‘What Better Job To Have?’ How Property Managers Can Improve Employee Retention

Improving operational efficiencies is the top concern of today’s property managers, according to a new survey from AppFolio. That is a big change from last year, when the same survey found that staffing and recruitment were the biggest thorns in property managers’ sides.

That doesn’t mean the industry has solved its personnel problems. In fact, the two issues are closely related.

Stacy Holden, a senior director and industry principal at AppFolio, said the 2022 Property Management Industry Pulse revealed that staffing issues increasingly impede the ability of building managers and their teams to perform their jobs.

“When we did this same study back in 2021 with the National Apartment Association, hiring, staffing and recruitment were the No. 1 challenge due to the hair-on-fire nature of the pandemic,” Holden said. “When AppFolio checked back in with everyone in April of 2022, HR staffing was still one of the top three challenges managers faced. But now, what has moved to No. 1 was operational efficiencies.”

Holden said that far from going away, staffing issues are impacting building managers’ ability to respond to residents’ needs as quickly as they would like. The AppFolio study also found that they are having trouble effectively performing many other functions, such as finding high-quality vendors and coping with rising costs.

“The staffing challenge is now dragging down operational efficiencies,” Holden said. “The day-to-day tasks are becoming more challenging for property managers, and that includes basic functions — the things that residents/clients would expect.”

And, the problem is not going away soon. A separate AppFolio and Institute of Real Estate Management survey found that one in four professionals was thinking of leaving their employer or the property management field altogether.

Aside from the current robust job market that allows people to switch jobs with relative ease, Holden said the persistent HR problems are due to two factors. One of them is the building management sector’s historically lackluster outreach to prospective employees, particularly to young people.

“As an industry, we can do a lot better as far as improving market awareness about property management,” she said. “We know young millennials and Gen Z's want jobs with purpose, and what better job to have than to create happiness in someone's home? I don't know how much more purposeful you can get.”

Holden said some property management companies are attempting to raise industry awareness among high school students, particularly for maintenance roles that don’t necessarily call for a college degree. Others are finding success working with professional organizations that cater to similar trades, such as hospitality. 

“Whether it's to high schools or nonprofits, getting the word out about opportunities in this industry is job No. 1,” she said. “We were talking to some operators the other day about how if you're doing the things that are important to young millennials — as in, when you have a strong culture that gives back to the community — it’s important to get into that conversation and I think companies are starting to do a much better job of that. It creates word of mouth, which I think to this generation is very important.”

The second factor impacting HR is employee engagement. Giving them opportunities to continue to learn and to feel part of the organization is important, Holden said.

Most employees would prefer to have a career rather than a job. And yet AppFolio and IREM found that 52% of building management employees said a lack of opportunities for career growth was their greatest source of dissatisfaction, behind only compensation. 

Managers who are tired of conducting exit interviews with these dissatisfied employees might consider focusing on “stay” interviews to keep their best people.

“This is sitting down with the employee and getting an understanding about them as a person, about what brings them joy and makes them excited to go to work every day,” Holden said. “That interaction is so meaningful to people today, and it gives them energy because it shows you care and they feel heard.”

Of course, people can quit at any age, and it’s not just young people that managers need to be concerned about. Holden spoke of a property management company that took steps to improve morale among its senior maintenance team.

These seasoned employees were founts of knowledge about their buildings, but they were resistant to calls for them to take on more day-to-day management responsibilities. As a result, their employer asked them to instead serve as coaches who could share their knowledge with junior people. Issues more directly related to day-to-day HR responsibilities would be handled by others in the organization.  

“This huge weight was lifted off the company and the maintenance people felt so much more engaged because now they were mentors and not having to deal with the reviews and all the people management tasks,” Holden said.

As that example suggests, managing today’s employees requires a high degree of creativity and flexibility. Holden said technology can help managers with this task by providing tools to expedite training and onboarding and to manage workflow more efficiently.

“Smart technology using machine learning and artificial intelligence can eliminate a lot of busy work,” she said. “By automating initial responses to leasing inquiries, for instance, it allows managers to spend more meaningful time with employees and their building’s community.”

And in an era when employee retention and operational efficiency are so important, any constructive time spent with employees and residents is time well spent, she said.

This article was produced in collaboration between AppFolio and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.