Property Managers: How to Manage Your Biggest Asset—Your Employees

2018-11-30

How much time do you invest in them? If you’re only communicating in passing and you’re surprised when someone in your team resigns, you’re out of touch with your employees. More importantly your employees are impacting your business in ways you’re not aware of, and all of it may not be positive.

 

So here’s your challenge: Can you build a healthy working environment in the challenging world of property management?

 

You know the challenges you face:

• Working remotely on different sites means your employees can feel disconnected you’re your business and others
• Managing workers’ schedules in an ever changing environment is a challenge throughout each day
• You need to ensure two different groups of people get along well: Unpredictable tenants and your valuable employees

 

Luckily you don’t have to settle for all the challenges these situations bring. Here’s why.

 

First Things First—Get the Right Team

It’s difficult—almost impossible—to transform someone into the right employee. Why not hire only those with the right traits from the start?

• Skills
• Personality traits
• Commitment

 

This is why your application process should never be rushed. You need to find the best among your applicants. Being proactive limits future HR problems.

 

How Can Technology Help?

If you want the best workers available you need to be the company people really want to work for. If not those employees you want will simply work for your opposition.

 

How do you set yourself apart? By having the right reputation:

• Using up to date technology to streamline processes
• Ensuring low stress working environments

 

What helps you get this right? Field service management software.

 

Do You Know What You Need?

So before you employ the next person on your team you should have a checklist. Do you know exactly which skills and traits you need?

 

If you don’t know what you’re looking for you’ll settle for the person who impresses in the interview. But will you still be impressed a few weeks from now if the person can’t handle the real life pressures of property management?

 

How Can Technology Help?

Do you keep record of the things clients, landlords and employees complain about? Looking back to feedback, reviews and communication you can easily create a list of ‘must have’ characteristics that will benefit your functioning.

 

With field service management software communication with clients, tenants, service providers and your employees is all done & kept online. You can simply retrieve it to gauge what your next ideal employee will be like.

 

Can You Get Maximum Results with Minimum Number of Employees?

Do you struggle to manage time, schedules and your long to do list? Perhaps you think you don’t have enough hands? Employers often believe the key to getting more work done is to add new members to the team. In reality success is often related to simply doing more with the people you have.

 

And yes it’s possible:

• If your employees complain there’s too much work the real problem may simply be that some tasks are hampered with a lack of equipment or skills.
• Chaotic days may be the result of a lack of communication.
• Too much stress could be a desire to have more input from you throughout the work day when complicated situations arise.

 

These are all attainable goals if you harness the power of technology.

 

How Can Technology Help?

Management software helps to streamline processes in many businesses. Of course you work in a very unique niche and you need very particular features. Field service management software doesn’t disappoint when applied to the PM market:

• Communicate online via mobile devices and computers so your team knows exactly what’s expected of them.
• Manage everyone’s schedules in an orderly fashion because you have real time feedback on jobs.
• Store information online so workers have instant access to whatever they need.

 

When this system works you can imagine employees will be able to handle more jobs each day without feeling overwhelmed. And what does that mean for you? Lower HR expenses because the team you have will be able to handle the pressure.

 

Can You Keep ETR Low?

Everything mentioned relates to one important KPI each company should have: Low ETR (Employee Turnover Rate). What does yours look like at the moment?

 

Why is this important?

• You don’t want to spend unnecessary funds on advertising positions, interviewing applicants and training new employees. This also robs you of valuable time.
• When too many people leave your employment it can put you in a negative light as employer.

 

How Can Technology Help?

What do you think your workers’ greatest needs are? You may think they’re only working for their salaries but people really want to feel they achieve something each day.

 

With the help of technology such as field service management software you’ll have more successful days—keeping tenants happy and maintaining premises. That leaves everyone on your team with satisfaction at the end of the day. And that’s not something anyone will easily give up & walk away from.

 

What About Landlords Employing Property Managers?

Are you reading this from the point of view of a landlord? What is your greatest challenge?

• Getting feedback about your assets and properties.
• Updates about rent collection
• Finding new tenants when someone moves out

 

How Can Technology Help?

Your agreement with your property manager determines which of these take up your time and which ones you simply need some information about. But here’s the good news: With software such as a field service package you and your PM can handle these as a team instead of separate entities.

 

And teamwork always brings the best results.

 

In each decision you make you—as a property manager—have two priorities: The tenant and the property. But you won’t achieve much with either without your employees. That makes them a priority too. Are you doing your best for them at the moment?