Staff Retention

We talk a lot about what we're doing to maintain and retain our best customer base - our existing clients, but i want to ask about staff retention. How is everyone doing with retention of property managers and leasing consultants? We are a smaller company in a smaller market (northeastern ohio), so we may not be comparable to all of you, but I'm curious... are you attracting quality resumes? And how? What $ (if you're willing) are you offering? I'm struggling with the fact that we don't see great candidates come across the line and want to know how to fix it.
Thanks

Tara - This is an interesting post because I would have assumed that with this economic environment, you wouldn't have to worry about employees leaving that much. And if one did leave, wouldn't you have more to choose from since there have been layoffs?

Regardless, have you posted your listings here on Multifamily Insiders? We usually get a very response, especially after our newsletter goes out.

Actually Brent, this is a KEY time for staff retention. Since the budgets are thin, we have to get rid of the dead weight. When those people go, you're left with your key performers who are now doing extra work to make up for the jobs that you just cut. Extra work makes very few people happy.

Talent retention is paramount in a recession economy since you only have so much to spend on your employees and you want to keep the best ones. If you have a rockstar, the guy down the street knows it. And he's going to come after your rockstar if he thinks for one second he can get him/her to make the jump.

In talent retention, it's important to remember one of the great lessons from the "Carrot" books. People don't leave jobs, people leave managers. If you've got people jumping ship on you, it might be time to take a step back and look at yourself. How are you relating to them, speaking to them, etc.? Just because someone new can blow through the door, it doesn't make it okay to let a great worker be pushed aside with no recognition or thank you.

Tara- for talent retention books I would suggest any of the "carrot" books as well as the "1001 ways to energize employees" book. It comes down to specific, genuine, deserved and public praise. That doesn't cost hardly anything.

GREAT response Heather!

I couldn't agree more Heather! Perhaps to better explain myself... we typically, as a company, do not target resumes with specific industry experience. There are several reasons for that, most of which would entail 27 pages of information, so suffice to say that we are okay with training fresh meat.

However, our key performers are the managers that have been with us for 10 years. I am struggling to get the performance, committment/investment, and stability from new hires and those untenured.
I am concerned that our qualification base may not be pulling what we want, but I accept that I am not going to rewrite the book overnight.

So how do I split the middle ground?

Tara,

The best thing about property management is that because of the nature of the work, everyone from any industry has something valuable to bring to the table! I applaud you for being willing to focus your efforts outside those with "experience," who MIGHT be set in their ways and closed-minded (not all are, but sometimes...).

When you are willing to spend the time training the fresh meat, then you have a chance to build a company culture much faster than if you had chosen the "chosen few," who looked awesome on paper. I can make a goldfish look awesome on paper. I'm a resume writer, it's part of what I do. Looking good behind that desk, that's another matter completely.

Where does the middle ground come from? It comes from trial and error. Several rounds of it. You're right that you can't rewrite the book overnight, but like any journal, you can add a few new lines to it each day. If you want to inspire worker loyalty, then start with having a worker centric area of your mission statement. Things like caring about the worker's quality of life, what their life goals, not just professional goals, are, and basically being open to talk to everyone from your top manager to your brand new groundskeeper on the SAME level, all off these go a LONG way in winning the hearts and minds of the people who are on your payroll. Show them why doing something to help the company helps them personally. Give them a personal "buy-in" if you really want to reach them and get the best performance out of them.

In talent management and modeling one of the most important things is that you understand that each person is different. Some people are financially motivated. That works for them. But come at me, waving a $20 bill and you won't get my attention. I'm motivated by praise, appreciation and my desire to make the world just a little bit better. Some other people might be motivated by something as simple as implementation of a new idea, or the chance to break some new ground. Blanket rewards and motivation just smother and suffocated your great people. Everyone wants to stand out and feel important in their own right.

Get to the core of your employees and you will always get the best performance out of them. 90% of the time, people want to do a good job. They want to work hard. When they aren't, it's usually a manager or management that won't let them.

Also, never just hire as fast as you can. As hard as it might be on your budget, use a staffing company or an internal company floater until you find the right person for the job. Hiring quickly might make your owners really happy, but they're not going to be very happy when you're hiring for the same position 4 times in the same year. At $8000 a pop to put them in your HR, get them on AND get them off your payroll, you're just going to cost yourself more money than you would have if you had just waited for the right person to come along in the first place.

The right employee is out there. In this economy, I promise you that. It's like the Sizzler for hiring managers right now. Don't fill up on bread!

Heather, your comments couldn't be more spot-on if you worked with us! One of the reasons that I am really proud of our company is that we really try to match new hires to the property and existing staff. Then we are very good at recognizing strengths from the top down for managers to their hall cleaning staff. It makes us personalized, employee-centric, and appreciative of everyone's role in our product and company as a whole.
Where we may need to focus more is holding out on hiring instead of jumping just because the bait moves.
Thanks for the great response. Any chance of you moving to Ohio? I know a great little company...

Amen.

I'm incredibly flattered but I love my job out here in Seattle. (Any time you need a consultant though, I'd be happy to come see you! )I actually already work with one of those amazing companies that does all of those great things I was writing about. That's part of how I know how great it can feel as a worker.

Example: For a bonus last year, the CEO took us on a shopping trip. $500 is what we had to spend. He knew I was an artist and he bought me the coolest thing. He paid for my printing press, something I've wanted for 10 years but would never be able to justify purchasing for myself. He told me it was one of the coolest purchases he'd ever made and to, "Feed my soul." How many companies care about your soul?

I'm so incredibly loyal to my company's CEO that if he asked me to walk on broken glass for him, I'd do it. Go for the worker loyalty through true, honest, and personal connections and they won't stray for a few bucks more an hour.

Sounds like you're already on the right track! Keep up the awesome work!

okay heather... but the next time you're in the market for a minion...
two minutes after my last post, I got three emails re: job interest...
mysterious ways i suppose.

I love what Heather said "People don't leave jobs, people leave managers." Most people I know love their actual job. Managers need to be trained on employee retention techniques.

Employee retention is critical, even in a poor economy. I understand that many companies believe that people are disposable assets, easily replaced. This mindset promotes high turnover and increases training expense. Losing a well-trained, valuable employee may have an unseen ripple effect that cannot be calculated.

For example, a high turnover rate in your leasing office has a negative impact on your resident experience. I lived in a community where it seemed as if a new property manager was introduced every year. As a resident, I liked knowing the staff that introduced me to my community; however, I eventually gave up on trying. Relationships are important to residents.

Relationships are also important to teams. When a valuable employee leaves a team, rebuilding trust within that team is difficult. Working environments and moral is damaged. Simply 'replacing' the missing team member is not enough, and the stress of adapting to new employees can cause additional turnover.

On another note: When I select an employee, I choose one that is not only capable of the job but compatible with my current team AND our company culture. Training is easy, but finding the right person can be much more difficult. I invest a considerable amount of time into each employee I have, and hopefully this will help each of them invest in their career. A win-win.