Community Association Management: Staffing Strategies

As the popularity of community associations continues to grow in the US, staffing a community association management company has become an increasingly difficult task. This staffing challenge is faced on two fronts—reducing the turnover of existing staff and finding and hiring qualified new candidates. But with the continued shortage of available talent, how do growing management companies recruit and retain qualified community association managers?

After investigating these issues with First Citizens clients, prospects and industry experts, we've uncovered strategies that have shown promise for the management companies that adopted them. Many of these approaches may be variations of programs you already offer while others may be piloted without incurring significant costs. Let's examine retention strategies then explore recruiting programs that have shown potential.

Outsourcing's surprising impact on staff morale

As more community association management companies roll out outsourcing pilot programs, hidden benefits are emerging. One such benefit is the positive effect it can have on existing employee morale.

The initial motivation for testing outsourcing programs typically revolves around reducing costs and increasing productivity, but these programs may also free up internal staff to tackle more dynamic tasks. As a result, your full-time employees may feel more empowered with their day-to-day work, leading to improved job satisfaction.

By outsourcing work such as after-hours calls, spreadsheet development and other back-office tasks, you allow your in-house staff to concentrate on the relationship building functions that they can accomplish more effectively. With an outsourcing vendor in place, your in-house team can concentrate on the responsibilities that align with their strengths and interests.

When setting up an outsourcing program, use the following guidelines to help you get started:

• Determine the initial set of tasks you'd like your outsourcing program to tackle.
• Investigate potential outsourcing partners to work with. Many pilot programs have been successful employing vendors based in the Philippines and Mexico.
• Strictly define and document the desired tasks and service levels with your vendor partner.
• Develop a training program and ramp-up schedule for your new vendor's employees.
• Once your pilot program is running, assess your vendor's performance and costs against your in-house costs and service levels.
• Survey your in-house staff to determine the impacts of the program–with employees as well as clients.

Strengthen your staff retention with documented client selection criteria

It's no secret that day-to-day client interaction is another area that's likely to have a big impact on employee morale and retention.

If your staff and clientele don't have a healthy relationship, the stress put on your team may cause you to lose good people prematurely. Fortunately, this may be corrected over time by developing and documenting selection criteria for new clients that helps align your company goals, tactics and methods with those of your clients.

This selection process may promote long-lasting relationships for your businesses and reduce the strife felt by staff when working with clients who don't care for your company's approach to property management.

Consider the following when evaluating the traits of your ideal clients:

• Define your target market more precisely by considering the ideal size, geography, community and property type.
• Carefully determine if prospective board members' management styles align with your own.
• Be specific regarding new clients' service expectations and whether they align with your staff's strengths.

Having this criteria in place may make it easier to identify potentially incompatible clients from the outset. Saying no to prospects that aren't a good fit may help improve morale, retention and help you devote more time to servicing clients who are more compatible with your strengths.

Introduce an AI assistant to help reduce staff burnout

Artificial intelligence, or AI, has quickly evolved into a helpful tool for countless businesses and the community association industry is no exception. Forward-thinking community association management companies have embraced this technology and set up pilot programs using AI assistants specially trained for their needs. The assistants can provide answers to homeowner questions at all hours.

Like the benefits enjoyed through outsourcing, using an AI assistant can dramatically improve your client and staff's daily lives and stress levels.

Once an AI assistant is up and running, it can accurately and efficiently handle inbound questions and requests:

• Account balance information
• Options for making payments
• Creation of work orders

Callers that choose to use the AI assistant may leave a voice message and quickly receive answers via text.

Jason Schoenholtz, co-founder of Miami property management company Trident Management, set up an AI assistant pilot program and has been very pleased with its performance. "Once Athena, our AI assistant, was fully trained we had a valuable resource that works 24/7, 365 days a year," Schoenholtz says.

AI technology has become another powerful tool to keep your staff more engaged by freeing them up to perform more dynamic, satisfying work each day.

Improve your work environment with a client code of conduct

A client code of conduct is another staff retention strategy embraced by Jason and his team at Trident Management. This innovation was implemented to address the challenges of disrespectful behavior experienced by Trident staff members in recent years. Before the code of conduct's launch, Trident was experiencing significant employee turnover that Jason attributed largely to this behavior.

To help improve staff morale, Jason integrated the code of conduct into Trident's new management contracts. The new language included stipulations to help elevate the client/staff relationship:

• Board members will educate themselves regarding their roles and responsibilities.
• Callers will speak professionally with Trident community managers.
• Board meeting attendees will arrive prepared for community meetings.

Having a code of conduct written into management contracts gives Trident a reference point to address disrespectful behavior as it happens. In addition, the revamped contract acts as a barometer for Trident prospects. If a new prospect isn't willing to sign a management contract that includes the new code of conduct, it's a good indication that the prospect isn't a good fit for Trident and its team.

Formalize an employee referral program to help uncover new talent

When it comes to recruitment, finding talented candidates can be a challenge regardless of industry, geography or economic conditions. The competition for talent is further exacerbated during periods of industry growth. Creating a formal referral program at your company can help provide a steady stream of qualified candidates and have a positive impact on your employee productivity and company culture.

In a study published by LinkedIn Talent Solutions (PDF), small-to-mid-sized business employee referrals were found to provide the following benefits:

• Shorter hiring times
• Reduced costs per hire
• More talented candidates
• Longer employee tenures

According to research published by Harvard Business Review, there are a handful of key factors that can bolster your success.

Most importantly, be sure there's a strong connection between applications and referrers by asking a few key questions during the referral process, such as:

• How does the referrer know the applicant?
• How long have the two parties known each other?
• Have they worked together in the past?

In addition, the following program strategies have shown progress once formalized:

• Prioritizing your initial program goals such as the reduction of average hiring cycle
• Providing existing employees with incentives—cash and non-cash—that include clearly-defined criteria
• Considering candidates who are working in industries outside of community association management
• Actively promoting your program to staff with frequent internal communications and Q&A sessions

Employee benefits that may boost your appeal with candidates

In a survey conducted by the Foundation and Community Associations Institute (PDF), participating management company CEOs shared their must-have benefits for community managers. The top five must-haves included:

• An attractive benefits package
• A professional development stipend
• Remote work options
• A car or mobile phone allowance
• Flexible work hours

When reviewing your existing employee package with an eye on enriching your offerings, consider where you stand on the following benefits:

• Family health benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance
• Retirement plans such as 401(k)s and financial planning services
• Wellness programs such as subsidized gym memberships and classes
• Mental health and counseling programs

To help keep high-performing employees engaged and motivated, it's prudent to review the following perks:

• Performance-based recognition, bonus and profit-sharing programs
• Training and certification programs that encourage continuing education in the industry
• Attendance at industry and networking events
• Software subscription programs to help enhance productivity

The bottom line

As the challenge of hiring and retaining qualified talent increases, using a multifaceted approach to address the issue has become a requirement.

On the retention side, there's an eclectic mix of options to consider. Outsourcing and staff training programs have become popular, cost effective and impactful. Employing client codes of conduct, AI assistants and more stringent clientele selection processes are more involved approaches but may be effective in helping keep talented employees more satisfied and on your payroll longer.

On the recruiting side, developing and promoting a structured referral program and enriching your benefits package may be effective ways entice talented candidates to join your team.