you more.
Being a PM for 12 years we wouldn't be able to do what we do without maintenance. The companies I worked for pay their maintenance more and we show appreciation every chance we got.

My residents love me, but they LOOKOOVE my maintenance guy! He makes our property go round. I’m just an office jockey!

Our office team and maintenance team are daily actively interacting with each other and with residents. conference calls or meetings with all three. to say office team or maintenance team only indicates the geography of where that team member spends most of their time. using their skills one could not succeed without the other. we introduce our maintenance team to new residents and prospects on tours.

I completely disagree on the regard for the office over maintenance. It has always been my experience that the maintenance team runs the ship. If the apartments aren’t turned properly, the work orders aren’t done correctly, and the property isn’t clean and maintained, it doesn’t matter how nice your office team is. A resident will decide if they are staying or leaving at the end of their lease solely based on how they feel about the maintenance team. A great team has both amazing inside and outside teams that work together to care for their residents. But a good maintenance team is always the dream.

Chain of command. Only the orders from owner or office can be followed by maintenance team. Obviously if there is something wrong Maintenance can do first and ask question later.

I think there needs to be understanding on both sides. As a member of the office staff, I feel that the maintenance team never truly understands what we have to know and what we have to do when it comes to the admin side of work, such as having to know in depth knowledge of property systems, fair housing, touring, appearance, residents complaining all day. I’ve had many maintenance think that all we do is sit at a computer and do nothing because our jobs are desk based for the most part. However, I feel that maintenance feels the same way, that the office staff doesn’t understand what they go through. I feel that every role in the office is important to the overall success of the community and nobody is better than anybody. There just needs to be compassion and understanding on both sides, but also a willingness to help from both parties as well. I’ve had maintenance techs give a tour when we are short staffed and I’ve gone out and cleaned the grounds with maintenance when we were short a porter. One team one dream.

I agree completely! I'm NOTHING without my maintenance team! But when I got to my property and started explaining the whys of what we were asking of them, and honestly just talking about what I do in the office, they were instantly happy. Apparently no one ever thought of doing that before so they seriously didn't understand why they were asked to do some things and resentment was starting. I saw it and decided to let them know 1) I am not above helping them with anything and 2) I will give them reasoning for my requests because we are all adults. I've been on property for 7 months now and my guys love the communication and the team work. And I am beyond blessed with them on my team.

It has been hard for some companies/ teams in the past but I see it changing. From our leadership down our company regards maintenance as equally important. We know maintenance is the backbone that keeps it together. We are even looking at adding more benefits and things for them specifically on top of what we already do to recognize them

We are a team, all of us!!! Period.

Who said maintenance is inferior? If that's happening at your property more likely a company culture issue honestly or how the manager is leading her team.

I’ve never seen office or maintenance as “higher than” or “superior to” the other.

Many see the front office as the face of the community and don't recognize that maintenance is the neck. It's up to the front office to protect the neck. As a community manager and now as a Regional, I make sure to show appreciation to the maintenance staff. Without them the property would fall apart.

White collar vs. Blue collar work...

If there’s a property operating with this mindset it will absolutely fail… We’re all important and it takes a TEAM to run a community. Without team work and equality, you have nothing.

I don’t know why this happens but it’s not okay. My husband has always worked maintenance whether it be multi family or hospitality and I see his job is super difficult and I have never understood why office staff is held in such a high regard when they are the ones in the trenches… and dealing with some situations none of us could deal with! I think we should all be on the same level!! In every area even pay… these people go into situations I would not want to walk into and they do it with such ease… we need to hold them in high esteem!

I don't agree with what I'm going to say, and on my property it's not true, but in general, residents think that front office staff are window dressing, and maintenance are tools. And it's our fault. When the office staff treats a resident like they're the only one, they're going to act like they're the only resident. When we treat our maintenance like tools, the resident is going to treat them like tools.
On my property my maintenance and housekeeping are empowered to talk to residents, greet residents, and be part of the community. I never tell my employees to do something for a resident, specially in front of the resident. It's always "Can you please help [resident's name]?" or "I know you're in the middle of something, but would it be possible if you could help [resident's name]?
That subconsciously lets the resident know that the associate has the a power and authority over their position. (even though they always say yes... I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important).
And it's maintenance and housekeeping's fault too. How many times has a resident asked you something and you replied "I don't know, you'll have to ask the office... I'm just a tool".

This is a Great point and happens, even if its not meant to!!! We need to CHANGE that!! It takes everyone of us to get the job done!! Everyone is of same importance to us! We are a TEAM. TITLES are for our residents, not for an internal battle. We stand shoulder to shoulder to resolve issues. We all help out! #doingwhatittakes #teamstogetherWIN

I agree with you!

We value our maintenance team members greatly, we do realize that many residents stay or leave because of their experience with maintenance.

However, our inside team members are so much more than brochures, and to be clear, not EVERYONE can lease apartments or be a property manager (at least to my standards).